Sigurd 2023 Red Blend
Tasting Notes
Glace cherries, forest berries and spice rise first - cinnamon, star anise, and a touch of clove - leading into darker tones of mulberry, blackberry and a faint sanguine edge. There’s a flicker of iodine and graphite beneath it all, an earthy hum that ties everything together. The palate is silky yet structured, fine grained in its tannins, carrying just enough grip to shape the wine’s long, elegant line. A quiet intensity - grounded, juicy, generous, and deeply drinkable.
Varieties: Grenache (26%), Syrah (20%), Carignan (15%), Cabernet Sauvignon (15%), Mourvèdre (13%), Lagrein (11%)
Alcohol: 13.0%
Origin + Winemaking
Each variety was fermented separately, with a range of 10–30 day ferments and around 10% whole bunch inclusion for gentle carbonic lift. Native yeast ferments - in a mix of 1000L wooden vats and stainless open fermenters, then pressed to mostly old large-format foudres (3000–1000L) and seasoned 300L French oak barrels. Aged for around 16 months in oak and a further time in stainless tank before bottling with minimal sulphur.
Sourced from a patchwork of Barossa vineyards - Syrah from Ebenezer (35yr old) and Vine Vale (65yr old), Grenache from 47yr old and 86yr old vines in Vine Vale and Moppa, Cabernet from 50yr old Vines in Vine Vale, Carignan and Lagrein from young northern Ebenezer vines, and Mourvèdre from a 25yr old block nearby.
Style: Medium-bodied, dry red wine
Vineyards: Hoffman Family Vineyards (Ebenezer) and Lionwill Estate (Vine Vale)
Best With: Ox-tail ragu with pappardelle, with a dash of gremolata
Drink: Now or over the next 9 years
The Story Beneath the Glass
In the Norse sagas, the Norns sit beneath the roots of Yggdrasil - the World Tree - quietly shaping the threads of fate. Each line they draw connects land, time, and life itself.
This Red Blend carries that same instinct for balance.
Different vines, soils, and varieties - each with its own voice - brought together through patience and intuition. Syrah gives depth, Grenache its lift, Carignan, Mourvèdre and Cabernet their grounding, Lagrein a fine edge of linearity.
The result feels calm but alive - layers of fruit, spice, and earth moving in rhythm.
A wine shaped by the unseen connections between place and time.
Read more about the 2022 vintage here:
The 100 best Australian wines of 2025: The Australian’s official list
Nick Ryan’s definitive selection of the year’s top reds, whites and sparkling drops for any budget.
Sigurd Red Blend 2022
$35
Blend
Dan Graham can make the exciting, idiosyncratic and intrigue-filled wines he does because he started out as an 18-year-old kid surrounded by towering tanks making wine for the masses. Sure hands at scale builds the confidence to produce small batches that appear effortless even when they’re anything but. This lithe and detailed Barossa blend of grenache, syrah, carignan, cabernet, mourvédre and lagrein summarises Sigurd neatly. It’s a wine that speaks of vineyards, not overbearing winemaking, and it prioritises drinkability above all else. And that makes perfect sense to me.
- 12.9% alcohol
- 95 points
