Nose
Black berries, dark chocolate and aniseed aromas, gently lifted by hints of cherry blossom, white pepper and allspice.
Palate
Utterly coating black and red fruit tannin on the entry, which is continued and amplified through the palate by soft textures laced with liquorice and spiced meats. An opulent finish of graphite and spiced black plums. Drink now for freshness or be rewarded with cellaring.
Growing Conditions
A wet winter set the soils up nicely to nourish the developing vines, but continued rains and a cooler spring season led to yields being lower than is typical. A cool start to summer, continuing into and throughout the growing season meant very slow and gradual ripening, allowing for better acid retention, preservation of aromatics and overall finer tannin and texture. The whites were harvested 3 to 4 weeks later than normal, with amazing fruit purity and floral notes. Despite mid-season rains, the reds were still able to hang well into April, with a relatively dry finish resulting in ripe but very fine tannin. Low yields mean that the 2019 vintage in Margaret River is one to be treasured, characterised by aromatic, fine wines of exceptional length.
Winemaking
Picked in the early hours of the morning, our Shiraz fruit was destemmed directly to the fermentors as whole berries, resulting in slower and more controlled extraction of tannin and greater retention of fruit based aromatics. A cool ferment on skins for 14 days was followed by a gentle pressing straight to barrel. The wine was matured in a combination of French Oak barriques and puncheons, 30% of which were new, and underwent bâttonage every 5-6 weeks. After 10 months in oak, the wine was lightly fined prior to filtration and bottling.
