2024 Thomas Wines Kiss Shiraz, Hunter Valley

Gold at 2026 Hunter Valley Wine Show

This is the last vintage of Kiss shiraz from the 1969-planted Pokolbin Estate vineyard, bulldozed to make way for a housing estate. It feels profoundly wrong that buildings can be heritage listed, but not vineyards. Thankfully, cuttings were taken, so the genetic material can live on. But what a wine to close this chapter! It has a wafting berry perfume, and a dark, intense, memorable palate that marries power with energy and finesse. It feels like a mandala in a glass, reminding us that nothing is permanent and that beauty deserves our full attention while it is here. The only redemption is that this vineyard helped make Andrew Thomas the extraordinary winemaker that he is today, a truth no piece of heavy machinery can ever erase.

97+ points & Special Value Toni Paterson for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

This has been the flagship Shiraz for Thomas Wines since 2001, expressing the very best of each vintage from the 1969 planted Pokolbin Estate vineyard. The hand-picked grapes were cold soaked for 24 hours and then fermented on skins for nine days. The wine was then matured for 16 months in French oak hogsheads of which 20% were new, and the balance of second and third use. The bottled wine rested in a climate-controlled cellar for eleven months before its release in May 2026.

About this producer

Thomas Wines was established in 1997 by winemaker and Tyrrell’s alumnus Andrew Thomas in 1997. Today, eldest son Dan works along his father, their focus remaining firmly on premium Hunter Valley Semillon and Shiraz.