2025 Atom Wines Syrah $40
After figuring among the earliest plantings in Tasmania in this modern era of viticulture, Shiraz (aka Syrah) spent more than half a century playing bridesmaid to Pinot Noir and a whole host of red wine varieties. Then came the milestone year of 2011 when Barossa-born winemaker Nick Glaetzer won the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show with the 2010 Glaetzer-Dixon Family Winemakers Mon Père Shiraz.
Little by little, the classic Oz variety has started to gain a small but steadfast customer base in the State. There are two dozen or more growers now actively involved in learning how to get the best out of it from their cool-climate growing conditions.
Pooley Wines' incredible multiple trophy wins at the prestigious 2026 Sydney Royal Wine Show – Best Shiraz, Best Red, and Best Wine of Show – suggest the rewards are there for those wishing to lavish fastidious care on the variety in their vineyards.
Having devoted five years of his life to planting vineyards prior to launching Atom Wines with his wife Rachael in 2022, Richard Jones had inside running when it came to accessing topnotch material for the couple's small-batch Syrah.
Fruit for this wine came from young vines established at Richmond in 2021. The vineyard's mix of Triassic sandstone and Jurassic dolerite played host to grazing sheep for almost 200 years. It's a tough, rocky site that naturally constrains crop yields each vintage.
Always among Tasmania's driest districts, the Coal River Valley performed according to expectation in 2025. Rain events over summer fell away markedly as harvest approached. February and March were both warm, but cooler temperatures in autumn slowed sugar accumulation among mid-season and late-season varieties.
That gave fruit time to build additional colour along with critical aroma and flavour compounds. Atom's deep, almost impenetrable 2025 Syrah initially telegraphs 'approach with caution.' But there's a marked juiciness to the palate, something that makes it ripe for current drinking. (It weighs in at 15.3 on the naughtiness scale so be sure to count your drinks with this one.)
Rich berry and plum fruit give the wine a certain voluptuousness but the fine ripe tannins and lingering natural acidity provide good counterpoints. It spent 12 months in oak, 25 percent of its being new. That expensive French woodwork remains in the background, however, even after the wine has had aeration and/or time in the glass.
More evident are the spicy, black pepper notes and that savoury/earthy quality you often see in reds from the Coal River Valley.
Atom Wines are made under contract at Ghost Rock Vineyard, just outside Devonport. Young Californian ex-pat Sierra Blair has been resident in the State since 2019 and that on-site experience really shines in the Arnold family's wines and those of their clients.
Atom's design and packaging won two AGDA awards in 2022. The organisation is the peak body representing the Australian communication design industry.
With the end of the year fast approaching, the Joneses' well-priced 2025 Atom Syrah would make a great gift for someone with eyes for good design and a palate to match.
Source: Havilah Winemakers Spotlight Atom x Bremley held 15 October 2026
Last page update: 18 October 2026