BAROSSA SHIRAZ 2022: VINTAGE REPORT AND TOP SCORING WINES
DAVID SLY | DECANTER.COM
JULY 2024
In a year of superb quality but small yields, the 2022 Shirazes offer a snapshot of evolving Barossa styles. David Sly assesses vintage conditions and recommends producers to watch, with scores and tasting notes of the top bottles.
If you think you know all about Barossa Shiraz, think again. The historic South Australian wine region leapt to international prominence in the 1990s for the sunny generosity and driving power of its old-vine Shiraz. But the 2022 vintage shows things are changing. Significantly.
The best new wines from the Barossa have a leanness and nimbleness that belies a long-held stereotype of Shiraz behemoths labouring under the weight of high alcohol and super-ripe fruit. Now, alcohol levels have dipped, palates have lively middle-weight verve and an understated elegance draws you deeper into the charm of these wines.
The 2022 vintage – a strong vintage with fruit of superb quality despite small yields – provides a fascinating viewpoint to observe this transition in motion. The stars of Decanter’s inaugural vintage report on the region have cast the profile of outstanding Barossa Shiraz in a fresh light.
AN EVOLUTION OF STYLE
The most exciting wines are far removed from the Barossa’s historical ‘reserve’ styles, so prevalent in the early 2000s. At that time winemakers seemed obliged to focus on concentration, the strong use of new oak and strident tannin profiles – often with grapes ill-equipped to handle such assertive treatment.
There was a misguided belief that powerful fruit from old Shiraz vines could only be fully expressed with maximum ripeness, with all those inflated grape sugar levels being converted into high alcohol.
The best new-style Barossa Shiraz shows that notion to be a fallacy. Winemakers using components of whole bunch fermentation have added crucial vitality, pretty perfumes and energy to the depth of old vine complexity. Fruit is being picked earlier, to retain more sharply defined acids that amplify clean flavours.
Suddenly, there’s dramatic contrast at play – a rigorous pull between red and black flavour profiles, as lithe and luscious textures wrestle with tannic grip – proving that more Barossa winemakers have found smart ways to express intense old vine flavours with greater nuance and poise.
Several of the most compelling 2022 Shiraz interpretations are provided by people who have come from outside the Barossa. They include Michael Hall, who evaluated jewellery in Switzerland before devoting himself to making wine in France, then in the Barossa; as well as Alex Head, of Head Wines, from Sydney.
Thistledown’s Masters of Wine Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW are UK-based. While Alkina winemaker Amelia Nolan, from Wrattonbully, also spent several decades in the UK wine trade. Alkina proprietor Alejandro Bulgheroni is from Argentina. Belinda van Eyssen from South Africa is emerging as a striking new talent with The Cutting winery.
Their keen perspective on refined wines of elegance underscores that great Barossa fruit is an asset that shines when treated with tender care, rather than labouring under unnecessary hefty weight. It’s therefore encouraging to also see stalwarts including Torbreck, Kaesler and Hentley Farm lighten the load of their Shiraz without sacrificing power and persistence. Greenock Creek is also in transition to embrace a more restrained style.
Other Barossans are looking at Shiraz afresh, from the vineyard rootstock up. Winemaker Dan Eggleton, whose Ben Murray Wines Shiraz 2022 is impressive for the lively appeal of its powerful old vine fruit, is now working with grower Matt Neldner to explore different Shiraz clones in greater detail.
They are making small parcels of wine from the 2023 vintage from five different Shiraz clones (R6, 1653, 1125, SAVVI60, PT23), all sourced from the same terroir in the Barossa’s Marananga sub-region.
BAROSSA: THE FACTS
- Founded: 1842
- Vineyards: 14,236ha under vine, with 11,847ha in the Barossa Valley (elevation 112m-597m) and 2,389ha in the adjacent Eden Valley (elevation 217m-637m). This represents 9.7% of Australia’s total wine production.
- Climate: dry and hot. Barossa average rainfall 160mm; Eden Valley average rainfall 280mm. Mean temperatures during the key January growing period: 21.4℃ in Barossa, 19.4℃ in Eden Valley.
- Vine age: Barossa has the oldest producing Shiraz vines in the world planted in 1843. 283ha of vines are more than 70 years of age; 82ha are more than 125 years old.
EXTRACTS FROM THE 30 TOP-SCORING 2022 BAROSSA SHIRAZ:
2022 ALKINA POLYGON NO. 1 SHIRAZ - 97 points
“An intense focus on specific geologies that run through Alkina’s Greenock Vineyard has resulted in micro-areas defined as polygons, which are vinified separately in concrete vessels. This expression comes from old vines planted on schist, giving the lean fruit profile a distinctive savoury note, with a chewy, meaty texture and a sprinkling of white pepper over dry, dark red fruits lending this lean, taut wine an irresistible sassy appeal.”
2022 ALKINA STRIATO SHIRAZ - 96 points
“Strong herbal notes peek through a lean, black-fruited perfume, then the slim fruit profile reveals compelling subtle tones that shape the mid-palate, with black olive flanking sharp blackberry and a sprinkling of allspice atop rich blueberry. In combining two parcels from different polygon selections within Alkina’s vineyard, there is a compelling mix of geology influencing the structure of this wine, keeping the flavours slender but focused and concentrated. Its bone-dry finish is wickedly sophisticated.”
2022 ALKINA BIRDSONG SHIRAZ - 94 points
“The lean, spicy nose is arresting, as are the restrained, savoury tones of this svelte middleweight that carries as much mineral bite as it does dark red fruited crunch. The slim mid-palate boasts an elegant structure and edge of balsamic sweetness, before finishing bone-dry with the softest chalky tannins leaving a lip-smacking desire to taste more.”