Clonakilla have stood tall as a pioneering family-owned estate in Murrumbateman (Canberra District) since Irish scientist Dr John Kirk purchased the 44-acre farm in 1971. Translating to 'meadow of the church', named after his grandfather's farm back in Ireland, it was eventually John's son Tim (chief winemaker to this very day) who set out to craft their very first blend of Shiraz and Viognier in 1991, taking great inspiration after a trip through Northern Rhône. Certainly an auspicious decision in the history of Australian wine folklore, as this statement label has shined as their star pupil within a top catalogue of cool-climate whites and reds for decades now.
In the eyes of many, it is our country's finest expression of this famous blend, and come our tasting tomorrow (Saturday 18th July), we'll be itching to showcase the latest 2024 vintage off the back of mulitple high scores from critics, as well as a rarer public release for them in their Pinot Noir (often yielding too little to be released countrywide), which sits in an engaging middle ground between dark brambly fruits and forward oaky weight. Elsewhere, their 'O'Riada'and 'Hilltops' Shiraz efforts, the former aiming for bolder structure and permeating spice and earth, while the latter is always a brilliant brightly-pitched entry point, bursting with a tone of ripe red berries. Finally, two whites are set to shine in both their 2026 Viognier Nouveau, singing with youthful stone fruit and musk, and their standout 2025 Riesling; easily the best we've ever seen from them, with inpeccable mineral balance and tangy throughline.
All six wines are down on special for the coming week - we hope to welcome you with a glass at our tasting slot between 12 and 2pm tomorrow!
Clonakilla Viognier Nouveau 2026
$29 on special this week ($33 RRP)
"Viognier Nouveau captures the vibrancy of Viognier fruit in its youthful glory. Fermented cool in stainless steel to maximise aromatics, and bottled early for optimal freshness, the Nouveau gives the very first taste of wine from the new vintage. The 2026 season was full of excitement: early season frost, mid-summer hail then a January heatwave. Through it all the fruit ripened steadily, finishing off gently in the beautiful late summer. A rich and complex bouquet singing with musk, ripe pear, juicy stone fruit, and hints of warm spice. The palate is fresh and light, lively and delicious." -
Winemaker Notes
Clonakilla Hilltops Shiraz 2024
$30 on special this week ($35 RRP)
"This Shiraz is made from grapes grown by the Mullany and Gleeson families in the Hilltops district around Young on the south-western slopes of New South Wales. The fruit was destemmed and fermented in open fermenters with twice daily pump overs with 12 to 16 days on skins. Post ferment the wine was racked to French oak puncheons and barriques, around 10% new, for 12 months." - Winemaker Notes
"This release is as pitch perfect as they come. Medium in body, fruit-driven but with savoury and herbal inputs, slipped with tannin and satisfying through the finish. Prettiness, lightness and darkness are all afforded equal billing, which then allows toasty, meaty, umami characters to work around the edges. This is an excellent wine to buy and drink." - 93 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Clonakilla Riesling 2025
$34 on special this week ($38 RRP)
"Clonakilla is, of course, best known for its brilliant reds, especially the Shiraz Viognier. Do not ignore their Riesling. It is something special. A very pale lemon hue, there are intense aromatics with citrus, florals, limes, bath salts and talc all evident, with slight chalky notes in the background. Bright, zesty acidity runs the length and the wine is immaculately balanced. Utterly pristine, there is excellent focus and a very long and persistent finish here. This sits with the very best Clonakilla Rieslings I have seen. Drink over the next 15 years." - 95 Points, Ken Gargett, Wine Pilot
"Pale straw, bright in the glass and vibrant. Really pretty and lifted aromas of white flowers, lime leaf, lemon pith, bath salts, wet stone and lemon sherbet. Pithy, crunchy and deliciously mouth-watering. There’s lovely purity and drive, with lashings of perky citrus, tangy acidity and some shapely, chalky, textured grip on the finish. Classy wine!" - 95 Points, Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
Clonakilla O'Riada Shiraz 2024 -
$43 on special this week ($48 RRP)
"Given the fruit is off the estate and from three other properties, this is an excellent drink, in a finer style. A gorgeous purple-red hue and so fragrant with florals and red fruits (from raspberries to currants) all doused with baking spices and a sprinkle of black pepper. The palate is barely mid-weighted yet finely tuned with silty tannins and acidity that gives life. Up there as one of the best O’Riadas to date." - 95 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
"Sweet raspberry coulis, red cherry and cranberry leap from the glass, followed by a lovely countervailing of balsamic, wood smoke and woody baking spices — nutmeg, cassia bark. Things deepen with air to show cocoa powder, subtle dark chocolate, blackberry and gentle plum. Very alluring and complex. The palate is lifted and vibrant while maintaining intensity; it glides across the mouth with sweet spice, plum, blackberry, cherry cola and cocoa powder. Elegant and intense at once, with grainy, fine-but-firm integrated tannins. Cocoa powder bitterness permeates a long finish where the acid surges and rolls in waves. A classy O’Riada, and a classy wine in and of itself." - 94 Points, Tom Kline, Wine Pilot
Half Bottles of the O'Riada also available
Clonakilla Pinot Noir 2025 -
$60 on special this week ($68 RRP)
"At Clonakilla our Pinot Noir vines are getting older; we like to think the more deeply rooted the vines are, the more effective they are at accessing the complex mineral and nutritional resources in the soil. The Abel, 667 and Pommard vines were planted in 2013, the 777 and 115 clones were planted in 2007 and 2008, and the original 130 Pinot vines were planted by Clonakilla founder John Kirk way back in 1978. 2025 was a marvellous vintage season with excellent spring rain and a glorious warm summer. The '25 Pinot is right on song; a mesmerising perfume and a captivating energy through the palate. We think you'll love it." - Winemaker Notes
"There’s depth to this wine but there’s also exuberance. There’s also structure, nuance and distinctiveness, the combination of which makes for most delicious and engaging drinking. It tastes of deep black cherries, potpourri, spearmint, undergrowth and tobacco leaves, with cedarwood oak tucked neatly and modestly within. This is a dark and slightly brooding wine but then it’s fresh and juicy to close; it’s nothing but friendly but then it makes you sign a contract (or vice versa). In any case this is an excellent release of Clonakilla Pinot Noir." - 95 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier 2024 -
$129 on special this week ($145 RRP)
"The 2024 Shiraz Viognier is so perfumed from the glass, with notes of orange blossom and Boscobel rose, raspberry seed and peppercorns. The wine is delicately layered, spicy and medium-bodied, with so many nuanced levels of texture and flavor. In youth, these wines express floral detail and an orange-peel lift, while with age, they begin to show meaty nuances and ethereal, dried-rose-petal complexity. I love this wine in pretty much every vintage condition; it varies each year, but it remains true to its fine, complex DNA. This is super." - 97 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"The nose is complex. The palate is powerful. The finish is both fine-grained and sustained. The hallmarks of Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier are in keen supply here though, that said, this release is some years from really strutting its stuff. The nose has a stone-like character to it, along with apricot kernel, mint, mineral and sweet berried fruit. The palate is another matter: the nose plays things cool, but the palate opens up and flexes its fruit. Cherry-plum, anise, soy, assorted florals and smoked meats, though the emphasis is on the abundance of summer berries. It all comes down, in a way, to how the wine touches the wall, and here is where this wine excels: at the exact right time the fingers of flavour show both intricacy and precision. We’re up at the high water mark again here." - 96 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
If you wish to purchase any of these wines, please use the links above
Otherwise, if you have any questions, please contact us on (07)32521117 or email sales@thewineemporium.com.au
// Special prices valid until Friday the 24th of July