2022 Rudderless Vineyard Shiraz

Highly Rated
Class act McLaren Vale Shiraz. Gorgeous drinking here with a brilliant balance of power and elegance.

Price:
Sale price$35.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Sourced from Doug Govan’s meticulously planted vineyard at the foothills of Sellicks Hill, this wine is all about intensity, structure, and regional character. Govan’s decision to plant Shiraz here, using cuttings from his favourite vineyards, has paid off beautifully, with the vines now delivering fruit that’s rich and complex, year after year.

This is a well-crafted, approachable Shiraz that offers fantastic value for what’s in the bottle.

Made by Pete Fraser and the team at Yangarra, this Shiraz is all about balance. It’s fruit-driven but not overly rich, with just enough oak to add a layer of complexity without overwhelming the freshness of the fruit. A solid, well-rounded McLaren Vale Shiraz that you can enjoy now or let sit for a few years to soften even more.

If you’re looking for a quality, mid-tier Shiraz that captures the spirit of McLaren Vale without breaking the bank, the 2022 Rudderless Vineyard Shiraz is a great choice.

95 points
"Quite some perfume here, spicy too, blackberry and boysenberry, some black olive. It’s medium-bodied, offers crunch and freshness, fine grip of stony tannin, quite meaty and savoury, but has bright red and black berries too. A twist of black pepper on a precise finish of excellent length. Gee, this is stylish and good to drink. I can’t quite make up my mind on score – 94 or 95 points I reckon – though I’ll give it the push because it’s just so classy."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The Lower Vineyard
“The original level-headed plan had been to plant 2.5 acres behind the hotel on my own property. However an identical size piece of land to the west beckoned me for two reasons.

Firstly it had been established with five meter tall almond trees which blocked the panoramic view; and secondly it had a gentler slope and would accordingly be easier to establish.

There was only one snag, I only owned about a quarter of this precious little parcel of land. So amicable negotiations with Andrew Just and his family resulted in a long term lease being established.

I was determined to make everything as difficult as possible. Thirty four rows, not one with the same length as another. Four different varieties with cuttings taken from ten different vineyards. I traveled the countryside in the middle of winter taking cuttings from some of my favorite wineries.

My rationale was not to try and emulate their wines, but to at least start off with vines that had a story that was meaningful to me. Consequently vines were sourced and planted in spring of 1999.

The summer of 2000 was one of the most ferocious on record with mean maximum temperatures in January and February being 3.1 degrees above normal.

February had 18 days with maximum temperatures above 30 degrees. And Sellicks Hill had plenty of hot gully winds! Along with Cuculiobeetles and dehydrated, hungry kangaroos, conditions weren’t ideal for establishing a new vineyard.”

That was the establishment phase of the ‘initial’ vineyard. These vines will produce 1.5 to 2.0 tonnes per acre.

The Upper Vineyard
Four years later, the ‘upper’ vineyard was planted on a much steeper slope in harsher soil in the spring of 2003. I expect this vineyard to produce even less fruit; perhaps in the order of 1.0 – 1.5 tonnes per acre. It is an even, rectangular planting behind the hotel. Once again I braved the elements with two muddy golden retrievers in tow during some pretty stormy winter days to take most of the cuttings from really great vineyards in the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. The Viognier and Graciano were both sourced from the “South Australian Vine Improvement” group.

95 points - "Quite some perfume here, spicy too, blackberry and boysenberry, some black olive. It’s medium-bodied, offers crunch and freshness, fine grip of stony tannin, quite meaty and savoury, but has bright red and black berries too. A twist of black pepper on a precise finish of excellent length. Gee, this is stylish and good to drink. I can’t quite make up my mind on score – 94 or 95 points I reckon – though I’ll give it the push because it’s just so classy." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message