Reviews: 95 points The Wine Front
95 points Halliday Wine Companion
94 points The Real Review
Winemakers Comments:
The 2019 Vintage was short and compressed showing fantastic quality across all varieties. The warm and dry season contributed to the short ripening period. We were lucky though, good rain fall during winter and early spring meant our rich red soils were at full water capacity. The vines utilised this water source to establish healthy canopies allowing the fruit adequate shading during hot days. Minimising sun burn is crucial to the quality of the fruit and maintaining the lifted perfume characters in our wines.
We experienced average rain fall in the start of the season until an eight-week dry spell which started in mid-January. After two weeks of dry warm conditions, it was clear ripening would begin to move quickly, this was similar to the 2016 vintage which was compressed and chaotic. Fortunately, I learnt from that vintage and we quickly prepared to receive ‘lots’ of fruit in a very short period of time.
Harvest date: 22/03/2019
Baume: 12.6 bè
pH: 3.46
TA: 5.3
Soil: Red volcanic / basalt over clay
Elevation: 180m
Aspect: North
Clone: Unknown
Yields tons/acres: 1.8
Vinification:
Fruit is handpicked from the original vines planted in 1972. De-stemmed into open bins which is then tipped into 2 ton open stainless steel vats allowing 100% whole berries. Fermentation starts with wild yeast, co-fermenting with malolactic fermentation and hand plunged daily. The wine is then pressed off skins and run to barrel, aged in 10-20% new large format (300-500 litre) French oak barrels for 12 months. The wine is then racked with no fining or filtration to bottle.
Tasting Notes:
2019 was a great year for the later ripening varieties, Shiraz and Cabernet. The Cabernet was one of the highlights in 2019, the wine has great concertation and complexity that is layered with ripe structural tannins. The balance of flavour, savouriness, perfume and tannin are some of the best we have seen in the last 10 years. This will be a wine to appreciate with time. Drink 2026-2034
Wine Analysis:
Production: 105 dozen
Alcohol: 13.0%
Ph: 3.45
Acidity: 6.6 g/L