Nose
Inviting ripe, red fruits, with violets and lifted notes of seductive Satsuma plums. A touch of nutmeg spice completes the introduction.
Palate
The palate is a reflection of the bouquet with ripe, red, berry fruits dominating. Violets and juicy plums are enveloped with lingering fine tannins.
Growing Conditions
Margaret River vineyards produced lower than expected grape yields across all varieties in vintage 2016. The cause can be traced back to adverse weather conditions that affected primordial bud formation, followed by a-typical cool and unsettled conditions in November and December 2015 which impacted flowering and fruit set. Winter was warmer than usual. Disease pressure was minimal, although birds such as Silver Eyes were a problem due to the delayed blossoming of marri flowers so the vineyard was netted. Once again the quality was exceptional in all varieties.
Winemaking
The grapes were picked in the cool of the morning, destemmed and placed in two open fermenters. Innoculated with a neutral yeast and the cap plunged up to four times a day, by hand. After 10 days the wine was kept on extended skins for a further ten days. Then the wine was drained and the must basket pressed off to tank where it underwent a malolactic fermentation which softens the acid. The wine was then racked to a mix of one and two year old French barriques, then left to mature for 10 months. Blended and put to bottle in July 2017.
Appearance
Deep dark red with purple hues.
