2022 Head The Blonde Shiraz

95 POINTS

James Suckling

A superb, driven and well-crafted shiraz with aromas of dark cherries, dried herbs, smoke, dried flowers and baking spices. Medium-bodied with finely grained tannins. Highly textural, with a pulpy core of berries and a generous lift of peppercorns bringing vitality and drive on the palate. Precise, with a long, flavorful, peppery finish.

95 POINTS

Dave Brookes - Halliday Wine Companion

Flaxman Valley fruit, 98/2% shiraz/viognier, matured for 18 months on fine lees in 20% new French oak. Deep magenta-splashed crimson in hue. Aromas of ripe, juicy plum and boysenberry fruits with secondary fruity tones of nectarine and apricot flitting in and out of the olfactory periphery. Hints of five-spice, teacake, olive tapenade, citrus blossom, earth, vanillin oak, graphite and pressed flowers. A voluptuous fruit presence, powdered granitic tannins and a gorgeous outflow of ripe, spiced plummy fruit that slowly fades.

94 POINTS

Gary Walsh - The Wine Front

This is from a Flaxman Valley vineyard, planted in 1962, sitting up at 450m ASL. It includes 2% viognier (co-fermented) and 20% new French oak (puncheons). Tasting this directly after the 2022 Head Red Shiraz, and well, it’s something of a step up. Lots of fragrance and jasmine perfume, blue and black fruit, some creamy spiced oak and pimento, and maybe a little dried apricot too, cocoa and mint.. It’s supple and composed, the tannin feels ripe and pixelated, dried raspberry and sage, kind of meaty too, but succulent with it, and there’s a brightness, and an almost white wine bite to acidity, though that’s largely a function of youth. The finish is neatly matted with tannin, and all up, it’s a lovely expression of Rhone meets Barossa, which I guess is kind of the intent. Very good.

93 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

Tasted alongside the 2021 vintage, this 2022 The Blonde Shiraz is decidedly plumper and more succulent aromatically, with red fruits in abundance, a whiff of bergamot/Earl Grey tea, salted licorice, graphite and even a hint of deli meat. In the mouth, the wine is exactly as the aromas suggested it would be: shaped by tannins that feel ductile and a little firmer than the gently chewy 2021. I love both of the wines, although the 2021 seems a little more serious and a little less frivolous than this bold and obvious 2022 iteration. 4.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

93 POINTS

Angus Hughson - Vinous

The 2022 Shiraz The Blonde ( a single-vineyard blend of Shiraz with a tiny splash of Viognier) shows excellent composure and delicacy, with aromas of blackberry and crushed granite topped with potpourri. It has good density and weight, still understated but with a delightful overall balance and energy. Elegance and refinement are the keys here, which will hold over the medium term.