Double Gold – New Zealand International Wine Show 2021
Gold Medal – Great Australian Shiraz Challenge 2022
Gold Medal – Women's Wine & Spirits Awards 2022
Produced by the brilliant winemaking duo Elena and Zar Brooks from an ancient Barossa vineyard with many of the vines now over a century old. Dandelion Lionheart is a generous mouthfilling Shiraz with beautiful fruit flavours, luxurious texture and fine structure.
Decanter (UK) magazine said of them…"Dandelion is a partnership between three exceptionally connected and deeply experienced couples in South Australian winemaking, sourcing from old vineyards on prized sites across the state. The wines were noteworthy from the outset, and have become ever more refined with each passing year of experience." They're doing some great things and the Lionheart Shiraz is an excellent place to get a feel for what they do.
Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"The Lionheart of Dandelion Vineyards is our old vine Barossa vineyard. These ancient, gnarled vines, many over a hundred years of age, are not only surviving but thriving on their own roots in some of the oldest soils on the planet.
Intense dark berry and dark chocolate aromatics. Deeper aromas then meld with a complex yet subtle bouquet of soy, lavender, laurel, pink peppercorns, rosemary in Spring, eucalyptus bark when it rains, and smoked paprika – just a knife’s finest point. Plush fruit and berry flavours flood and fill – dark, concentrated but all at once fresh and alive. A flow of sweeping tannins as if taken at the tide. Drying, gripping and extending the wine. Tannins sit with acidity at palate’s end to reach a natural rapprochement, as the dark berry fruits’ diving bell-like depth free-dives further into a shiraz abyss…"
5 Stars & 95/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, January 2023 (2020 Vintage)
"Opulent and richly expressed, the wine shows black/blueberry, dark chocolate, cedar and mixed spice characters on the nose, leading to a powerfully weighted palate delivering layers of silken texture and juicy fruit flavours. Beautifully supported by well-integrated tannins, making it highly enjoyable. At its best: now to 2035."