Nose
Expansive aromas of poached dark-fleshed plums, blueberry muffins, star anise, violets and mocha.
Palate
Reminiscent of pane forte, an exotic mix of plump ripe fruit flavours, hints of pepper and ginger spice, chewy tannins and rich palate texture.
Growing Conditions
Another exceptional vintage from the premium, southern grape growing regions of Western Australia. Winter rainfall was close to the long term average. The growing and ripening seasons, while largely warm and dry were punctuated with rains and windy conditions that did affect set and subsequent yields in many varieties. Warm, dry weather from late summer to mid- autumn delivered even ripening for the harvest. This mild end to the season allowed all varieties to ripen perfectly with high natural acidity, fine fruit structure and silky tannins.
Winemaking
Harvest of the 2010 Leston Shiraz blocks occurred in the middle of March. Vinification occurs in both open vat and closed stainless steel fermenters with diligent cap management to extract fine fruit tannin and strong varietal flavour. Select parcels of grapes are run to barrel at 2 to 3º Be to capture new barrel characters from the final few degrees of fermentation .The remaining blocks are pressed at dryness to retain fruit vibrancy. Barrel maturation occurs in 50 % new and 50% older barriques of which 95% are French oak and 5 % American oak. 18 months in oak, is ample time to achieve the thorough integration of oak and grape tannins. Each vineyard block is retained and managed separately throughout vinification and maturation in order to build a grape and wine history of the vineyards over time. The wine was blended in September 2011 from a selection of the best Shiraz blocks on the Leston vineyard. After egg white fining and light filtration, the wine was bottled.
Appearance
Vibrant dark raspberry.
