1990 Wendouree Shiraz 750ml

Minor Label Damage

Awards, Ratings & Reviews

96/100 — Huon Hooke · 1990 Vintage
“Medium garnet-red hue; the bouquet is exquisite, complex and earthy, ironstone, vanilla, chocolate, and not minty. A wine of great elegance, balance, length and harmony. Lovely.”

95/100 — Jamie Goode · 1990 Vintage
Tasted: Jan 1990

95/100 — CellarTracker · 1990 Vintage

About This Wine

A spectacularly individual wine, Wendouree Shiraz typically possesses a core of blackberry/ black olive aromas with complex iodine, wet bitumen, animal hide characters. The low-yielding beautifully formed old Shiraz vines, tortured and serpentine (many from the original plantings), are unique, producing small berries with thick skins and a very high seed content.

The fruit is vinified in stainless steel lined open fermenters. Maturation takes place in roughly 20% new oak for around a year.

Although there is clarity and buoyancy of fruit on the palate, the tannins are rusty and vice-like. It has been described as "an iron fist in velvet glove" type wine.

About the Producer

Wendouree is an Australian producer, located in the Clare Valley of South Australia. Known for the elusiveness of its wines in the marketplace, the winery has cult status with the portfolio only released to an exclusive mailing list.

The Wendouree property is more than 100 years old and its current owners, Tony and Lita Brady, have run the estate since 1974. The original stone winery at the estate is still used for production and Wendouree's 12 hectare (30 acre) vineyard is planted to old vine Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Mataro, and Muscat of Alexandria – most of which was planted in the late 1890s to early 1900s.

The Wendouree vineyard is dry farmed and grapes are handpicked. In the winery, wines are fermented with indigenous yeasts in open-top, stainless-steel fermenters. Post-ferment, French oak barrels are sourced for aging for up to 12 months. The winery produces around 2000 cases annually of varietal and blended wines including Shiraz Mataro, Shiraz Malbec, and Cabernet Malbec.

Specifications

• Vintage: 1990
• Grape Variety: Shiraz
• Region: Clare Valley / South Australia / Australia
• Fermentation: Stainless steel lined open fermenters
• Maturation: Roughly 20% new oak for around a year; French oak barrels for up to 12 months
• Alcohol: 13.8%
• Closure: Cork