Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2009

There’s no better time of year to grab a bottle of red and curl up in front of the fire with a big block of chocolate; and there’s not too many better candidates for the role than the 2009 Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz.

While I love the fruit driven, over-ripe blockbusting styles that we often see from the Barossa and McLaren Vale, their “sweetness” can sometimes overwhelm and make my favourite rocky roadblock taste more like a cherry ripe on steroids. The Clonakilla (from the hills around Young in New South Wales) however, has a stylishly toasted and spicy licorice palate that is classically cool climate and balanced at the end by lashings of French oak.
Savoury, elegant and slightly tannic, it makes music with rocky road, and at about $25.00 a bottle, it’s punching above its price point!