2023 Lily's Garden McLaren Vale Shiraz

COLOUR: Inky red, with crimson hue

AROMA: A generous wave of black and blue fruits rises from the glass, layered with mocha, cardamom, espresso, dried fig, fresh plum, smoke, liquorice and cola.

PALATE: This wine carries the richness and generosity that defines McLaren Vale Shiraz, with deep, dark fruits flowing across the palate in plush, rich cascading layers. The fruit is concentrated and expressive, yet beautifully shaped by bright acidity and round, supportive tannins. As the wine moves through the mid-palate, the luscious fruit weight gives way to a firmer, more savoury edge, allowing a mineral backbone to guide the finish.There is a lovely harmony between power, structure and sweet fruit, with the tannins gradually unfurling to reveal a long, polished and persistent finish. The 2023 Lily’s Garden is generous and immediately appealing, while still carrying the balance and structure required for rewarding time in the cellar.

The 2023 vintage in McLaren Vale was a challenging season for growers, characterised by above-average rainfall, cooler temperatures and an extended ripening period. Despite these challenges, the vintage has produced elegant wines that reflect the region's distinctive terroir. Good winter rainfall replenished soil moisture reserves, while continued cool and wet conditions throughout spring delayed budburst and slowed early vine growth. Late flowering, combined with a relatively cool summer, delayed fruit development and pushed harvest well beyond its usual timeframe. Further cool and wet conditions during autumn prolonged ripening, demanding patience and careful fruit selection to achieve optimal maturity. The resulting 2023 McLaren Vale Shiraz wines are expected to display vibrant dark berry fruits, plum and subtle spice, complemented by fresh acidity and fine, structured tannins. Compared with warmer vintages, the wines offer a more restrained and elegant expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz, highlighting balance, regional character and finesse.

WINEMAKING | Fermented in a five-ten tonne open top fermenter, with regular pump overs (twice daily over entire ferment) to control ferment, extract colour, flavour and tannins.

Average time ‘on skins’ was 10 days before the fermented juice was drained to tank and the pressings combined. The wine was then racked to barrel, where malolactic fermentation took place.
Lily’s Garden is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

MATURATION | Aged for 16 months in 2-4 year old French oak hogsheads, with up to 20% new French oak.

CLOSURE | Diam Cork
VOLUME | 750ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.8%
REGION | McLaren Vale
SUB-REGION | Blewitt Springs, Clarendon
VINE AGE | 18-63 years
ELEVATION | 75-320m
AVERAGE RAINFALL | 500-700mm
SOIL | Maritime & sedimentary sand-based soil.

Halliday Wine Companion
95 points
Marcus Ellis

"From a range of sites, with vines aged between 19 and 64. There’s a modern-traditional feel, if that makes sense. A lean into traditional intensity allied with a refinement of making and preservation of fruit purity. Black plum and cherry, boysenberry, violet, iris, iodine, anise, struck iron and earth, blackberry pastille, berry danish and baking spices. There's a refined fruit sweetness, curling into structure, the tannins carefully extracted, fine yet pervasive, the length sustained, savoury yet not overly drying. It’s a fine example of classic intensity made with a deft hand to reveal detail, not occlude it." Published 10 March 2026