Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz 2023: Review + Story
The 2022 calendar year was the wettest year on record in the Hunter Valley.
It’s incredible that the wettest year on record resulted in a great following summer for red wine in the Hunter Valley: 2023 is now considered one of the all-time great Hunter red vintages.
2023 was a cool, long, low-yielding vintage. It was one of the latest Hunter Valley red wine vintages on record.
This 2023 vintage of Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz was matured in 100% French oak, but only 15% of that oak was new.
The Graveyard Vineyard, and the fruit it grows, does all the talking.
This release is 13.5% alcohol, and is $500 per bottle.
Given that Brokenwood is a Mattinson 10-Star Winery and that I have a long history with Brokenwood’s Graveyard Shiraz and that the 2023 ripening season in the Hunter Valley is somewhat heralded – not to mention Gary Walsh’s scoop review of this wine on The Winefront – I was pretty keen to take a look at the Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz 2023. One wintry Friday in June then I opened a bottle, pre-lunch, and let it air for an hour or two.
What struck me, from the first sip, is how far Brokenwood Graveyard Shiraz has come stylistically. Graveyard Shiraz is now more under- than over-stated. This particular release is both a silken wine and a grainy one, which is a good combination in my books, and while there’s ample palate flavour and weight the emphasis really is on the finish. Indeed we’re essentially in peacock’s tail territory here. Iron, blood, plum, earth, blueberry, pepper and assorted nutty-twiggy spice characters all get a chance to strut their stuff. But it’s the way this wine extends its hand out to you on the finish, and pulls you further into its world, that makes you think that there’s a sleight, or a magic, or a certain special something in our midst. 96 points.
RRP$500.
