“The Clonakilla and now the Mackellar Ridge wine stand as a testament to the quality of wine that the small Canberra District is able to produce,” writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER. 

I received an email from a wine merchant urging me to buy the Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2024 at $124.99 a bottle.

The email spruiked that wine critic Ken Gargett had described the wine as world class and gave it 99 out of 100 points.

I looked him up on the Winepilot website, which said he, “mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books.” 

That’s good experience, but I didn’t appreciate the comment in the email that: “Gargett says the only reason it didn’t receive 100 points is that [winemaker] Tim Kirk may yet find a way to make something even better.” 

The Clonakilla shiraz viognier has come to epitomise the best of the Canberra District wines and I found that comment irritating. It’s like the feeling I get when a bloomin’ computer asks me to prove I’m not a robot: I often yell: “Don’t patronise me!” 

The 2027 Halliday Wine Companion says that the Clonakilla 2024 shiraz viognier has a rating of 96 points. It quotes Mr Kirk as saying that 2024 turned out to be “heartbreaking and brilliant… heartbreaking because frost in October caused damage, but brilliant because the fruit that survived delivered powerful aromas and intense flavour”. 

The intensity of that flavour has obviously translated to the 2024 wine, which I am yet to taste. But if it is as good as some past vintages, then it’s one for the cellar. 

But I did recently taste the McKellar Ridge Estate Shiraz Viognier 2024, which won two gold medals in 2025 and is less than half the price of its Clonakilla competitor at $60 from the winery.

The addition of only four per cent viognier gives the shiraz a different complexion, with layers of rich fruit flavours that provide an elegant wine

While this blend originated in Cote Rotie in the Northern Rhone, it has become the signature blend of Murrumbateman with the first vintage of this blend from Clonakilla starting in 1992 with, I believe only one per cent viognier but including some pinot noir and mourvèdre. This followed a 1986 planting of viognier, a then rarity in this country. 

The viognier levels down the weight of the shiraz and provides, albeit at small percentages, a zestiness that in both the Clonakilla wine (I’ve tried previous vintages) and now the Mackellar Ridge wine stands as a testament to the quality of wine that the small Canberra District is able to produce. 

Along with the co-fermented viognier, the Clonakilla version always includes a proportion of whole bunches in the ferments, usually in the range of 20 to 30 per cent.

Tim Kirk told me he believes that the stems from the bunches add a subtle savoury aromatic dimension, but more interesting still he says is the effect of the micro-ferments that go on inside each grape as they stay attached to the stem through the arc of ferment. The juice from these berries once liberated by the pressing process at the end of the ferment carries distinctive red fruit notes along with a striking floral dimension that blends well with the vibrant spice notes so characteristic of Canberra’s cool-climate shiraz.

Light to medium-bodied aromatic reds appear to be increasingly in vogue as wine lovers turn from the high-octane power hitters of yesteryear to wines that are easier on the palate (not to mention the liver) and more readily matched with a wider variety of dishes. The Canberra District’s benchmark cool-climate shiraz viognier style certainly seems to fit the bill.

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