Nose

The bouquet shows a lovely lift of berries, red currants, & black cherries with a dusting of cinnamon spice & star anise

Palate

Medium to full bodied, mouth filling with plentiful vibrant fruit texture, firm, ripe tannins, & an undercurrent of both spice & savouriness. Beautifully balanced, finishing juicy, succulent & long

Growing Conditions

An exceptional vintage. The season commenced with a wet start to June when rainfall was 30% above average. From this point onwards the months dried to below average rainfall & maximum temperatures crept up above the long-term averages. Lower yields, but outstanding quality across the board

Harvest

74% was hand-picked from 24th February – 5th March from the unirrigated 1973 plantings on the original estate, 26% is the aromatic PT15 clone picked from our Karridale vineyard between 11-12th March 13.6 °Bé - 14.2 °Bé

Bottling

Bottled in November 2021.

Winemaking

A mix of both open & closed fermenters with a small proportion of whole-bunch; plunged & pumped over, the ferment spent an average of 12 days on skins. Unfined.

Aging

15 months maturation in large, aged format French barrels (mainly hogsheads) of which just 10% were new, during which time the wine underwent MLF

Appearance

Brilliant crimson

Food Pairing

Pulled pork sliders or lentil shepherd’s pie