Whistler is a small family business in the heart of the Barossa, with an incredibly special history.
Martin Pfeiffer is a third-generation Barossan grape grower who spent most of his career working for Penfolds, ultimately as one of their head viticulturalists overseeing several of their best vineyard sites used for the iconic Australian wine, Grange.
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When Martin retired, he was the last of only three people permitted to take cuttings from the fabled Grange vineyards of the very special Kalimna 3C shiraz clone to plant his own vineyard, which he did in 1994. These vines still make up the Whistler Estate shiraz vineyard today.
When Martin’s son, Sam, took over Whistler in 2020, along with his wife Kelsey, the intention was to do justice to these incredible vineyards and the remarkable heritage of the vines. They brought in Michael J. Corbett, one of Australia’s best winemakers, known for his unrelenting fastidiousness and drive for freshness, balance and focus. It was then that Whistler became a contender as one of the great high-quality wineries in Australia.
2023 is the third vintage of the Estate wines with Corbett as the winemaker and he is well into his stride, creating classy, complex and classically styled wines with the kind of finesse, elegance and balance of a degree that only he seems to achieve.
I was lucky enough to taste the 2023 releases against the 2022 and 2021 wines. The 2023s are very serious indeed and offer quite remarkable value. The 2021 wines were just starting to show what they are capable of and surpassed my expectations of this stage in their development and I am confident these wines are set for the long haul. My only worry is that they will achieve the recognition they richly deserve and become harder to get hold of. For now, I will be buying them for myself while I can still afford them!
These are special, unmissable fine wines, and it is an honour to offer them to you before they are released anywhere else in the world.
The wines
While shiraz is the headline act, given it was the first variety planted, the cabernet sauvignon grown here is sensational, too. Produced from cabernet sauvignon clone D3V14 which Martin Pfeiffer planted in 1997, this is a plush, supple and intense cabernet, with a firm backbone but aromatic charm. Together with shiraz, it is harmonious in the Whistler Estate Shiraz Cabernet and on its own. A classy, classic red.
The vintage
2023 was an excellent vintage in the Barossa, particularly for Michael Corbett’s winemaking style, allowing him to lean into his drive for finesse and freshness. A slightly cooler-than-average spring and summer with consistent rainfall early in the season resulted in good vine health and quality fruit. The season was long enough to allow steady ripening, resulting in balance and complexity. Harvest was drawn out, meaning that each parcel could be picked precisely when it was the right level of ripeness.
