2023 Pikes Eastside Shiraz, Clare Valley

We tend to think of Pikes Rieslings as the wines from their portfolio which offer truly stellar value, for good reason. Add this to the list – a cracking value Clare Valley Shiraz. Maturation is in a mix of new and older oak for fifteen months. Deep maroon/magenta, the nose reveals notes of black cherries, florals, leaf litter, chocolate, aniseed and beef stock. A supple texture, the wine is beautifully balanced with a lingering finish, through to the silkiest of tannins. Drinks way better than some of its competitors, which are twice the price or more. For enjoying over the next ten to twelve years. Drink to 2037.

94 points Ken Gargett for Wine Pilot, December 2025

This is an attractive, balanced, poised, medium-bodied Shiraz displaying a neat combination of subtle oak, fine tannin, and some plush red fruits, exhibiting just a subtle blue fruit character for complexity. There’s a nice mix of spices and pepper with a subtle dark chocolate infusion. Silky smooth and effortlessly long. Drink to 2033.

93 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, November 2025

From the cool 2023 vintage, this Eastside is a regional blend of Clare Valley fruit that was fermented with a combination of indigenous and select yeasts in open top fermenters and matured for 15 months in new and seasoned oak.

The wine is made for tonight’s dinner, rather than the cellar. Enjoy with a bowl of pappardelle dressed in a rich ragu.

About this producer

Pikes is a Clare Valley based family business whose links to the beverage trade started in 1886 with beer and evolved in the 1940s to soft drinks and cordials. Pikes Wines came to being in 1984 with the family’s purchase of a 27-hectare parcel of land in the Polish Hill River subregion.