Growing Conditions
The 2017 vintage in Margaret River was supremely challenging yet ultimately rewarding. Spring was slow and cool, Summer was moderate with no heat spikes, and wet weather persisted throughout March, which led to much slower ripening and extended hang times. The season ended three weeks later than the average harvest time, significantly increasing the risks of disease in pockets of the region. The ‘Indian Summer’ at the end of the long season resulted for those that had held their nerve, in good tannin structure at much lower sugar levels compared with past vintages, and beautiful fruit perfumes.
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.
