Nose
Dark sweet plums and black berry fruits with liquorice, honey and cracked pepper spice.
Palate
Concentrated, compact and intense in berry fruits with hints of brushed earth, minerals and savoury spice.
Growing Conditions
An excellent vintage from the premium, southern grape growing regions of Western Australia. A warm and dry spring followed by a summer punctuated with perfectly timed rain events was otherwise low in humidity. The autumn harvest period was dry and protracted with vintage conditions best described as on the warm side of perfect. The resulting red wines have definitive varietal expression, rich fruit power and fine tannins.
Winemaking
Harvest of the 2011 Scotsdale Shiraz occurred in late March. Vinification occurs in small 4 t open 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 40 % new and 60% 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. After pressing, each batch is matured separately in order to build a wine history over time. The wine was blended in September 2012 from a selection of the best Shiraz blocks. After egg white fining and light filtration, the wine was bottled.
Appearance
Antique ruby.
