Giaconda Estate Vineyard Shiraz is founded on the meagre, sub-alpine granitic soils that have come to define Beechworth’s terroir and its inimitable expression of weight, intensity and drive, underlain by an uncanny levity of being. Giaconda Estate Vineyard
Shiraz is an apogee of inimitable power and weightlessness, unravelling across a raft of violet, clove, peppercorn, dried nori and blueberry fruit accents, before a second wave of graphite, tapenade and charcuterie comes into play. The feel is one of richness, yet the finish is energetic, taut and almost balletic, serving as a springboard to impressive length and longevity.
Giaconda vineyard was established by Rick Kinzbrunner, a mechanical engineer who became interested in wine in the early 1970's. Rick then spent the next ten years working in the industry, travelling and following his passion for wine. After a brief stint in New Zealand, he studied at Davis University in California and worked at some of the most respected wineries in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys (namely Stag's Leap, Simi and Matanzas Creek). In Europe he worked for the Moueix group in Bordeaux, co-owner of the fabled Chateau Petrus.
After returning to Australia in 1980 to take up a position as assistant winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa, Rick purchased land in the nearby Beechworth wine region - at the foothills of the beautiful North-East Victorian Alps. Planting commenced in 1982 and the property is now devoted solely to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. A separate planting of Nebbiolo has also been established close to the Beechworth township at Red Hill. Total area under vines at the Giaconda Estate Vineyard is now 4 hectares. Annual wine production is approximately 2,500 dozen bottles.
Dark red to coal black in colour. Notes of damp forest floor combine with a zephyr of savoury meats and campfire smoke, with raspberry and star anise notes lifted by the whole-bunch component. Round and rich with a satisfying fruit-laden palate of wild berries coming to the fore. The tannins are powder-fine and convey red fruits with a twist of spiced vanilla oak, long on the palate. Evocative and immensely complex, this finishes with a strong mineral and graphite impact. A wine that is destined to have a long future.
