Growing Conditions
Solid winter rains filled our dams and allowed for good levels of soil moisture to nourish the developing vines, which burst in September. A couple of well-timed summer showers in January and February topped up the soil moisture during the ripening period, while the warm, windy conditions allowed the grapevine canopies to dry quickly and prevent the risk of mildew. The gentle summer conditions without any heat spikes allowed the fruit to ripen gradually, resulting in a fantastic 2018 vintage in Margaret River, characterised by fragrant perfumes, amazing levels of fruit freshness and succulent levels of natural acidity
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.
Aging
Museum release available from the winery.
