Clonakilla winery is a family business, established by John Kirk in 1971 when he bought a 44-acre farm near the village of Murrumbateman, about 40 minutes north of Canberra. He planted a vineyard and named the property Clonakilla after his grandfather’s farm in County Clare. With the help of his sons, John completed the first winery building in 1977, a simple cinder block construction. A bore was sunk in 1978 and larger plantings became feasible. Clonakilla’s vineyards are relatively high for Australia, sitting around 2000 feet above sea level. The continental climate provides warm days and cool nights through the summer resulting in complex, layered aromatics and fine structure. Ranked as one of the top 100 wines in Australia in the 8th Langtons Calssification, the Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier is a benchmark example of a lifted, perfumed style of Australian Shiraz with clear references to the Northern Rhône.