First released in 2001, Thomas Wines flagship Shiraz is a single vineyard wine sourced from the mature Pokolbin Estate Vineyard across the road from Brokenwood’s famed Graveyard Vineyard. The vines date back to 1969 and are planted on Hunter’s classic clay/loam soils, where the low-yielding vines produce fruit with exceptional depth and concentration.
This year, the fruit was hand-picked on the 22nd of February, cold-soaked for 48 hours and then fermented on skins for nine days. The wine was matured for 16 months in premium French oak hogsheads. Tasting with the winemaker, Thomas echoed something that Barney Flanders from Garagiste told us recently, “your flagship wine doesn’t have to be your biggest wine”. While the Elenay Shiraz channels juicy power and hedonistic enjoyment, the Kiss Shiraz is a more reserved expression, sitting firmly in the medium-weight spectrum whilst holding just as much complexity and aging potential.
It’s tightly coiled—embodying that “spring” metaphor Thommo uses to describe his Braemore and Kiss wines—with dark fruits, sweet spices, red floral lift and some smoky complexity. The palate is youthfully structured, layered with velvety mid-palate fruit and finished with great length and complexity. A cracking release that again proves Hunter can mix it with the best.