Canberra Cool-Climate Rockstar

Tastes like: Blackberry. Black Cherry. Cracked Pepper. Violet. Olive Tapenade. Smoked Herbs. Dark Chocolate. Silky Tannins. Long Savoury Finish.

This is Australian Shiraz at its most elegant and exciting — all perfume, spice and freshness rather than sheer power. Clonakilla have become absolute legends of cool-climate Australian wine, and the Hilltops Shiraz delivers that beautifully refined house style at a wonderfully approachable level.

The fruit comes from the Hilltops region of New South Wales, where warm days and cool evenings help build intense flavour whilst retaining freshness and aromatic lift. The 2023 vintage combines generous dark fruit with classic cool-climate spice and floral character, giving a wine that feels both vibrant and wonderfully composed. 

Fermentation takes place in small open fermenters with careful extraction to preserve finesse and balance, before maturation in French oak barrels — a portion of which are new — helping build texture and subtle savoury complexity without overwhelming the fruit.

There’s loads to love here: juicy blackberry fruit, cracked pepper spice, violets, smoked herbs and that beautifully silky Clonakilla texture that keeps everything effortlessly drinkable. It’s rich enough for winter comfort food but fresh enough to stay remarkably elegant throughout.

This absolutely sings with grilled lamb, smoky aubergine dishes, slow-cooked beef or anything involving a barbecue and good company.

Australia - 2023 - 13.5% - 75cl
Vegan