St. Andrews
Shiraz 2014
Enormously flavoursome with rich fruit characters of black cherry, plum and ripe berries. American oak adds nuances of vanilla, cigar box, coffee and toast.
| Previous Vintages | 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013 |
|---|---|
| Region | Clare Valley |
| Colour | At release, the wine has a deep red colour with a purple hue to the edge. |
| Nose | The wine has complex and enticing nose showing dark berry fruit along with juicy black plum, spice, cedar and hints of licorice, chocolate and roasted coffee. |
| Vintage Conditions | The growing season in the lead up to vintage 2014 saw average autumn and winter rainfalls on the Taylor family Clare Valley estate vineyards. During winter, the average daily maximum temperature was in line with long term averages, resulting in the first budburst occurring at the normal time of late August. The rainfall for spring was below average; however vine vigour was still good due to the presence of subsurface moisture from regular winter rains. During the first week of December there was a cool change and 16 mm of rain fell. This provided the vines with welcome opportunity to 'freshen up'. The remainder of December and the first half of January were dry and warm with thankfully no heatwaves due to regular cool changes. From mid-January to mid-February however, hot conditions prevailed which delayed veraison. Harvest commenced relatively early due to hot conditions through most of January and February. On February 14 the hot conditions and indeed harvest were both bought to a sudden stop by a big downpour of rain. For the remainder of February conditions were mild with daytime temperatures cooler than average. These cooler conditions retained acid levels in grapes and slowed sugar development thus crucially allowed time for the all-important flavours to develop. The mild conditions continued through March, allowing ideal, even tannin and flavour development to occur in the red varieties. |
| Oak Maturation | A percentage of the wine was barrel fermented and the final blend was matured in high quality, water-bent American oak barrels for 18 months prior to filtering and bottling. |
| Cellaring Notes | Crafted for immediate enjoyment but will cellar over a long term under ideal conditions. |