2020 The Pinnacle Shiraz

colour

A very deep dark purple.

aroma

Fragrant warm spices complement the dark plum fruit intensity of this single vineyard wine.

palate

The palate is perfectly balanced with layers of flavour. Concentrated ripe fruits of dark plum and cherry, along with warm baking spices and a touch of peaty, earthiness from the tannins. A persistent long finish ensures that this wine will be long remembered.

cellaring

Cellar for 2–10 years.

vintage

The growing season was ideal, warm but not hot, a perfect amount of rainfall in the growing season allowed fruit to be picked at relatively low potential alcohol, but with a ripe and super fine tannin structure.

winemaking

The Pinnacle vineyard is the highest, steepest site on the estate. Fruit is hand-picked and 100% destemmed, allowing the fruit purity to really shine. The fruit from this site is the earliest ripening and most concentrated of the single site blocks at Dalwhinnie. Aged in 20% new French oak puncheons for 15 months.

region

Pyrenees

variety

Shiraz

analysis

• Alcohol: 14.0%

Halliday Wine Companion 2024

Fabulous wine. Powerful, complex and long. Pure plum into meaty spice into forest berries into fragrant herbs. You can taste the fruit, the soil and the wood, but it all presents as one. And then there's the finish. What a finish. Structured, textural, flavoursome and long. This wine is the complete package.

97

Max Allen, Australian Financial Review, March 2024

Made from 100 per cent de-stemmed Shiraz grapes from the highest block on the vineyard, matured in puncheons, 20 per cent new, bottled after 15 months. Very seductive wine, really deep black fruit aromas, and a beautiful seam of dark spices – Langworthy describes them as “baking spices”; more allspice and clove and star anise than pepper – leading on to a rich but medium-bodied shiraz in the mouth. Very good.

Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate 2024

The 2020 The Pinnacle Shiraz is succulent, luscious and mineral. The wine exudes volume and padded fruit weight, without the tailing density and weight that this style can often possess. Planted to the BV12 clone (from Barossa), the Pinnacle block is impressive, as is this wine, which is defined, spicy and superb. There's great release of this wine; it's ripe but absolutely in check.

96

James Suckling, November 2023

This shows notes of ripe but crunchy dark and blue fruit with peppery spiciness and hints of sandalwood and ash in the background. Wide and encompassing on the palate with medium to full body and fine, velvety tannin structure. Deep and layered fruit character with a steely, mineral freshness and with crushed stones and bitter spices to close. 

The Real Review 2023

With air, notes of bay leaf, red plums and raspberries emerge. The core of fruit is red berry centric and conveys a sense of lightness, helped by the fine and silty tannins which emerge. Hung meats and mulch add to the flavour profile, offsetting the pretty red fruits. This has a lovely sense of fruit purity and great staying power. It's composed with great aging potential.