Clonakilla

Clonakilla is a family wine company founded by Dr John Kirk, who planted its first vines in 1971 on a 44-acre farm near Murrumbateman, 40 kilometres north of Canberra. He named the property after his grandfather’s farm in County Clare; Clonakilla means ‘meadow of the church’. In 1977, John and his sons laid the blocks for the first winery building. Encouraged by Shiraz Viognier’s success, chief winemaker Tim Kirk decided to release Syrah, a straight estate Shiraz, from the 2006 vintage.

The northeast-facing T&L vineyard supplies pure Shiraz for a single fermenter. For this wine, whole berries ferment warm with native yeasts and macerate on skins for up to a month; the wine then matures for around eighteen months in French oak, one-third new. Its wines include the flagship Shiraz Viognier, O’Riada Shiraz, Riesling, Viognier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.