2021 Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz

Highly Rated
Premium single-vineyard Shiraz from a cool site in the Adelaide Hills. An elegant, spicy expression of Shiraz.

Price:
Sale price$95.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship

Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Planted in 2005, the Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard is their prized piece of Shiraz turf.

This low-yielding site delivers their most elegant cool-climate expression of Shiraz. Winemaker Adam Wadewitz uses whole bunches to excellent effect, cranking up the herbal aromatics to 11 and finding excellent balance between tannin structure and sumptuous fruit throughout the winemaking process.

This is a beautiful wine, reminiscent of something out of the northern Rhone Valley. It will continue to evolve in the cellar for the next decade or more.

97 Points
"More of a syrah from an external perspective. An irrefutably brilliant one. I wish I had more to cellar, given the wine's noble stature. A ringer for refined Cornas, if not an oxymoron."
- Ned Goodwin MW (Jamessuckling.com)

95 Points
"The pitch here is as perfect as you’ll find... Tannin is grapey, fine-grained, smoky and expansive. It’s exemplary."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
96 Points
"An array of dried herb nuances includes oregano, sage, thyme and just a slight whiff of pepper. Gorgeous syrah-style shiraz."
- Huon Hooke (The Real Review)
95 Points
"There is a lot of wine here for the dollar and as per usual it shows off its pedigree with class and sophistication."
- Shanteh Wale, (The Wine Pilot)

The ninth release of this wine, and the vintage perfectly reflects the site. A complex nose laden with spice and red fruit, leads onto a poised, balanced palate. Graphite, sage, Kalamata olive brine, and satsuma plum, are some of the myriad of flavours on the palate, which is lively and medium bodied. Fruit, spice, fine grippy tannins, and acid all contribute on the long finish, a good indication of this wine’s great aging potential.

The growing season for the 2021 vintage was terrific, a joy after the traumas of 2020. Soaking winter rains gave us plenty of moisture in the soil, and that flowed into healthy crops. The summer was mild, slow ripening, with lots of flavour.

Aged for 14 months in 500 to 600 litre French oak barrels, 15% new, followed by a further 14 months in bottle.

Will reward careful cellaring from up to 20 years.

97 Points - "A scintillating nose of mace, clove, blue-fruit persuasions, lilac, pepper-dried salumi, fennel seed and kelp, akin to nori of the sort found at Tokyo's arsenal of exceptional sushi counters. On the slightly richer side of mid-weighted. Yet, the slippery skein of tannin is so immaculately placed that there is neither heat nor an ounce of sloppy, sweet fruit. Everything is compressed into a polished bone of tension and savory refinement. The acidity is saline and lathered with tapenade. More of a syrah from an external perspective. An irrefutably brilliant one. I wish I had more to cellar, given the wine's noble stature. A ringer for refined Cornas, if not an oxymoron." - Ned Goodwin MW (Jamessuckling.com)

95 Points - "Shiraz from a north-facing site at 380m at Balhannah in the Adelaide Hills.

The pitch here is as perfect as you’ll find. It’s glossy and smooth but there’s sinew and grain too; the fruit is sweet but the herbs are ardent. Twiggy spice, mescal, black pepper and peanut shells weave through blueberry and ripe plum. Tannin is grapey, fine-grained, smoky and expansive. It’s exemplary." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

96 Points - "Sweetly vegetal/spicy/floral, whole-bunchy aromas greet the nose immediately—very classy cool-grown shiraz aromas which glide effortlessly into an elegantly structured but tremendously intense palate. An array of dried herb nuances includes oregano, sage, thyme and just a slight whiff of pepper. Gorgeous syrah-style shiraz." - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

95 Points - "A sultry aroma of blackberry, Bing cherries and kombu seaweed. Crushed juniper, clove and allspice meet sandalwood, brown mushroom and pinecones. It’s full of forestry and undergrowth with specks of kalamata olive and hawthorn. Sweetness of spice shines through unpinning the black berried fruit and herbal nuances. Extremely compact and weighty. There is a lot of wine here for the dollar and as per usual it shows off its pedigree with class and sophistication. Tannins are suede like and acidity drives the flavours to the finish line which are way off in the distance. Drink now and will cellar for 5 years. A great wine for slow cooked beef tendon or oxtail." - Shanteh Wale, (The Wine Pilot)

Shaw + Smith

Shaw + Smith is one of the flagbearers of the Adelaide Hills wine region.

Founded by cousins Michael Hill Smith MW and Martin Shaw, together over 30+ years they have built a brilliant brand based around refined but energetic cool climate expressions of Shiraz, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The wines all now comfortably rank amongst the best examples of their respective varieties in the country. The constant pursuit of excellence has seen Shaw + Smith stand out from the pack.

With the formidable talents of winemaker Adam Wadewitz at the helm, this iconic producer has never been in better form.

Michael Hill Smith MW and Martin Shaw - Adelaide Hills, SA Shaw + Smith

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message