2023 Ravensworth Syrah, Canberra District

Deep ruby in colour with a very pretty nose of violets and lilac with red and black cherry fruit, vanilla oak and white pepper spice. Elegant, layered and structured, with grippy, savoury tannins to finish. A deft hand with winemaking and delightful to drink now, or hold. Drink 2025 to 2032.

95 points Melissa Moore for The Real Review, November 2025

The 2023 Syrah leads with a bouquet steeped in rose petals, rose oil, blood orange, myrrh, plum and mulberry. It has notes of chinotto and mustard seed, licorice and blueberry. This is a very pretty cool-climate Syrah. It fermented with whole berries and matured in one new Taransaud puncheon for two years. Drink 2025 to 2033.

94 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2025

Perfumed and spicy, with aromas of violets, blackberries, blueberries, black pepper, cured meat and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied and tightly wound, with bright acidity and fine tannins, giving flavors of dark cherries, mulberries, olive tapenade, spices and crushed stones. Drink or hold.

94 points James Suckling, August 2025

Not an easy season, wet and with that lots of pressure and thus work to ensure fruit is in good nick, and yet this wine is revealing all the best things of that vintage: peppery, spicy, some bresaola plus florals, boot polish and herbs. It is aromatic; it is syrah, after all. The palate is tight, with lots of upfront tangy acidity and sinewy tannins. There’s plenty to enjoy here, and best in the short-term. Drink 2026 to 2031.

92 points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion, February 2026

Bryan Martin spent years as a winemaker at Clonakilla alongside Tim Kirk before establishing Ravensworth in 2001 at Murrumbateman in the Canberra District. The operation is deliberately small, built around a straw-bale cellar housing an eclectic collection of vessels — amphora, ceramic eggs, concrete and large oak foudres — each chosen for what it brings to a particular wine rather than aesthetic reasons alone. His philosophy stops short of the natural wine camp but leans firmly in that direction: no chemicals, no additives, minimal intervention, and a deep trust in fruit, site and the microflora that have been doing this work for millennia.

The deliberate choice of Syrah on the label is Bryan Martin's way of signalling intent: this is cool-climate, northern Rhône in spirit rather than Australian Shiraz in style. Made from estate grown Murrumbateman fruit, whole berry fermented with indigenous yeast before pressing to a single new Taransaud puncheon where it spent two years maturing. Tiny production, close attention to detail, minimal interference.

The wine has come through from a challenging season with grace. Violets, rose oil, blood orange and dark cherry on the nose with white pepper, myrrh, cured meat and graphite. The palate is medium-bodied and tightly wound with bright acidity, fine tannins and a savoury, mineral persistence.

The wine's spice, florals and savoury depth find a natural partner in something earthy and carefully made: a duck confit with lentils and herbs, or a slow-braised rabbit with mustard and thyme.

Drink now through 2033.