2022 Ministry of Clouds Blewitt Springs Shiraz, McLaren Vale

The 2022 Single Vineyard Blewitt Springs Shiraz is dark, deep and aromatic, and the oak plays a role here but isn't the entire story. There are notes of blood plum and tapenade, crushed rocks and brine. This vineyard block is owned by the Patritti family and is planted on the deep white sands that Blewitt Springs is so famous for. This is a wine that unfurls both in the glass and in the memory as it fades as well, showing a cavalcade of flavor and texture. Largely in Stockinger oak, it matured for 10 months as opposed to seven and included 25% whole bunches in the ferment; it is a powerful, structural wine. Drink 2026 to 2037.

94 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2025

Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood launched Ministry of Clouds in 2012 with a clear focus on site-specific wines from distinguished McLaren Vale vineyards. The Blewitt Springs Shiraz has been part of the range since that first vintage, celebrating a single dry grown vineyard planted by the Patritti family in 1960. This elevated site faces east to capture the cool morning sun and sits on the deep sand over ironstone soils that define Blewitt Springs as one of McLaren Vale's most distinctive subregions.

Fruit was hand harvested with 25% whole bunch retained and the balance gently destemmed to whole berries before wild fermentation in a traditional open vat. The 2022 vintage delivered exceptional balance and intensity, and the winemaking responded accordingly: five weeks on skins to build the structure needed to match the weight of fruit, before gentle basket pressing to a combination of a new Stockinger demi muid and older French oak puncheons for ten months maturation.

The result is dark, deep and aromatic — blue fruit, bright cherry and cranberry on the nose, layered with violets, nutmeg and a foundation of spicy French oak. The palate is intense and finely structured, with persistent sandy tannins, a core of concentrated fruit and a line of natural acidity keeping everything taut and focused.

A wine that unfurls slowly in the glass and will linger long in your memory. Give it plenty of air before serving alongside a standing beef rib roast or slow-braised lamb.