2020 Frankland Estate Shiraz, Frankland River, Australia
The market on this bottle
Wine-Searcher tracks this 2020 Frankland Estate Shiraz, Frankland River, Australia across the open market. Their published U.S. low is $20.03 and the average is $25.37. Our slash is $20.00.
Frankland Estate Shiraz 2020
2020 Frankland Estate Shiraz, Frankland River, Australia
Shiraz from Frankland River.
Natalie MacLean scored this estate shiraz 94 points, and James Suckling scored it 93 points!
Natalie MacLean found a dark ruby glass of ironstone, plum, black cherry, cassis, baking spice, and raspberry, medium-bodied and silky, expressive of Frankland River, with a window through 2033.
Suckling found "red cherries, sliced plums, white pepper and hot stone" on a medium body with silky tannins, juicy and long, from organically grown grapes, and he said to drink it now.
When Natalie MacLean and James Suckling both stop on this estate shiraz, what are you waiting for?
"Black pepper lingers in the background."
The home parcels, apart from the single vineyards
This is the estate-grown shiraz from the home parcels in Frankland River, and it stands apart from Isolation Ridge and from Smith Cullam.
Judi Cullam and the late Barrie Smith planted the home place in 1988, turning wool country in the Great Southern of Western Australia toward wine.
The 2020 was sealed under screw cap at 14.5%, and the savory line of Frankland River stays in the fruit.
Lamb, steak, and a long stew
A pan-roasted rack of lamb takes the cherry toward the crust, a reverse-seared steak takes the hot stone, and a long beef stew takes the plum into a dark sauce.
The tannins stay beside the roast, so the glass holds from the first slice through the last of the pot.
The second generation, still in the Great Southern
Hunter Smith and his sister Elizabeth run Frankland Estate now, the second generation on the vines their parents put in during 1988.
Elizabeth's husband, Brian Kent, has made the wine since 2010. The home place sits about 330 km south of Perth and about 50 km inland from the coast, with a cellar door on Frankland Road that takes visitors on weekdays by appointment.
Rack, steak, or the pot
Sear the rack until the fat renders, reverse-sear the steak so the crust stays thin, and give the stew the hours that turn the sauce glossy.
Pan-roasted rack of lamb
Rack of lamb with a browned crust and a rosy center.
Why it works: Rosemary and rendered fat give the rack a crust the glass can cut through.
View Recipe for Pan-roasted rack of lamb (opens in a new tab)
Reverse-seared steak
Thick steak with a deep crust and a warm center.
Why it works: The thin crust and the warm center keep the pepper in the meat.
View Recipe for Reverse-seared steak (opens in a new tab)
Beef stew
Beef and carrot in a dark glossy sauce.
Why it works: Hours in the pot turn the sauce glossy, and the beef stays in large pieces.
View Recipe for Beef stew (opens in a new tab)Take the bottle.
Frankland River shiraz, with the pepper still in the finish.
The bottle is $26. FEATURED20 takes another 20% off at checkout. Add it.
