• Cedar oak
• Dark red fruit
• Spice notes
• Dark chocolate

"Wonderfully fruited and beautifully fragrant, the wine shows black/blueberry, vanilla, cedar and mixed spice aromas on the nose, leading to a concentrated palate that’s supple and fleshy. It’s impressively weighted and intense, backed by silky tannins, finishing long and delectable. At its best: now to 2027" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit

Pirathon Silver Shiraz 2017 has a deep red core with bright hues. The nose consists of lifted dark fruits that dominate the aromatics (ripe plums, blackberry) with background cedar oak and spice nuances of smoked paprika and fennel. The palate is rich, smooth and powerful made to the stylistic template of Pirathon and the Barossa Valley. Immediate flavours of satsuma plums, boysenberry and dark chocolate are wound together with fine powdery coating tannins providing the structure and flavour persistence of the wine. Oak flavours are present with hints of cedar and spice adding complexity and texture. Balanced and approachable for drinking in its youth or if you prefer cellar over the next decade.

The grapes were harvested from the low-yielding vineyards of traditional family growers in the north-western Barossa districts of Greenock, Moppa, Belvedere, Koonunga and Ebenezer. Each vineyard adds its own exclusive dimension to Pirathon Shiraz and combined they produce the ultimate blend.

The 2017 growing season started off well with above average rainfall during the winter and spring months. September saw record rainfalls over double the long term average providing plenty of water reserves leading in to summer. Temperatures during summer were moderate allowing a cooler and longer ripening period. March provided favourable harvesting conditions with little rainfall and above average temperatures allowing for all fruit to be picked at optimum flavour and ripeness.

Each vineyard was harvested at optimal maturity across a 6 week period from March 10 to April 25. Following harvest, each individual lot of grapes was crushed into a separate open top fermenter. During fermentation, hand pump-overs gently extracted colour and flavour from the grapes. After 7-10 days on skins the fermented grapes were pressed with a traditional press. The wines were then filled to new and seasoned American, French, Russian and Hungarian oak hogsheads for maturation for eighteen months before each lot of wine was racked from the barrel and carefully blended. The wine was bottled without fining, ensuring the true expression of the vineyards in the bottle.

Pirathon is an ancient word for pinnacle and they believe Shiraz is the pinnacle grape of the Barossa and that the north-western Barossa is the pinnacle sub-appellation for Shiraz. Pirathon Shiraz is a full-bodied wine encompassing the great flavour, texture and structure of the north-western Barossa. Higher altitude, gullies, hills, slopes, and undulations provide different topographies, microclimates and individualistic parcels of grapes with unique flavours and characters from their own site. They work with dedicated high-quality growers in the north-western Barossa, many of whom have been growing grapes here for generations. Pirathon Shiraz showcases and celebrates the pinnacle north-western Barossa region and pinnacle Barossa grape with a complex and distinguished wine.