Shiraz 2009
Tasting Notes
Dark fruit, fresh meat and milk chocolate can be found on the nose as well as hints of marshmallow weed and spice if you look carefully. The nose segues subtly into the long, balanced, persistent palate. A super McLaren Vale Shiraz.
Vintage
A very dry winter was followed by a hot January which segued into a dry, mild conclusion to vintage. Small crops of both whites and reds were the result of dry conditions in winter and the preceding 3-4 years. In the case of the red varieties, the longer you waited for them the better they got.
Winemaking
As a single vineyard wine, the Shiraz is made in a myriad of ways to provide a range of components from which to make the final wine. Traditional vinification saw the Shiraz undergoing a gentle fermentation in open fermenters with daily pump-overs. Approximately a third of the Shiraz was pressed off into barrel to finish ferment. A very small percentage of cordon cut, vine-dried Shiraz was blended back to the wine prior to bottling. The Shiraz matured in a mix of new and older French and American oak barriques prior to bottling.
Reviews
James Halliday's Wine Companion 2012
Strong purple-crimson; a supple, medium-to-full- bodied shiraz bursting with glossy black cherry and blackberry fruit plus the regional dark chocolate signature; has a juicy twist to the finish. Became organic in '95, and I'm all for organic viticulture.
93 points
The Australian Wine Annual 2012 Jeremy Oliver
Its meaty, smoky complexity, more spicy and fine-grained nature and spicy floral perfume stamp this as a more contemporary McLaren Vale shiraz. Its faintly jammy bouquet of blackcurrants, dark plums, raspberries and cedar reveals a whiff of menthol, while its smooth, juicy palate of marginally sour-edged small berry/ plum fruit is knit tightly with mocha oak and supple tannin, finishing with length and freshness, plus a note of licorice.
92 points
The Melbourne Age and Sydney Morning Herald Good Wine Guide 2012 Nick Stock
A big, rich and ripe shiraz that makes much of the innate soft, fleshy charm of McLaren Vale. Some purple fruits and plums on the nose, with light oak spice. The palate's easy and even, really ripe reds fruits, purple berries and plums. Tannins are at the ripe end of the spectrum. 90 points
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Picking Date: 16th and 23rd Feb 2009
pH Level: 3.55
Total Acidity: 6.59
Alc/Vol: 14.5%
Bottling Date: 29th April 2010