Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier 2020

The northern Rhone Valley tradition of blending syrah – aka shiraz – with viognier goes back hundreds of years. In Australia, its history dates back principally to the 1990s. As in France, the better Aussie examples emanate from the cooler regions like the Yarra Valley. While I’m not sure about the percentage of viognier in this wine, you can smell the lifted aromatics of the grape and see the brightness it brings to the purple intensity of colour. On those two points alone, viognier has done its job. A wine of beautifully integrated layers of flavour. It’s all here: the power of sweet, ripe shiraz in black berries and blue fruits, the quiet presence of baking spices, oak support with a hint of wood smoke, and tannins that glide and work with the wine. Lovely.