2023 Stanton & Killeen Shiraz Durif, Rutherglen

Deep ruby, almost opaque at the core. Full and lifting aromas of plum preserve, dark chocolate and wood oils. Palate is big and dense, super-ripe plum fruits are bundled with lashings of vanilla, chocolate and wood oil complexities. It is all held together by firm granular tannins that carry it long and dry the finish well. A robust style that will benefit from a couple more years maturity. Drink to 2037.

90 points Stuart Knox for The Real Review, February 2025

This 2023 red is a 56/44 blend of estate-grown Shiraz and Durif sourced from Stanton & Killeen’s Francis vineyard. The hand harvested grapes were picked mid-season, destemmed and crushed into small open top fermenters, with daily hand plunging for gentle extraction of colour, flavour and tannins. The pressed wine was racked into a combination of French and American oak barrels for a six-month rest ahead of flavour assessments. The parcels that were blended for this wine then matured a further nine months in barrels to allow the two varieties to integrate.

About Durif

For many Durif is Rutherglen, as far as table wines go, and the variety has been grown in the warm continental climate of the region since 1906. 

A natural cross of the Peloursin and Shiraz varieties, it requires a long growing season to ripen properly and hence thrives in the warm and dry continental climate of Rutherglen. The variety is also planted in numerous old vineyards of California where it is known as Petite Sirah, a reference to its relatively small, thick-skinned grapes arranged in small, tight packed clusters.

Deeply pigmented, Durif needs careful vinification to avoid overextraction of its naturally abundant tannins, which also help making its wines some of the long-lived reds around.

About this producer

Stanton & Killeen was established in 1875 and is now run by the seventh-generation Natasha and Wendy Killeen. The estate sits three kilometres west of Rutherglen on well-drained red loam soils.