Mount Langi Ghiran: A masterclass in signature Shiraz

Located 190km west of Melbourne at the craggy southern edge of the Great Dividing Range in Western Victoria, the remote Grampians region is home to Australia’s pioneering, now iconic, cool climate Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz.

It is also home to some of the world’s oldest Shiraz clonal material, the so-called Swiss clone (or Great Western clone), which predates phylloxera in the Rhône.

The Swiss clone arrived courtesy of French and Swiss immigrants who, lured by the prospect of gold, settled in the Grampians in the mid-19th century.

They soon planted the first generation of vines in the Great Western area. Unlike gold, vines have stayed the course.

In 1969, when the Fratin brothers founded Mount Langi Ghiran, they sourced Swiss clone cuttings from Best’s Great Western’s Nursery Vineyard, planted by Henry Best in 1866.

The Fratins planted them in soils which Damien Sheehan – a veteran of 28 Mount Langi Ghiran vintages – calls ‘granite-infused loam’.

Scroll down for Sarah Ahmed’s Mount Langi Ghiran tasting notes

Siren spice

Having succumbed to the beguiling black pepper siren call of the Shiraz, Trevor Mast acquired the Mount Langi Ghiran estate in partnership with the first of two successive investors in 1981.

This was just six years after he started consulting for the Fratin brothers. The pioneering cool climate winemaker swiftly put Mount Langi Ghiran on the map.

The inimitable Shiraz he made caught the eye of Darren Rathbone, CEO and group winemaker of Rathbone Wine Group, which acquired the winery in 2003.

Reflecting on the motivation behind the purchase, Rathbone explains that Mount Langi Ghiran’s appeal went beyond ‘the Grampians’ style being closer to the Rhône than the Barossa’.

He contends: ‘You cannot make Shiraz like this anywhere but Mount Langi Ghiran; it is in an absolutely unique spot.’

Love in a cold climate

The Swiss clone was thought to hold the key to peppery Shiraz, until the Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) identified that rotundone was the compound responsible for pepperiness in 2007.

According to the AWRI’s research, rotundone occurs predominantly in grape skins, but also in leaves and stems.

It appears in higher concentrations at relatively low mean January temperatures (MJT), which occur at the peak of Australian summer. It increases during the later stages of ripening.

The AWRI’s findings reinforce Rathbone’s observations about Mount Langi Ghiran’s singularity given that the estate occupies the coldest spot of all in the Grampians.

While the overall regional MJT in the Grampians is 20.2℃, Mount Langi Ghiran’s MJT is only 18.35℃. This is colder than Launceston in Tasmania, Australia’s coolest climate state.

Test of nerve

Being inland, Mount Langi Ghiran benefits from a marked continental climate. This tempers the effect of elevation (the estate sits at 350m) and the bone-chilling south-westerlies off the Southern ocean.

These winds funnel between the Grampians range to the west and Pyrenees range to the east.

The significantly lower MJT additionally reflects the estate’s position at the base of Mount Langi Ghiran itself (922m), with Mount Cole (760m) and the adjoining state forest directly opposite.

During the evening, cold air tumbles down the mountains and flows through the valley, cloaking the vineyard in mist. In autumn, these mountains cast a shadow over the vineyard, reducing sunlight hours.

During January, peak temperatures at Mount Langi Ghiran might hit 35℃. But they drop to 5℃ or 6℃ overnight, according to Rathbone.

This accounts for the estate’s long hang times, which elevate rotundone levels and allow grapes to attain flavour and phenolic (tannin) ripeness, while maintaining acidity.

Fortunately, given its location 300km inland, the Grampians is dry, with little prospect of rain at harvest. However there is a downside in warmer years.

Rathbone explains: ‘You get to 14 or 14.5% alcohol early, but the tannins are hard and green. It takes a lot to hold my nerve and say “I’m not ready to pick yet”.’

Spatial reasoning

Following Rathbone’s investment in planting and precision viticulture, Shiraz for the top wines is now hand-harvested – which, he says, ‘produced a big quality jump’.

It is fermented with whole berries, sometimes whole bunch, in small parcels.

Only the best hand-picked grapes from Mount Langi Ghiran’s original parcel, known as the Old Block, make the cut for Mount Langi Ghiran’s famously peppery Langi Shiraz today.

The Old Block is exclusively planted to the Swiss clone and ‘tends to a dark berry fruit spectrum, laden with mixed spice’ according to chief winemaker Adam Louder.

As for the rotundone factor, following field trials in 2012, 2013 and 2015, the AWRI produced a ‘spice map’ identifying a spatial pattern to rotundone accumulation.

It revealed that the Old Block’s least-exposed south and south-east parcels might accumulate three times more rotundone.

The studies also highlighted that cooler years produce more rotundone, which the vertical tasting confirmed.

Based on the available data, rotundone levels ranged from 8 nanograms per litre for the 2013 Langi Shiraz (which is below the perception level of 16ng/L), to 118ng/L for the 1999 vintage.

In the glass

The overall balance and finesse of Langi Shiraz impressed at this tasting. Cooler vintages garnered my highest scores, displaying exquisite detail, fragrant, peppery spice, cool granitic (pertrichor) minerality, agile fruit.

The dynamic acid and tannin structure also allows top vintages such as 1999 to flow effortlessly, yet age gracefully.

Warmer, drier years like 2013 with elevated whole-bunch fermentation, produced meatier, firmer wines, with more backward fruit.

If the fruit opens up, as Rathbone predicts, they may warrant higher scores. Going forward, he regards whole-bunch ferments as ‘a tool we will consider’.

However he notes: ‘We are finding that we are getting better results with whole berry.’

Single vineyard sites

Shiraz accounts for just over 70% of Mount Langi Ghiran’s 70ha vineyard, which produces three additional estate labels.

The single-parcel Mast Shiraz is from House Block 4, the coolest block, planted by Mast to clone P23. Talus Shiraz is from warmer mixed clonal blocks and Cliff Edge – the lightest-framed entry-point estate Shiraz – is a melange of blocks and clones.

Louder describes the Swiss clone as tending to ‘fine, yet firm tannins’ versus the ‘earthy fine tannins’ of P23 clone and ‘lighter’ tannin of 1654 clone.

In line with his observations, Mount Langi Shiraz had the most gravitas. The other Shiraz clones (PT23 and 1654) had more supple tannins, notwithstanding Mast coming from the coolest site.

The riper velvety tannins and fruit of Talus additionally reflect its warmer parcels.

Whether from early vintages featuring American and French oak, or the 100% French oak used by Rathbone now, the wood was seamlessly integrated.

With the exception of the Langi Shiraz 2019, so was the alcohol, despite being rather more elevated than one might expect of a benchmark cool climate Shiraz.

Of course that is a function of being among the last Shiraz vines to be picked in Australia. Typically Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz is harvested at least six weeks after the Barossa Valley, during late April or early May.

Slow is evidently the way to go.

Rathbone reports that in 2021: ‘Everything was mild, nothing happened too quickly and, with a long cool summer, it was steady all the way through, with plenty of picking windows, including six for Langi Shiraz.’

He describes it as a ‘spectacular’ vintage. With their elevated rotundone levels (79ng/L) and scores, the siren spice call of all four of Mount Langi Ghiran’s 2021 Shiraz releases thoroughly beguiled me too.

Mount Langi Ghiran vertical

Related articles

• Bilancia: The cult winery in search of perfect balance
• What are the best wines for spicy food?
• Syrah and Shiraz – what’s the difference?