Thousand Candles 2013 (Shiraz & Pinot Noir)

Thousand Candles has become one of the most exciting wine releases each year. One is never certain what the composition or style will be; what winemaker William Downie wants us to enjoy is the best expression of the Thousand Candles Yarra vineyard in each vintage. If that's a single varietal wine, or a blend, so be it. Previous vintage 2012 Thousand Candles was 80% pinot with 20% shiraz. In vintage 2013 Thousand Candles is mostly shiraz but with some influential pinot and a flash of aromatic savvy. It works, and then some...

Michele's notes: Dark and slippery, thick and juicy.  Black fruits with licorice, honey, vanilla, woody herbs, char, ultra savoury umami. Insinuating flavours and cat's tongue tannins. Lightness with depth, great presence. Very impressive and extremely more-ish.

Tyson Stelzer 97 points: '...It's at once savoury like a great Wendouree, perfumed like Vosne Romanée and structured with the grip and assuredness of Hermitage. Yet it is emphatically and definitively Australian. With no varietal indications on the label, Bill Downie is reluctant to reveal its ingredients. "If it came from any other country, we wouldn't even ask, and Australia won't assume its rightful place in the world if we don't value place over variety." Mr Pinot no more, Downie has conjured the wine that will define the next chapter of his career and may yet go down as his finest to date - and it is, largely, not a pinot noir.

It evolves and morphs in a gripping odyssey, leaping out of the glass with violets, exotic spice, black fruits and fresh liquorice straps, scaffolded around a mouth-embracing structure of wonderfully fine tannins. If you must know, the best of 100% whole bunch cool climate shiraz (55%) meets 50% whole bunch pinot noir (40%) and a dash of sauvignon blanc (5%).'

2013 Thousand Candles (Yarra) SPECIAL $89 (RRP $105)