From our newsletter in October 2016. Mr Natural has been a natural ever since:
Our new offering, Mr Natural Shiraz, has been a few years in the making, but is now doing particularly well, both wholesale and cellar door.
It’s unoaked, made from our 1654 clone with no additives or adjustments, apart from a small amount of sulphur (about a third of usual) at bottling to protect it. While it has a few rough edges as a result, it has lovely round fruit and nicely balanced acid, tannin and spice. It also has an interesting smokiness that people are attracted to.
Chris Shanahan said in the Canberra Times – “Bottled young and fresh, with no oak maturation, the medium-bodied red shows the lovely ripe-berry and spice character of Canberra shiraz in a soft, juicy drink-now style.”
Nick Bullied MW and Mike Bennie said in the Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine – “Shows great depth of dark berry fruit on the nose with a black pepper overlay. The palate’s full bodied yet supple, with exotic spices, and has good length. Bennie agreed. “Black cherry, berry compote, anise, sarsaparilla, sniff of cola, and a whiff of clove-like wood,” he said. “Fleshy textured palate with juicy, generous mouth feel, cool finish, crisp tannins and a light, fine spritz keeping things interesting.” They gave it 91/100.