Double Gold Medal – New Zealand International Wine Show 2022
95/100 James Halliday’s Top 100 Wines of 2022
The 2021 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 (2021 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 plums and blackberries at the fore with mulberry, five spice and pepper. The gentle influence of creamy, vanillin oak amplifies the deep, ripe berry fruit. A generous and fruit-forward palate, loaded with plums, cassis and milk chocolate. Rich fruits are laced with vanilla bean, cedar and graphite, finishing with fine, powdery tannins."
95/100 James Halliday, The Weekend Australian Magazine (2021 Vintage)
"The vignerons of McLaren Vale were wildly ecstatic about the ’21 vintage, and finding this wine at this price explains their joy. It’s essence of McLaren Vale shiraz: medium- to full-bodied, laden with black fruits of all kinds, dark chocolate, licorice and savoury, ripe tannins. Drink to: 2041."
92/100 Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, May 2023 (2021 Vintage)
"This brings flavour, and lots of it, and delivers it with a clear creaminess to the mouthfeel. Raspberry-plum, asphalt, clove and vanilla characters purr through the palate, a slightly raw cedarwood character pulling through the finish. If you like a big, warm, ‘smooth’ red, you will enjoy."