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$28.00
When you’re in the mood for:
Blackberry & dark cherry · Modern Shiraz · Easy drinker with food and weeknights
A Heathcote Shiraz with all the flavour and none of the thump.
Our 2024 Shiraz from Kennedy’s vineyard keeps the classic markers – dark fruit, a bit of pepper, that unmistakable Shiraz shape – but in a more modern, easy-going frame. At 13.3% it sits a touch lighter than the old-school bruisers, without feeling skinny or simple.
In the glass, think blackberry, dark cherry and a little plum, with violet and pepper peeking through. Oak was kept on a short leash: mostly French and Hungarian with just a whisper of American, there to smooth the edges and fill out the middle rather than turn it into an oak show. The tannins are calm and tidy, so it doesn’t grab you by the gums.
It’s a Shiraz that plays very nicely with food – grilled meats, snags, roast veg, pizza, BBQ anything – but it’s also perfectly happy as a “just a glass” red at the end of the day. Ready to drink younger, weeknight-friendly, and one of the wines helping us get back on our feet after the fires.
We’ve been experimenting with a lighter style of Shiraz... away from “big winter bruiser” and towards something a bit more civilised – all the flavour, without the tannins trying to strangle your taste buds. 2024 from Kennedy’s gave us the perfect fruit to keep playing in that space: plenty of savoury ripeness and depth, but with a natural freshness we didn’t want to squash.
Fruit came in clean and nicely ripe, so we kept the handling simple: destemmed, cool ferment and gentle extraction to keep the tannins in the “friendly conversation” zone rather than full interrogation. We were chasing dark fruit and pepper, not a mouthful of grit.
For oak, we went with a light touch: mostly French and Hungarian, plus a whisper of American. Not enough to make it taste oaky – just enough to fill out the middle and smooth the edges. Think of it as giving the wine a good frame, not turning it into a timber tasting.
Once ferment and malo were done and life settled a little, we let it rest until it tasted like something you’d happily open on a weeknight as well as a weekend. No fancy tricks; just time, topping and plenty of quality-control tasting.
Then January 2026 happened. When the Harcourt Coolstore fire tore through and took out all our bottled stock (along with wine from a lot of other small producers), this Shiraz was still quietly sitting in tank, waiting for me to “get around to it”. For once, being behind on planning and logistics turned out to be a blessing – this wine was spared and suddenly became part of our “let’s start again” line-up.
In the glass it’s very much the Shiraz we were aiming for: blackberry, dark cherry and a bit of plum, some violet and pepper in the background, easy tannins and a fresh finish. A modern Heathcote Shiraz that plays nicely with food and doesn’t demand a giant steak or a special occasion – just a clean glass and good company.
It’s one of the wines that helped us start again, and we’re pretty chuffed to be pouring it for you.
