Brokenwood Wines began its Shiraz story in the Hunter Valley, where the variety has long been at the heart of the region’s winemaking identity. While the Hunter Valley is perhaps best known for Semillon, Shiraz has played an equally important role in shaping the region’s reputation, producing wines that are distinctive, age-worthy and unmistakably Hunter Valley.

Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz

For Brokenwood, the story of Shiraz starts at our Graveyard Vineyard. Planted in 1968, the vineyard has become one of Australia’s most celebrated Shiraz sites, producing wines of exceptional character, longevity and place. The Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz has gone on to become an icon of Australian wine, with decades of vintages demonstrating the remarkable ageing potential of Hunter Valley Shiraz. The vineyard itself has a fascinating history, with its name originating from early Pokolbin parish town plans that proposed a cemetery for the block. The cemetery was never built, but the name Graveyard Vineyard remained. Its distinctive red volcanic soils, warm days and cool nights have proved an exceptional combination for growing Shiraz. The resulting wines are known for their elegance, structure, savoury complexity and ageability.

All the Right Regions for All the Right Reasons

This diversity is central to the Brokenwood Shiraz story. With the motto of ‘all the right regions, for all the right reasons’, we continue to explore how different sites, climates and vineyard histories can shape the same variety.

As Brokenwood’s Shiraz story has evolved, so too has our portfolio. Today, the range showcases the variety across a selection of vineyard sites and styles, from the classic Hunter Valley expression to the cooler, more spice-driven style of Beechworth and the richer, more powerful wines of McLaren Vale. Indigo Vineyard Shiraz, grown in Beechworth, sits somewhere between the elegance of Hunter Valley Shiraz and the richness of McLaren Vale. Made from cuttings originating from Graveyard, Rayner and Wade Block 2 vineyards, the wine is a fascinating expression of both place and heritage. Showcasing spice, violet aromatics and an elegant breadth on the palate. The Rayner Vineyard Shiraz, from McLaren Vale, offers another distinct expression. Planted on pure sand on a north-west facing slope, the vineyard has a long history with Brokenwood, with us helping to establish its reputation over more than 30 years. More fragrant and perfumed than the darker, denser Wade Block 2 Shiraz, Rayner offers a different perspective on the variety, with its own combination of fruit, spice and elegance.

For Chief Winemaker Stuart Hordern, this is one of the great strengths of the Brokenwood portfolio:
“We have a very wide portfolio. There is something there for everyone.”

As well as this, the topic of ageing Shiraz is major. A bottle opened today is not necessarily the same wine it will be in five, ten or twenty years. It is a living part of the story, continuing to change and develop long after it has left the winery.

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