2023 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Highly Rated
Canberra icon Clonakilla's flagship wine. Australia's most collectable Shiraz Viognier blend.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
7 Reviews

Price:
Sale price$128.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

The Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is a wine that continues to redefine Australian Shiraz. Inspired by the greats of Côte-Rôtie, this is cool-climate winemaking at its most elegant and precise. It's a wine with a serious pedigree that Australia should be proud of.

Vintage 2023 wasn’t without its challenges—cool, wet spring conditions had the vines dragging their feet, leaving winemakers wondering if ripeness would ever come. But when it did, the fruit was harvested in pristine condition, delivering a wine that is a pure reflection of Clonakilla’s vision.

On the nose, it’s an aromatic explosion—lifted floral notes, black pepper, and that signature Viognier perfume weaving through the dark, spicy fruit. The palate is where it truly shines: fine, tightly-knit tannins, a wonderful savoury edge, and layers of blackberry, plum, and earthy complexity. It’s lithe and refined but with an underlying power that promises serious ageing potential.

This 2023 release is quintessential Clonakilla—regal, composed, and utterly captivating. If you’re already a fan, you’ll find all the hallmarks that have made this one of Australia’s most collectable wines. If you’re new to the fold, you’re in for a masterclass in how Shiraz Viognier should be done. 

98 points
"Put simply, this is one of Australia’s greatest wines, year after year, and one of only a handful that can be reliably called world class, without hesitation... Virtuoso winemaking resulting in a masterpiece."
- Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot)

97 points
"There can be no question that Tim Kirk’s Murambateman masterwork is one of Australia’s most important wines, and this latest release builds on the legacy of previous vintages and elevates it even more."
- Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

96 points
"The finesse of this release... Orchestral. Spellbinding. Itself. Abandon all resistance, ye who enter here."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
96 points
"Effortless intensity and charm."
- Huon Hooke (The Real Review)
96 points
"It’s a wow!.. Has class and medium-bodied elegance to burn but with a youthful personality that just keeps on going."
- Jeni Port (Wine Pilot)

There is no doubt vintage 2023 gave us some anxious moments.

The spring was so wet and cool that the vines were very reluctant to emerge from their winter sleep. When they did emerge, the shoots grew so slowly that I wondered whether the grapes would ever ripen.

Thankfully, the summer did finally arrive, and the vines embarked on the long but determined journey of ripening grapes through the warm late summer and mild but generally sunny autumn.

We ended up picking in mid-April, with the fruit exactly ripe and in excellent condition.

You really have to smell this wine to believe the intensity and purity of fruit we received in the 2023 Shiraz Viognier.

As Clonakilla SV goes, this vintage strikes me as archetypal, style-defining, the essence of cool-climate Shiraz. It is certainly beautiful; aromatically thrilling with a classically luminous, elegant palate.

98 points - "Put simply, this is one of Australia’s greatest wines, year after year, and one of only a handful that can be reliably called world class, without hesitation. It is also one of the world’s very best Shiraz Viognier blends, happily sitting beside the best from Cote Rotie. From a cool year, their third in a row, the blend is 94% Shiraz and 6% Viognier. 22% of the Shiraz was whole bunches and that was co-fermented with the Viognier, via wild yeasts. For maturation, the wine went into French oak barrels, both puncheons and barriques, with one-third of them new. Deep magenta, the nose exhibits all the joy and complexity that we have come to expect from this stellar wine. Focus, balance and seemingly endless length, this also has silky tannins and while there is an underlying exuberance with the fruit, everything is held in restraint. Cocoa powder, truffles, raspberries, spices, aniseed and tobacco leaves, the wine is utterly seamless with fifteen to twenty years ahead of it, with ease. Virtuoso winemaking resulting in a masterpiece." - Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot)

97 points - "There can be no question that Tim Kirk’s Murambateman masterwork is one of Australia’s most important wines, and this latest release builds on the legacy of previous vintages and elevates it even more. Achingly beautiful and intricately layered, the wine presents a fine tapestry of fragrant fruit and heady spices, moves through the mouth like unfurling silk and finishes with a plume of finely pixelated tannins." - Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

