2023 Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz
2023 Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz

2023 Shaw + Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz

96 pts
Shaw + Smith |Adelaide Hills |Shiraz
An elite cool-climate Shiraz from the prized Balhannah site – complex, seductive, and packed with dark fruit and savoury grit.
Price:
$95.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

The 2023 season was the latest on record at Shaw + Smith - a proper cool-climate nail-biter that Adam Wadewitz and the team handled with total poise. While the rest of the country might have been looking for sun, this prized Balhannah site was busy building incredible detail. This isn't your typical big, bouncy Shiraz; it leans right into that Northern Rhone-style grit and grace.

There’s a dark, seductive power here that stays fresh and lithe. Expect plush black cherries and plums met with savoury hits of olive tapenade, graphite, and a bit of cracked pepper. A lick of cocoa and smoked meats adds weight, all wrapped up in a svelte, velvety texture that feels seriously high-end.

We’ve always rated Balhannah as the top of the tree for Hills Shiraz, and this '23 release is a standout. The acidity is bright and the tannins are supple enough to enjoy tonight, but there’s enough structure here to suggest it’ll be even better in ten years. It’s a compelling, detailed wine that shows exactly why Shaw + Smith remain the benchmarks.

96 points
"This is a wine of power and darkness and yet it remains elegant and, indeed, exquisite... This is an elite wine. It’s complex, it’s seductive, and it’s compelling."
- Campbell Mattinson

96 points - "This is a wine of power and darkness and yet it remains elegant and, indeed, exquisite. It tastes of walnuts and plums, smoked meats, barbecued black cherries, cedar, dark soy, peppercorn and cocoa, and while there’s a boldness in play all these flavours are relayed in intimate, interwoven detail. There’s a logic to everything here; a motivation to the way each flavour bounces from one to the next. This impression is aided by the svelte, luxury nature of the texture. This is an elite wine. It’s complex, it’s seductive, and it’s compelling." - Campbell Mattinson (campbellmattinson.com)

95 points - "Blackberry, plum, grilled meat, a char siu pork thing here, plenty of spice and pepper, brazil nuts, dried flowers. It’s medium-bodied, distinctly saline and savoury, black olive rolled in dried herbs, meaty too, has a mix of red and black fruits, a grainy sort of sooty feel to tannin, a boysenberry freshness to acidity, with a nutty and spicy finish of excellent length, pulling quite dry and grainy to close, with a light amaro bitterness and subtle rubbery reduction. A very adult style of Shiraz, also quite charismatic with it. Very good." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Style
Fresh and aromatic with lifted florals, red fruits and subtle spice. Notes of graphite bring definition to the wine, and a thread of black olive tapenade adds a savoury edge. The palate is finely structured, with supple tannins making the wine immediately approachable. A vintage that clearly expresses the Balhannah Vineyard character.

Vineyard
From close-planted (5,500 vines/hectare) low yielding vines from block two at Shaw + Smith’s Balhannah Vineyard, planted in 2005. It has a north-facing aspect and the soils are loam over clay, ironstone, quartzite, and shale.

Season
Our third La Niña influenced season in a row, 2023 was a late, cool, and wet season. The result was the latest vintage that we've experienced, with excellent acidity and lovely cool season flavours.

Vinification
Hand-picked and hand sorted. Aged for 14 months in 500 to 600 litre French oak barrels, 15% new, followed by a further 14 months in bottle.

Cellar
Will reward careful cellaring for up to 20 years.

pH
3.89

TA
4.5

Alc
13.5%

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Shiraz
Country Australia
Region Adelaide Hills
Australian State SA
Feature High Score
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 96
Alcohol 13.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Screw Cap

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

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