Gundog Estate’s Syrah-esque Flintlock Shiraz highlight + more new releases

I can’t keep up with Matt Burton’s sprawling range of Gundog Estate wines, but I rather like discovering the latest Shiraz, Riesling or Semillon jewel.

You can add the Gundog Estate Flintlock Shiraz 2022 to that assortment.

Effectively, the top dog Hilltops Shiraz, and sourced from a special block on Roger Clark’s vineyard at Boorowa in the Hilltops. It feels a little special, too. A bit of coolness to it. Matured for 16 months in barrel, but oak just raises the mid-palate – otherwise, it’s tangy, it’s perfumed, and pretty, with the polished raspberry and blackberry creams (there’s the oak) and a Cornas-like peppery vibe. Tangy but creamy, and really quite composed.

I like it and like drinking it.

Best drinking: good now, better in five, good for at least a decade after that. 18.5/20, 94/100. 13.5% (but 12.9% in the notes, $75. Would I buy it? Worth a bottle, even if the price is up there.

While we’re on a Gundog roll, a few more reviews:

Gundog Estate Hunter‘s Shiraz 2022

A classic Hunter Shiraz called Hunter’s Shiraz. A shit photo, sure, but it’s a medium, purple wine of fleshiness delivered in careful moderation. Grape Hubba Bubba purple jubey fruit flows from nose to palate making for such a primary wine, and good and bad because of it. I popped it in the fridge for a bit, then poured another glass, and it was a gold medal delight, the cool temps turning down the jubey fruit. But as the glass got warmer, it lost the edge, and the grainy mulberries looked a fraction squishy, like stewed boysenberry (a bit like my blurry photo, eh?) Somewhere in between, you’ll get a joyful, berried, medium-bodied generous Shiraz that is really appealing.

Best drinking: pretty good now., and it’s going to live for a decade easy. 18/20, 93/100. 13.5%, $40. Would I buy it? Yeah, at least a few glasses.

Gundog Estate Riesling 2023

An easygoing Canberra Riesling. A little forward, with a nice floral lime blossom nose, the green apple palate is gentle despite the mouth-coating talc acidity. I want this to be just a smidgen less diffuse, but it’s entirely drinkable.

Best drinking: nowish. 17.5/20, 91/100. 11%, $40. Would I buy it? A glass.

Gundog Estate Shiraz 2022

All Canberra fruit for this Shiraz, too, and matured for 12 months in barrel. It’s spicy. Early picked style and the oak seems a curious, vanilla artefact over what is a tart, light, pepper-strewn red. Drying, raw tannins are a bit much for the light fruit too. There’s a cool wine in there, though, which tips it over the silver medal pass mark.

Best drinking: wait at least five years for the oak to settle down, then watch the score go up. 17/20, 90/100. 12.5%, $40. Would I buy it? A glass, maybe.

Gundog Estate Gundaroo Riesling 2023

An off-dry style of Canberra Riesling, which rarely works. Indeed this is a plump, candied and juicy Spatlese-esque style that ends up too sweet to be delicious, with Fruit Loops and limey acidity that doesn’t quite gel. It’s not poor quality, but the sugar unbalances everything. Yeah, nah.

Best drinking: now. 16.5/20, 88/100. 7%, $40. Would I buy it? No.