Clonakilla o’Riada Shiraz Canberra – 2022

Clonakilla, based at high altitude (around 700mts) in the Canberra Highlands, is one of Australia’s cult wineries; demand for their wines vastly exceeds supply every year. 

Sean O’Riada is one of the heroes of modern Ireland. A talented musician and composer, he is credited with taking traditional Irish music out of the kitchens and pubs of Ireland and putting it on the concert stages of the world. He died, prematurely, in 1971, the year Clonakilla was established by John Kirk. He was John’s cousin.

The O’Riada is a quintessential Canberra Shiraz, brilliantly opulent and packed with spice, floral notes and ripe dark berry fruit.

“The 2022 O’Riada Shiraz is made from fruit picked from the Clonakilla estate and other vineyards in Murrumbateman and Hall. The 2022 season was cool and long, like its predecessor, 2021. On the nose, there are notes of pink musk sticks and rose petals, blood, black cherry, pastrami and iodine. In the mouth, the wine is everything that the nose has promised—vibrant, alive, delicious, exciting and shaped by very fine pumice stone tannins. Gentle dust and brush sway through the finish. What a lovely wine. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.” 94+/100 Wine Advocate