The Auswine Forum

CLONAKILLA WINERY - Canberra (26/01/2024)

In the ‘new’ cellar door set-up since the last visit, although I discover that it was opened in 2016, so that’s how time flies when you become an old codger. On a public holiday the place was nearly deserted; all wines for sale also on tasting, with no tasting fee. Decent glasses, stemmed, thin rimmed – bigger Riedels for the SV flagship wine. Generous pours too. No ‘cellar club’ with buying requirements (or discounts) – just a mailing list for new releases. Lovely row of 30-odd historic Riesling vintages on display, fully showing the vagaries of cork pre-2004, with a range of colours that would do Dulux credit (along with a similarly variable set of fill levels).
Although my 16-year-old was building up his L-plate hours on this trip back from Geelong at the time, I still did the right thing and spat (mostly) everything. Although, of course the supervising driver must remain under-the-limit at all times...

• 2023 Clonakilla Riesling - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 11.5%, A$34} Restrained floral citrus fruit on the nose, but juicy on the light/medium-bodied palate. Lime-tinged, its lifted with high acidity but always feels natural. Dry, crunchy, even, low-key finish, medium/long, and rather like a coiled spring. Will be (more) wonderful with time.
• 2023 Clonakilla Sémillon Sauvignon Blanc - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 12%, A$27} Sweaty gooseberries with underlying semillon grassiness. Pungent overall. Palate is gentler than nose, with more grass and straw, but still built on that gooseberry/asparagus underneath. Medium/high acidity, oak-free, dry, light/medium body, medium length finish. Not a keeper though I think.
• 2022 Clonakilla Chardonnay Tumbarumba - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Tumbarumba
  {screwcap, 13%, A$45} Tumbarumba fruit. Restrained sandalwood aromas, subtle oak. Minimal malo evident. Bare rockmelon fruit, very dry, light/medium body, short/medium length finish. Not entirely convincing, certainly not at the price.
• 2022 Clonakilla Ceoltoiri - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 13.5%, A$45} Chateauneuf-ish blend of Grenache, Mouvedre, Counoise, Cinsault and Roussanne. Too young really, but meanwhile a riot of lifted white pepper and spice. Cherry, cranberry and other exotic fruit also. Not much more than Light-bodied, with medium/high acidity. No oak flavour, even palate, medium-length finish. Needs half a dozen years at least.
• 2022 Clonakilla Shiraz O'Riada - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 13%, A$40} Black pepper, dark cherry, dark chocolate. Very primary palate, tasting after the nose. Gentle seasoning only of fine-grained oak lifting the bright cherry flavours. Low/medium dusty tannins, medium acid. Light/medium weight, as befitting this quintessential cool-climate wine. Even, low-impact palate with a barely-medium length finish. Very subtle. Needs some time but will always be a bit ethereal.
• 2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Hilltops - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops
  {screwcap, A$32} Same general winemaking approach as the Canberra-based O’Riada shiraz, but this is Hilltops/Young fruit. In comparison it’s more plum and blackberry, lifting it to medium-bodied weight, but still cherry-tinged. Low/medium powdery and gritty tannins, subtle oak, medium acid. Medium length finish. Needs time, as the next wine proved.
• 2015 Clonakilla Shiraz Hilltops - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Hilltops
  {screwcap, A$40} Back vintages at CD are always a good thing, even if I’m a bit dubious about 2015 in NSW generally. Developing nose of tobacco, earth, spice. Salty kind of blackberry fruit. Dry, medium-bodied palate, quite mature. Low/medium dusty tannins, medium acidity. Medium-length finish that’s losing a bit of freshness without picking up too much complexity. Ready to drink. They’ll sell you a 6-pack of this for $192 – says it all really.
• 2022 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, 13.5%, A$120} 5% viognier this vintage. Lovely nose and palate with a touch of tobacco, exotic spice and cranberry overlaying the ripe red fruit. Polished medium weight palate, with medium fine dusty tannins and subtle oak. Medium-long finish. Lovely wine, and for me way ahead of the 2015 bottle following.
• 2015 Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier - Australia, New South Wales, Southern New South Wales, Canberra District
  {screwcap, A$150} Developing nose, but always a touch vegetal. Earthy as well, but not really all that interesting. Little primary fruit evident; it’s more like a leathery/bretty old Hunter shiraz than a cool-climate flagship. Medium weight. Low/medium dusty tannins, medium acid. Balance of structure is fine, it’s just the flavours themselves which seem flat and washed out. Maybe decanting would help.