D’Arenberg Laughing Magpie Shiraz/Viognier – a great example of this popular Australian blend from one of Australia’s premium vineyards. An enticing mix of primary fruit characters entwined with flowers, ginger and stone fruit.

The Kookaburra is a native Australian bird famous for its distinctive laughing call, Chester’s young daughters named them ‘Laughing Magpies’. The Magpie plumage is black with a stripe of white feathers, representing McLaren Vale’s first ever blend combining the (black) Shiraz and its white partner, Viognier.

The season began well with average winter rainfall, Summer conditions were significantly warmer than average with two heatwaves through January testing the limits of the vines. Following the heatwave was rain and cool weather, which helped slow down ripening, and allowed flavour development to catch up to sugar ripeness. White wines from this vintage are fruity and very flavoursome, as are reds with ample tannin to match.

Nice round, plump style of Shiraz. Loads of plum and black berry on the nose, with the small Viognier component adding exotic notes of spiced apricots. There’s lots of ripe plum flavours, alongside graphite and dried herbs. It’s a luscious, soft wine, finishing with restrained tannin and moderate acidity.

Small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to open fermenters, where the Viognier and Shiraz are co-fermented. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation, the wine is basket pressed and transferred to a mixture of old French and American oak to complete fermentation and mature. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, there is no racking until final blending and no fining or filtration.