Source: jamessuckling.com. Issue Date: Tuesday, October 5, 2021 (JS-90)

Quite a savory expression with dark plums, dried blackberries and violets, as well as fine-ground, toasted brown-spice notes, such as cloves, cardamon and mace. The palate holds a compact, flavorful stance with fine tannins wrapping dark-fruit flavors and cocoa-like notes neatly into the finish. Drink now. Screw cap.

Source: Winemaker,

The Name
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 Vintage
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.

The Winemaking
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 old French 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.

The Characteristics
A rather dark appearance with a vivid purple hue suggesting a complex dry red. The nose is particularly intense, with peppery spice, hints of fragrant flower and perfume aromas, plus nectarines, apricots, ginger and herbs from the small parcel of viognier that the Shiraz is cofermented with. On the palate the Shiraz is more dominant. There is some sweeter fruit characters like blackberry, blueberry and boysenberry. The palate is rich and generous and soft silky tannins.

Harvest dates 12 Feb – 11 Mar Alcohol 14.5%
Residual sugar 1.4 g/l Titratable acid 7.1
pH 3.40 Oak maturation 10 months