2021 홀리 그레일 시라즈

COLOUR | Deep crimson with a vibrant magenta hue.

AROMA | Lifted and perfumed, with violets, potpourri and turkish delight over notes of peach and apricot stone. Doris plum, blackberry and blueberry follow, with layers of baking spice, liquorice, dark chocolate, Christmas cake, ironstone, cedar, olive tapenade and earth.

PALATE | A deeply fruited, impressive Shiraz from the western subregion of Marananga. Tannic and intense, it has remarkable purity of fruit beneath its firm, finely grained structure. Despite the cool 2023 season, the palate is plush and ripe, with the spice and depth one might expect from a warmer year. Succulent plum, blackberry and blueberry fruit builds through a full-bodied palate with latent power, while a bright acid line lends freshness and definition. The result is a long, detailed finish and the structure to extend cellaring potential by at least a further five years.

The palate opens with a flowing, sweet core of rich, boisterous fruit. Boysenberry and blackberry liqueur characters unfold through a dense layer of preserved dark fruits, expressing the quintessential power of Barossa Valley Shiraz. With air, more complex notes of dark chocolate, baking spice, cherry chocolate and black pepper emerge. Full-bodied and deeply concentrated, the wine’s lavish fruit and oak are held in harmony by fine-edged tannins. A bright acid line, characteristic of the 2023 single-vineyard releases, gives definition and extends its cellaring potential beyond other recent vintages. Built for many years of evolution, yet already delicious to enjoy now.

WINEMAKING | This block was picked on the 3rd of May, and was crushed and de-stemmed into a stainless steel open top fermenter. The time spent on skins was 10 days. All free run and pressings were combined in tank and racked off gross lees to barrel, where malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was bottled with minimum fining and no filtration.

MATURATION | 18 months in 30% new French oak puncheons. 3 barrels bottled in November the following vintage.

CLOSURE | Diam Cork
VOLUME | 750ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.4%
REGION | Barossa Valley
SUB-REGION | Marananga
VINE AGE | 26 years
ALTITUDE | 220m
AVERAGE RAINFALL | 350-400mm
SOIL | Red brown loam over clay and ironstone

Wine Companion
95+ points
Dave Brookes
Published 03 August 2026

"A deeply fruited, impressive shiraz sourced from the western subregion of Marananga. Deep magenta/purple with bold doris plum, blackberry and blueberry fruits with hints of baking spices, licorice, dark chocolate, Christmas cake, ironstone, violets, cedar, olive tapenade and earth. Full bodied, with a sense of latent power, ripe, succulent fruit and dense, fine-grained tannins, plus a long draw of blackberry and blueberry fruit on the finish. There's some nice freshness to this wine considering the power of the fruit."