Wendouree Shiraz Mataro 2023

Wendouree operates almost entirely outside the modern wine industry — no website, no email, no tasting room, its entire commercial life run through a handwritten mailing list that's sold out every vintage since the estate closed to public visitors in 1995. Founded in 1893 by Alfred Percy Birks and stewarded since 1974 by Tony and Lita Brady, the property sits on twelve hectares of dry-grown, cane-pruned old vines on red clay over limestone at the southern end of the Clare Valley — farmed with no irrigation, herbicides, or synthetic fertilisers, using methods that have barely changed since the Bradys took over. This particular bottling is a co-fermented blend, typically ranging from 60–80% Shiraz and 20–40% Mataro, sourced from three of the estate's most historic blocks: 1893 Central, and 1919 and 1920 Eastern bush vines. By Tony Brady's own account, it's one of his personal favourites in the range — a wine he describes as more ethereal than the straight Shiraz, with the Mataro lending extra structure and a distinct lift of perfume.

The result carries the Wendouree house signature — dense, savoury, and firmly tannic rather than fruit-driven — but with real elegance layered on top: tobacco, red and blue fruit, and classic Clare eucalyptus on the nose, giving way to a palate of blackberry, raspberry, and blueberry framed by woody spice, graphite, and a touch of liquorice, with fine, velvety tannins built for the long haul.