What makes a wine deserve this acclaim in the true sense of the word? The answer can be found at the Kirk family’s winery outside Canberra.
The word “iconic” is bandied around in the wine world far too much, and as a result has lost much of its potency. If we take it to mean something that is worthy of veneration, something that represents an era, then very few wines really fit the bill. Penfolds Grange, first made in the 1950s, is certainly an iconic shiraz of its time. And in the same way, I would argue, Clonakilla’s shiraz viognier is a wine ofFirst produced in 1992, this wine is everything Grange is not.
John Kirk spent much of his childhood in the 1940s on a farm in county Clare, on the west coast of Ireland, and his teenage years in the hotel his parents owned in the spa town of Lisdoonvarna. At around the age of 14, John was put in charge of “maintaining the wine cellar” for the hotel dining room, and although too young to drink, devoured the writing of noted wine man, André Simon, to help him with his purchasing decisions.
“But when the 1990 vintage came along,” said John, “I decided, almost on a whim to make a straight shiraz. And to get some feedback on it, and with no great expectations, we entered it into the Griffith wine show. It was awarded the prize not only for best shiraz but also the best wine in show. At this point, we realised that making the cab shiraz was a mistake. At Clonakilla, the straight shiraz is far better.
A few years before, another of John’s sons, Jeremy, now a judge in the Supreme Court of NSW but then 14 years old, had suggested that, as a small winery, Clonakilla could make a name for themselves by growing lesser-known high-quality grapes.
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