14 Gold Medals

The luscious elegance of the Clare Valley fruit marries superbly with the slightly peppery fruit from McLaren Vale.

Dry/Sweet
dry
semi sweet
sweet
wine body
light
medium
full
Oak
none
some
plenty
grape varieties

Shiraz

blend or single variety

Single Variety

region

Clare Valley 65% / McLaren Vale 35%

colour

At release, the wine has a deep, rich crimson colour with a vibrant purple hue to the edges.

nose

There are lifted aromas of ripe, dark berries along with subtle plum and cafe creme mocha and spicy overtones of nutmeg, cinnamon and clove aromas.

palate

This is a luscious wine with layers of flavours of dark berry fruit, ripe cherries and plum along with attractive oak characters of roasted coffee beans and spice. Overall, the wine is well balanced with well-integrated tannins providing the palate with firm structure and persistent length.

oak maturation

The wine was matured in a combination of 2 and 3 year old French oak barriques for 12 months before being fined, filtered and bottled.

vintage conditions

In the Clare Valley, growing conditions leading up to vintage 2013 could best be described as benign, apart from a frost event of mid-October which impacted several blocks on our estate vineyards. There were very few significant rainfall events over the growing period with the season being described overall as dry. The first week of December saw a 30mm down pour which was most definitely a season changer. Without the rain event, the overall yields from 2013 would have been very low. Harvest conditions were excellent with the first white varieties picked in early February. Our winemakers report that quality is outstanding across all varieties, with excellent acid balance and flavour development displayed in the resultant wines. The 2013 vintage in McLaren Vale was quite successful with no rain interrupting the harvest. Harvesting grapes was completed by the end of March. With all of the fruit safely into wineries by Easter & the industry grateful for a holiday break. As well as being dry, there was effectively no rainfall for three months from December; it was also notable for being a warm summer. In the background it was officially announced to be the warmest summer experienced in Australia since records began and this explains the rapid ripening seen locally. The weather presented some challenges, but also had some advantages with disease levels the lowest for many years and fruit very clean & healthy. Whilst the McLaren Vale vintage was light in crop, it was of very good quality.

cellaring notes

Crafted for immediate enjoyment but will cellar over a long term under ideal conditions.

alcohol volume

14.50%

acid

6.37

pH

3.50

residual sugar

1.50

pack size

Single: 750ml bottle, Case: 6 x 750ml bottle