Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2017

Some wines don’t just reflect a vintage or a vineyard, they reflect a vision. The 2017 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is one such wine, an Australian icon that continues to redefine what elegance, perfume, and finesse can mean in the New World. Born from the granite soils of Murrumbateman in the cool climate of Canberra’s wine region, this vintage is a quiet triumph, offering a seamless marriage of precision and beauty.

The inclusion of Viognier, a technique inspired by the Côte-Rôtie, is not a flourish here, it is foundational. At just under five percent of the blend, it lifts the aromatics like a soprano in harmony, infusing the Shiraz with floral grace and textural polish. The result in 2017 is a wine that moves with the confidence of a classic and the delicacy of a dancer.

In the glass, it gleams with a translucent ruby hue, bright but not brash. The aromatics are immediate yet composed, red cherry, blood plum, and raspberry coulis mingled with lavender, rose petal, black tea, and a faint trace of five spice. There is a hint of cured meat, a nod to its Northern Rhône roots, but it never overshadows the fruit or the fragrance. Everything feels in its place.

The palate is medium-bodied with a cool core of bright acidity and superfine tannins that ripple gently across the tongue. Red and dark fruits are laced with subtle oak spice, graphite, and crushed herbs. There is lift and line, but also quiet depth. It finishes long, savoury, and supremely balanced, the kind of wine that holds your attention without demanding it.

Critics were almost unanimous in their praise. James Suckling awarded it 98 points, calling it “one of the greatest vintages of this wine,” praising its “super complex array of white and black peppers, hard brown spices, leaves, flowers and fresh wet earth,” and describing the palate as “immaculately detailed, long and silky” with “immaculate tannins.” James Halliday also gave it 98 points, noting its “superb length and texture, replete with red berry flavours” and a “line of pure spice running through the bouquet and palate.” Natasha Hughes MW rated it 96, citing its “great combination of rich fruit and savoury, earthy notes on the palate, tinged with peppery spice,” and noting its “great power and energy, as well as terrific persistence.” Tyson Stelzer added to the chorus, calling it “gloriously fragrant and elegant” with “a delightful core of morello cherry and wild strawberry fruit” that “glides seamlessly through a lingering trail of powder-fine tannins.”

Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2017 is not a wine made to impress with sheer scale or power. It is a wine of tone, of proportion, of architectural beauty. It speaks of a site and a style, but more than that, it speaks of intent. For collectors, it marks a benchmark year from one of Australia’s most revered family estates. For lovers of Syrah in all its guises, it is proof that Australia can not only echo the Old World, it can sing its own songs just as finely. This is a wine to cellar, to share, and to remember. A wine that doesn’t shout, but leaves you thinking long after the last glass is poured.

Tasting Profile

Aroma:

Blackberry, Blueberry, Pepper

Palate:

Blackberry, Fruit Cake, Tobacco

Food Pairings:

Pork

Red Meat