Nose
Floral scents of rose oil and aromas of soft red berries poaching in aromatic spices.
Palate
The palate has a vibrant and rich fruit weight of blueberry and dark cherry fruits with subtle savoury herbs and mocha/vanillian oak spice. In structure, the wine is fine, with guiding silky tannins and a soft mineral acidity, adding length and finish.
Growing Conditions
The first signs of the approaching vintage began with budburst in the early spring of 2014 as the vines shrugged off their winter dormancy. During this formative period of growth, the weather conditions began to shape the vintage to come. In the temperate climes of the south west of Western Australia, the preceding winter provided adequate rainfall for sustained vine growth. As the earth gradually faced more to the sun and spring uncoiled its impulsive nature, a warm, dry summer set the stage for a promising outcome. When verasion began in late January, the native marri blossom was abundant in the Great Southern yet curiously absent in Margaret River. Another battle to be fought as netting becomes an annual necessity to protect the valuable crop. The middle autumn period, so often spotted with potential cyclonic fallout did produce intermittent and lingering rain from mid to late March, which slowed the red harvest and cooled the season.
Winemaking
The 2015 Pinot Noir harvest commenced on 21st February and concluded on 10th March, over a ripeness spectrum of 13.5 to 14.5º baume. In an endeavor to craft an exceptional and complex wine, many winemaking techniques are employed in the making of this wine. Selected block are hand-picked, all block are hand sorted, and a portion of cold soak and whole bunch is also incorporated before fermentation. At dryness, the wines are basket pressed, then allowed to settle before decanting to French oak. The oak maturation combines barriques, hogsheads and 600lt puncheons of which 20% are new and 80% once used. The malolactic is initiated and completed in oak where the wine remains for a further 8 months. The wine was blended, fined with fresh egg white, filtered then bottled .
Food Pairing
Roasted lamb shoulder with thyme gremolata or sesame pan-seared tuna filet with a dipping soy sauce.
