2018 Tim Stevens Signature Shiraz

Elegant and complex.

VINTAGE A great vintage. Good rains during last winter ensured a full soil moisture profile. Consistent weather until late Summer also helped the vines gain strength to settle for a couple of hot spells just before ripening which was marked by ideal dry conditions.

VARIETY Chief Winemaker Tim Stevens’ Signature wines are made in small batches from select parcels of fruit. They are bigger, bolder and ultimately more modern in style than the Huntington Estate wines. Tim developed the style in his Abercorn days, described by Huon Hooke as “…modern, with deep vivid colours, intense blackberry fruit and new French-oak aromas, bold palate flavours and generally firm tannins”. Shiraz is Tim’s signature variety, and the style is full-bodied, supple and jam-packed with fruit.

WINEMAKING Fruit from Block 1 was picked 14/03/18 at 14.1Bé. Cold soaked for 4 days followed by 5 days fermentation on skins, then pressed off early at 2Bé directly into barrels (60% new American) to finish fermentation. The wine then spent 18 months in barrel before bottling  October 2019 at 14% alc/vol.

IN GLASS Deep ruby, hints of purple.

IN NOSE Lush black and purple fruit on the nose, beautiful soft peppercorn, vanilla notes. Hints of dark chocolate and toasted almond.

IN MOUTH Just lovely. Bright, vibrant, fresh, very soft, more elegant, beautiful red and black fruit backed with delicious cola/sarsaparilla notes. Super fine, subtle tannins. Time in glass opens up soft violet and forest floor characters. Intensely fruit driven fore palate with a zing of racy acid.  peppercorn spice, rich dark chocolate and espresso. Incredibly smooth and silky, with a soft finish.

CELLAR until 2038+

ACCLAIM

TOP RANK SHIRAZ #11 NSW THE REAL REVIEW 2024

96/100 “Dense and deep ruby red. Black fruit, cola and beef stock aromas. Ripe black and blue fruits fill the core with power and intensity yet without feeling overblown. Layered from that fruit core we see cola, ironstone and an umami beefy character which is intriguing and it all melds seamlessly. Firm tannins work their way to the fore so that incredibly long finish dries just at the perfect point. A very classy regional wine that will develop for many more years to come.” THE REAL REVIEW 2024

95/100 “An alluring nose of spiced black and plums and berries leads into an intense and grippy core. The fruit is wonderfully ripe yet not overly so, and complexing flavours of fresh leather and allspice whirl into the mix. This is a pedigreed shiraz, it's intense and full-bodied yet full of vitality. With age, it will grow in stature.” THE REAL REVIEW 2022 

95/100 “The focus and precision of the maker (he who has his name on the label), is worth acknowledging here. It's a wine that grows on you and you are rewarded handsomely. Rich and dense, this is dark chocolate wrapped in a parcel of fine shavings of cedar. Black fruits and forest berries, there is a tremendous width and carry here. Well spiced, they calm to deliver a fluffy and playful feel after a couple of days tasting. Some licorice and a flicker of cola tick away in the background. For all its bravado early on, there is a charm worth investing in. Watch it settle and evolve to experience the fruit coat the mouth as though it were brushed on. Clever really. An excellent Shiraz..” QWINE 2022 

95/100 "A deep red with purple hues; the nose shows a balance between the spiced influence of quality new oak and the earthen dark fruited aromatics that are the hallmark of Huntington Estate. The palate is effortless, it is full bodied but glides from start to finish with tannins filling the mouth and maintaining a suppleness whilst also giving the structure for bold dark berry fruits to show themselves. There is a vanillin thread to mulberry and plum to finish with dark chocolate contrasting. The length is exceptional." THE WINE REVIEWER 2022

92/100 "This is both burly and smooth-skinned. Coffee-cream and toast flavours mix with scorched plum, ink, mulberry and mint. It bunches fractionally on the finish but then there’s a lot of fruit-, oak- and tannin-driven grunt on offer here.The application of oak is a bit old-school but it has the fruit and overall softness to match." CAMPBELL MATTINSON 2022

"The colour and aromas of the wine as it sat in the glass was a definite message of things to come.  Denseness, richness and seriousness were evident.  Well, that’s not quite how things panned out on the palate.  Yes it was rich and dense but the ‘seriousness’ was perfectly replaced with two words, ‘elegance’ and ‘class’.  Terrific dark fruit intensity, smooth as silk as it coats the palate with the lush fruit and the oak is very nicely played indeed.  What a delight this wine was to smell, taste, drink and talk about." WORDS FROM A WINEGLASS 2022