2024 Collector Marked Tree Red Shiraz, Canberra District

95 points Gold at the Canberra and Region Wine Show 2025

What a beautiful shiraz. Everything just so; it’s perfectly poised and immediately appealing, although it will age gracefully if you can wait. It’ll be hard though, because of the gorgeous aromatics of exotic spices and florals, with a little meaty reduction alongside the ripe, fleshy fruit doused in a touch of pepper. Silky tannins sashay across the medium-bodied palate and, with the lithe acidity, the finish is long and lingering. Drink 2026 to 2036.

95+ points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion, Special Value, February 2026

Good depth of red-purple colour; the bouquet gently spicy and undoubtedly cool-grown but not excessively peppery. There's a subtle waft of smoky reduction and minimal oak showing. The palate is medium bodied and intense with appealing red and darker fruits, spices and a hint of cola. The tannins are well judged to provide backbone and structure but also immediate drinkability. Refreshing finish. A really stylish shiraz and remarkable value. Drink 2025 to 2038.

95 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, November 2025

Collector Wines launched in 2005 with the inaugural release of the Marked Tree Red Shiraz. A NSW Wine of the Year, it articulated what quintessential Canberra District Shiraz could be.

Alex McKay is the winemaker behind the label. His path to that moment ran through an early mentorship with Canberra District pioneer Edgar Riek, followed by years working within Hardy's significant investment in the region — a venture that proved to be short-lived but left a lasting mark on a generation of local winemakers who developed their craft during that period. That immersion gave Alex a deep and detailed understanding of the Canberra District and its surroundings.

For Alex, every wine begins with the vineyard — listening carefully to what a site might be capable of, shaping its management long before any winemaking decisions are made. The wines, many named after artworks rather than vineyards, are a quiet reflection of that philosophy: elegant, considered and never trying to be anything other than what the site allows.

The ancient, weathered granite and shale soils and continental climate give Canberra Shiraz a distinctive perfume, fine tannin profile and savoury edge that sets it apart from warmer Australian regions. The Marked Tree Red draws on hand-worked parcels of Shiraz from vineyards in and around Murrumbateman. The 2023/24 growing season was well suited to the variety — a moist spring and summer followed by temperate conditions through late summer allowed gradual, stress-free ripening, building spice, flesh and density in the fruit. Grapes were hand-harvested and fermented with whole bunches in open fermenters before maturation in a mix of new and seasoned Allier and Tronçais oak.

The 2024 is fragrant and immediately appealing — dark cherry, blackberry, exotic spice and florals on the nose, with a touch of pepper and a subtle smoky reduction. The palate is medium-bodied with a dense, focused core — everything in balance, nothing out of place — silky tannins and lithe acidity carrying through to a long, refreshing finish. Styled for early drinking but with the structure to age gracefully.

Allow the wine plenty of air and enjoy alongside roasted lamb, wagyu beef or a well-seasoned mushroom dish. Drink now through 2036.