Clonakilla

6 May

Clonakilla is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery — Campbell Mattinson's highest honour.
Canberra District.

Few wineries anywhere in the world nail the brief, year after year, wine after wine, as well as does Clonakilla, in the Canberra District. Few wineries are, too, as influential.

The case.

Life always feels better when there’s a bottle of Clonakilla on the table. Shiraz viognier is the runaway star of this estate but riesling, varietal viognier, cabernet, chardonnay (Tumbarumba) and pinot noir can and do also shine here, as indeed does ultra-low-volume-of-production Syrah (sans viognier). Clonakilla’s more modestly-priced Hilltops Shiraz is almost always noteworthy as well. Clonakilla isn’t just a good winery. And it’s not just an important winery. Clonakilla is a legend of modern Australian wine – courtesy of its all-round excellence, its role as a pioneer of the Canberra District region, and its long-held position as the number one producer of Shiraz Viognier in the land.

The wines that carry the case.

Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2005 (Canberra District): Winefront.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2007 (Canberra District): Winefront.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2009 (Canberra District): Winefront.
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2015 (Canberra District): Winefront.

Clonakilla T & L Vineyard Block One Shiraz 2016 (Canberra District): Winefront.
Clonakilla Block Four Shiraz 2023 (Canberra District): Winefront.

See more [Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 1997–2024 Reviews] on The Winefront.

Clonakilla is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery – the highest honour awarded by Australian wine critic Campbell Mattinson. 10-Star status recognises one thing: the quality of the wine in the glass, every glass, across the range. The full list of 10-Star Wineries constitutes Australia's Best Wineries.

Canberra DistrictMattinson Ten Star Wineries

Campbell Mattinson

This post was written by Campbell Mattinson. Mattinson is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion book, former editor of Halliday magazine, former editor of Australian Sommelier Magazine and founder of The Winefront business. He is the author of five books on wine – four of which were bestsellers (The Wine Hunter, the Big Red Wine Book 2008, the Big Red Wine Book 2009, and the Big Red Wine Book 2010).

Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.

Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He’s the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He’s a past winner of a Louis Roederer International Wine Media Award; is the author of the award-winning book The Wine Hunter; and is the author of the best-selling novel We Were Not Men. He’s also a winner of a St Kilda Film Festival Award (as writer-director) and is a former winner of the national Best Australian Sports Writing Award. In 2026 three of his photographs were short-listed for the World Food Photography Awards.

Campbell Mattinson, who is 100% independent, has tasted between 5000 and 10,000 wines each and every year for the past 25 years. He tastes blind, in comparative brackets, as often as is practicable.

Campbell Mattinson is a journalist, a photographer, a filmmaker and a wine critic. In all of these mediums his prime motive is to tell people's stories.

https://www.campbellmattinson.com

Clonakilla

Grosset

Swinney