Giaconda Shiraz Nantua Les Deux 2022

Nantua is Giaconda's second label, and Les Deux Shiraz is the most approachable way into the cellar of Rick Kinzbrunner, the former mechanical engineer who founded Giaconda in Beechworth in 1982 and trained in Napa, Sonoma and Bordeaux. The fruit comes from Beechworth's elevated granite slopes, where low-yielding vines and cool evenings hold the natural acidity and ripen the flavours slowly. It is wild-fermented, extracted gently and aged in quality French oak, so the wine has structure and polish without hiding the savoury character of the vineyard. It is predominantly Shiraz, and one database lists a little Pinot Noir in the blend. It has all of the Giaconda DNA at a friendlier price than the Estate wines.

The result is a dark-fruited, savoury and finely chiselled Shiraz. The 2022 shows blackberry, mulberry and black cherry with violets and cracked pepper, then smoked meat, graphite, dried herbs and an earthy, granite-like mineral thread. Another reviewer finds bright red cherry, roasted beetroot, white pepper, cinnamon and sandalwood, with a soft, creamy mid-weight palate, fine tannins and a cleansing spine of acidity, and calls it a Shiraz that wants to masquerade as Pinot.