96 points - "The finesse of this release. The fragrance too, which leads to a palate where just enough, feels like extra. It’s buoyant, juicy and perfumed, with a wild party of spice notes flying through the wine like happiness itself, or like confetti, either way there’s an air here of celebration. This wine sits on the apex of the road, where the rain meets the oil. The fruit flavours have a water-colour aspect; the texture coats the flavour in satin. We’ve come to expect all the above from Clonakilla’s flagship wine. What’s special, for me, in this 2023 release is the web of tannin, as dewy as it is strong. There’s a weave to this release. It’s a masterpiece of twigs, nuts and strings. If Morricone had been a winemaker he’d have made something like this. Orchestral. Spellbinding. Itself. Abandon all resistance, ye who enter here." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

96 points - "The colour is medium-deep with a good purple rim and the bouquet is detailed and fragrant, violets and roses, an entire spice cupboard of aromas, with dark cherry to blackberry fruit underpinning it all. The wine is supremely elegant on the palate, jusy medium to full bodied and finely textured with plentiful tannins that are fine-grained and supple, the finish long and refreshing. Effortless intensity and charm." - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

96 points - "Just when we think we know the Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier style – all those red berries and rosehip aromatics – up pops a couple of cool years one after the other and with them a peppery spice explosion. Following on from the 2022 Shiraz Viognier comes another cooler-than-cool example where the drinker is treated to a wonderful world of spice, fully laden with heady black pepperiness. It’s a wow! Cherry, cranberry, bramble, sage, black pepper, rosemary and spice. It’s a chockful aroma attack. The aromatic intensity is heightened on the palate with black peppery spice a strong feature that also brings real energy, highlighting the bright cherry, red fruits and sage. Tannins are cherry pip savoury dry. Has class and medium-bodied elegance to burn but with a youthful personality that just keeps on going." - Jeni Port (Wine Pilot)

95 points - "The flagship is in fine form from this cool vintage, rendering it elegant and quite exotic. Plus, 22% whole bunches in the ferment make an impact. It’s a touch sappy yet laden with heady aromatics – all florals with a dusting of Middle Eastern spices such as sumac. Super peppery. The mid-weighted palate is tight and a touch lean with red fruit accents, bright acidity and fine if plentiful tannins. It’s a wine you keep coming back to as it reveals more and differently. It's lovely and enticing; it feels light and ethereal, deceptive. Time will reward the patient as this builds more complexity, but it is seriously hard to resist now." - Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 7 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 7 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
7 reviews
  • HZ
    Helen Z.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Beginner
    1 year ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Beginner
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Reviewing
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Amazing

    Wonderful

  • RL
    Rick L.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    1 year ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Reviewing
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Wait

    Way too early to be drinking this, but I just had to check out one bottle. Mouth-filling plushness, with pepper and spices and dark fruit. Classic. Now the other bottles go away for 5-10 years.

  • KD
    Kieran D.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    3 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Reviewing
    2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Classy Aussie cool shiraz

    Super balanced and great fruit. Pepper with the Viognier really doing it’s thing to soften the palate

Reviews LoadedReviews Added

Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

"When we had our big celebration last year to mark 50 years of Clonakilla, we arranged the Shiraz Viognier tasting into three brackets: ‘Luminous’ (the cool years), ‘Ethereal’ (moderate years) and ‘Glow’ (warm years).

One thing the tasting demonstrated was that the vineyard signature remains strong regardless of vintage weather patterns. In fact, the cool vintages, (‘luminous’ because every warming ray of light is received with gratitude), reflected the essential character of our site in a marvellously transparent way.

The 2022 Shiraz Viognier is an archetypal example of a luminous vintage. As you will see from the reviews, there is something pure and strikingly beautiful to be found in this wine that took a long and determined journey to ripeness through the cool, moist late summer and autumn of 2022. It is a celebration of everything that makes this site unique and (we think) rather special."

- Tim Kirk

Tim Kirk on the 2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

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