95 points - "This is top notch. It has flavour and length, but it’s the spread of that flavour and the tannin that comes with it that makes you sit up and take notice. This wine is where the smart money’s going. Cherry-plum, five spice, anise, mint, dark soy and florals, with a talc-like feel to the tannin and a general feeling of etching. Super release of O’Riada." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

95 points - "Given the fruit is off the estate and from three other properties, this is an excellent drink, in a finer style. A gorgeous purple-red hue and so fragrant with florals and red fruits (from raspberries to currants) all doused with baking spices and a sprinkle of black pepper. The palate is barely mid-weighted yet finely tuned with silty tannins and acidity that gives life. Up there as one of the best O’Riadas to date." - Jane Faulkner (Halliday Wine Companion)

94 points - "Sweet raspberry coulis, red cherry and cranberry leap from the glass, followed by a lovely countervailing of balsamic, wood smoke and woody baking spices — nutmeg, cassia bark. Things deepen with air to show cocoa powder, subtle dark chocolate, blackberry and gentle plum. Very alluring and complex. The palate is lifted and vibrant while maintaining intensity; it glides across the mouth with sweet spice, plum, blackberry, cherry cola and cocoa powder. Elegant and intense at once, with grainy, fine-but-firm integrated tannins. Cocoa powder bitterness permeates a long finish where the acid surges and rolls in waves. A classy O’Riada, and a classy wine in and of itself. Spend circa $48, cellar it, and enjoy the reward." - Tom Kline (Wine Pilot)

94 points - "This has to be a contender for best value wine of the year and is also compelling evidence of just how good the 2024 vintage was for the Canberra region. 20% whole bunch inclusion before twelve months maturation in French oak barriques, 25% of which were new. A vibrant crimson/magenta hue, the wine is very much from the bright and lifted end of the spectrum. The nose gives us notes of cassis, chocolate, blackberries, spice and plums with excellent oak integration throughout. Seamless in structure, this is exquisitely balanced with impressive length, through to silky tannins. A ten year proposition. This is always an exciting wine but this release surely has to sit amongst the very best." - Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot)

Sean O’Riada is one of the heroes of modern Ireland. A talented musician and composer, he is credited with taking traditional Irish music out of the kitchens and pubs of Ireland and putting it on the concert stages of the world. He died, prematurely, in 1971, the year Clonakilla was established by John Kirk. He was John’s cousin.

2024 was a beautiful vintage. Good spring rain, warm summer days, cool nights and a glorious early autumn.

The O’Riada is a quintessential Canberra Shiraz, fully charged with spice, floral notes and ripe red fruits.

Tim Kirk