Barossa Shiraz 2022: Vintage report and top scoring wines

In a year of superb quality but small yields, the 2022 Shirazes offer a snapshot of evolving Barossa styles. David Sly assesses vintage conditions and recommends producers to watch, with scores and tasting notes of the top bottles.

By David Sly

last updated 23 July 2024

in Tastings

Barossa Shiraz 2022 overall vintage Rating: 4/5

A strong vintage with fruit of superb quality despite small yields. Winter rains nourished the vines, but frost, hail and wind events affected bunch sizes and reduced yields. Summer was cooler than usual; grapes ripened slowly and steadily in ideal conditions. The longer ripening period produced more nuanced, complex flavour profiles.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for wines rated 94 and above

The best new wines from the Barossa have a leanness and nimbleness that belies a long-held stereotype of Shiraz behemoths labouring under the weight of high alcohol and super-ripe fruit. Now, alcohol levels have dipped, palates have lively middle-weight verve and an understated elegance draws you deeper into the charm of these wines.

The 2022 vintage – a strong vintage with fruit of superb quality despite small yields – provides a fascinating viewpoint to observe this transition in motion. The stars of Decanter’s inaugural vintage report on the region have cast the profile of outstanding Barossa Shiraz in a fresh light.

Vintage conditions

Coming on the heels of the esteemed 2021 vintage, grapes from 2022 have produced superb wines, despite some vintage challenges. Strong winter rains during 2021 continued into spring, giving great nourishment to the vines, but this good news was tempered by damaging pockets of frost plus fierce hail and wind events during flowing that affected bunch sizes and reduced yields.

Summer was cooler than usual, but forecasted rains never happened, so the grapes ripened slowly and steadily in ideal conditions. Warm, sunny days and cool nights stretched into early autumn, and the longer ripening period produced more nuanced, complex flavour profiles in the grapes.

Despite its late conclusion, the 2022 vintage produced an ideal set of circumstances for Barossa winemakers to highlight important stylistic changes they have made in handling the finest quality Shiraz grapes.

Shiraz grapes on the vine Barossa Valley Australia — Shiraz grapes on the vine in Barossa Valley CREDIT: moisseyev / iStock / Getty Images Plus

An evolution of style

The most exciting wines are far removed from the Barossa’s historical ‘reserve’ styles, so prevalent in the early 2000s. At that time winemakers seemed obliged to focus on concentration, the strong use of new oak and strident tannin profiles – often with grapes ill-equipped to handle such assertive treatment.

There was a misguided belief that powerful fruit from old Shiraz vines could only be fully expressed with maximum ripeness, with all those inflated grape sugar levels being converted into high alcohol.

The best new-style Barossa Shiraz shows that notion to be a fallacy. Winemakers using components of whole bunch fermentation have added crucial vitality, pretty perfumes and energy to the depth of old vine complexity. Fruit is being picked earlier, to retain more sharply defined acids that amplify clean flavours.

Suddenly, there’s dramatic contrast at play – a rigorous pull between red and black flavour profiles, as lithe and luscious textures wrestle with tannic grip – proving that more Barossa winemakers have found smart ways to express intense old vine flavours with greater nuance and poise.

Click here to see all the wines tasted for this report

Producers to watch

Old vine in the Alkina Vineyard — Old vines in the Alkina vineyard CREDIT: Charmaine Grieger

Several of the most compelling 2022 Shiraz interpretations are provided by people who have come from outside the Barossa. They include Michael Hall, who evaluated jewellery in Switzerland before devoting himself to making wine in France, then in the Barossa; as well as Alex Head, of Head Wines, from Sydney.

Thistledown’s Masters of Wine Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW are UK-based. While Alkina winemaker Amelia Nolan, from Wrattonbully, also spent several decades in the UK wine trade.

Alkina proprietor Alejandro Bulgheroni is from Argentina. Belinda van Eyssen from South Africa is emerging as a striking new talent with The Cutting winery.

Their keen perspective on refined wines of elegance underscores that great Barossa fruit is an asset that shines when treated with tender care, rather than labouring under unnecessary hefty weight.

It’s therefore encouraging to also see stalwarts including Torbreck, Kaesler and Hentley Farm lighten the load of their Shiraz without sacrificing power and persistence. Greenock Creek is also in transition to embrace a more restrained style.

Other Barossans are looking at Shiraz afresh, from the vineyard rootstock up. Winemaker Dan Eggleton, whose Ben Murray Wines Shiraz 2022 is impressive for the lively appeal of its powerful old vine fruit, is now working with grower Matt Neldner to explore different Shiraz clones in greater detail.

They are making small parcels of wine from the 2023 vintage from five different Shiraz clones (R6, 1653, 1125, SAVVI60, PT23), all sourced from the same terroir in the Barossa’s Marananga sub-region.

Barossa: the facts

Founded: 1842

Vineyards: 14,236ha under vine, with 11,847ha in the Barossa Valley (elevation 112m-597m) and 2,389ha in the adjacent Eden Valley (elevation 217m-637m). This represents 9.7% of Australia’s total wine production.

Climate: dry and hot. Barossa average rainfall 160mm; Eden Valley average rainfall 280mm. Mean temperatures during the key January growing period: 21.4℃ in Barossa, 19.4℃ in Eden Valley.

Vine age: Barossa has the oldest producing Shiraz vines in the world planted in 1843. 283ha of vines are more than 70 years of age; 82ha are more than 125 years old.

The 30 top-scoring 2022 Barossa Shiraz

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After 30 years in journalism, Australian freelance writer, author and editor David Sly has been fortunate enough to indulge his passions in print. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, David has moved from newspapers to specialise in food and wine writing, being published in national and international magazines, from Gourmet Traveller to Decanter, and is Food & Wine Editor of SA Life magazine. He has focused intently on the specialised regional produce and wines of South Australia, winning national awards, and is a graduate of the University of Adelaide/ Le Cordon Bleu Gastronomy course.

Barossa Shiraz 2022 overall vintage Rating: 4/5

Scroll down to see notes and scores for wines rated 94 and above

Vintage conditions

An evolution of style

Click here to see all the wines tasted for this report

Producers to watch

Barossa: the facts

The 30 top-scoring 2022 Barossa Shiraz

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