Sourced in equal parts from two 60 year old hand pruned and hand picked vineyards, the fully ripened fruit was crushed, fermented traditionally in small open topped fementers, then basket pressed and allowed to mature for 22 months in older French and American oak hogsheads. Intensely perfumed and redolent of cherries, dark chocolate and spicy older oak flavours, the palate offers sweetness and softness yet exquisitely mouthfilling and persistent on the finish. A great wine to complement a range of fine foods and cheeses.

Winemaker Kevin Mitchell purchased the Kilikanoon property in the heart of South Australia’s picturesque Clare Valley in 1997 with a vision of creating his own brand. The first Kilikanoon branded wines were from the 1997 vintage and released in 1998. The wines were Shiraz (soon to become the Oracle, Mort’s Block Riesling, Prodigal Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon, with all the grapes coming from the 2 vineyards owned by Kevin and his father Mort.

Like many Australia winemakers Kevin Mitchell is highly trained in both the scientific and artistic sides of winemaking. He also comes from a long tradition of grape growing in the Clare Valley, where grapes have been grown and wine made since the 1850s.

His father Mort Mitchell has been a defining influence, having planted and lovingly tended for decades Kilikanoon’s Golden Hillside suite of contiguous vineyards, including the famed Mort’s Block, home to Kilikanoon flagship wines like Oracle Shiraz and Mort’s Block Riesling. The vines are now what we call “old vines” being around 40 year of age. Kevin’s love of terroir comes from years of playing and then working in these vineyards as a child alongside his father.

From these humble beginnings with about 2000 dozen bottles produced from the 1997 vintage, Kilikanoon has grown its production to over 40,000 dozen in 2007. This has been done without any change in the philosophy of hand crafted wines, but has been made possible by the gradual acquisition of estate-owned vineyards throughout South Australia’s finest wine regions. In addition to its vineyards in the Clare Valley, which now total over 150 acres or 60 hectares, the Kilikanoon group, through its owners and the Watervale Private Trust, a small group of wine-loving investors owns vineyards in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Eden Valley, Angle Vale and the northern district of the Southern Flinders Ranges. In total over 1000 acres or 400 hectares. Of course only a small selection of the finest fruit from these extensive holdings finds its way into Kilikanoon branded wines. The group sells fruit to a number of Australian wineries, both large and small.

This rapid growth required some help. Kevin’s main partners in Kilikanoon since 2001 have been two well-known Australian classical musicians, Nathan Waks (Principal Cellist with the Sydney Symphony and also Managing Director of Kilikanoon) and John Harding (concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Western Australian Symphony Orchestras), along with Bruce Baudinet (Kilikanoon Chairman) and head of Oracle Funds Management and their families. This has kept Kilikanoon a small family run company, with Board meetings often taking place under the arbour at the Kilikanoon cellar door…

In its relatively short history Kilikanoon has won a large number of Australian and International awards and received high praise from the world’s most respected wine writers. The 2002 Clare Valley Wine Show was what really put Kilikanoon on the map. That year there were 7 trophies awarded (trophies being awarded to the highest scoring gold medallists where the judges felt the wines were of sufficient standard). Of these 7 Kilikanoon won 6, remembering of course that the judges, led that year by Huon Hooke, one of Australia’s most respected and influential wine writers and judges tasted all the wines blind.