The Story 'Moyston Hills' Grampians Shiraz 2023 ($42 @ Cellar Door)

The Story Wines was established in 2004 by Rory Lane, selecting grapes from small, older vineyards in the Grampians region of Western Victoria. Rory's story isn't the classic one. He wasn't born into a wine family, he didn't make a small fortune in other business before turning his eye to wine, but rather he started small, with fruit from regions he was most passionate about and transported them to a small suburban winery on the outskirts of Melbourne. In a short time Rory has built a reputation for producing soulful wines, that speak of there regions, they aren't over handled and across the range you see a consistent theme of freshness, balance and drinkability.

Vegan Friendly

"This is, in many respects, the perfect Grampians shiraz/syrah. It presents a body of well-ripened fruit and feels refreshing. It's laced with black pepper and brings assorted meaty, smoky, rust-like nuances to the table. There's an intriguing 'stone' character to the tannin and a genuine flourish to the finish. This is yet more evidence of the excellence of this producer." 95pts | Campbell Mattinson | Halliday Wine Companion 

"Back in 2004 when The Story began, Moyston Hills was one of the first vineyards to supply grapes for our Grampians Syrah. After only two vintages a larger winery saw the quality on offer and contracted the entire vineyard. Fast forward 17 years and the wheel has turned back in our favour and we were offered the option to lease it ourselves. We jumped at the opportunity and it is now our first fully self-farmed site. We are taking it back to its organic beginnings and pushing for the finest quality possible to deliver both a unique single vineyard Syrah and also some very cool climate Grenache and Mourvedre for our ‘Super G’ wine. 

Moyston Hills is in the cooler, southern Grampians and is planted to the old St. Ethel clone of Syrah on reddish brown clay loams with significant amounts of quartz. The wines tend to exhibit bright, peppery, pure, lighter weighted syrah with savoury tannins. It is a great honour for us to be able to farm this vineyard and push it to greater heights." Brewery Notes