WIRRA WIRRA CATAPULT SHIRAZ 2020

The 2020 Wirra Wirra Catapult Shiraz has certainly hit the quality mark and is one of the better releases we've seen from the label. From across McLaren Vale, the sub regions include Seaview, McLaren Flat, Blewitt Springs and The Range. Aged in a combination of French (70%) and American oak (30%) barriques & hogsheads of which 20% is new oak.

Winery notes (2020 Vintage)
"The late Greg Trott saw many of his unusual dreams realised at Wirra Wirra. Yet one vision eluded him – to build a medieval siege machine, or trebuchet. Why? To use as a catapult to bomb neighbouring wineries with bottles of wine of course. This wine is part of a range, the RGT collection which remembers the pioneering spirit of Richard Gregory Trott.

From across McLaren Vale, the sub regions range from some of the earliest harvested sites to the coolest spots, last to be picked. Sub-regions include Seaview, McLaren Flat, Blewitt Springs and The Range. Approximately 70% French and 30% American. A combination of new and old oak is used, blending to about 20% new oak in the final wine.

Aromas of plum, blackberry, and freshly tilled earth rise in the glass, revealing flinty, peaty undertones. Oak adds secondary notes of spice, cedar, and coffee. Full bodied with ripe fruit tannin and dense, fleshy plum and cassis. The balance of new and seasoned oak adds grain and texture to the generous middle palate and core fruitfulness of McLaren Vale shiraz."

92/100 Ray Jordan, Wine Pilot, May 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"You are getting a lot of mighty fine wine for this price. It has all the McLaren Vale DNA of rich plush flavours, but the inclusion of some cooler site fruit adds a degree of aromatic prettiness on the nose. Plush, plummy dark chocolate fruit with a trace of cocoa for good measure. The oak is well managed, with a combo of largely French and about 30% American, which brings a sweetness and succulence into play. Dry slightly dusty finish is a perfect complement."

91/100 Huon Hooke, The Real Review, April 2022 (2020 Vintage)
"Deep red colour with a good purple tint, the aromas herbal, dusty, straw-like and earthy overlying the tarry shiraz characters. A twist of the pepper grinder. The full-bodied palate tracks this exactly and its structure is quite drying and savoury, the finish long and again firmly drying and authoritative."

Reviews for the 2019 vintage below…

5 Stars & 94/100 Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, June 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Offering fabulous fruit richness and perfume, the bouquet shows black/blueberry, floral, thyme and cedar characters. The concentrated palate delivers excellent fruit purity combined with seductive oak nuances, backed by velvety texture and fine grained tannins, making it wonderfully drinkable. At its best: now to 2034."

96/100 Decanter World Wine Awards 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"Bright and aromatic, with a gentle, oak-derived caramel underlay running beneath pepper, floral black fruits and salty red berries. Smart, persistent and finishing with lifted mint."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, February 2021 (2019 Vintage)
"It slips down easily and well, as it always does. Plum, bright redcurrant and woodsy spice/fragrant herb notes put on an attractive, medium-weight show. It’s squeaky clean, pure, well-balanced and good to drink."