Grown in a low-yielding drought year, an example of what can be done when truly making wine by hand. We kept things gentle for this small parcel of wine with handpicking, hand plunging and basket pressing all done to compliment the wine - there's no by-the-book recipes applied here. 

The Shiraz grapes were on our estate, in a single vineyard we planted ourselves within our hidden little valley, just north of our winery. Yields were one of the lowest on record following back-to-back drought years, coupled with variable Spring weather and a hot summer. The small amount of grapes were picked by hand with a tiny team during lockdown.

From Vine to Wine

The shiraz grapes were hand-picked before gentle crushing and destemming and transfer to an open top fermenter. The wine was fermented at controlled temperature for 7 days before basket pressing. A single American Oak barrel was chosen for oak aging for 6 months, followed by steel aging for 30 more months to allow the structured tannins to develop. After bottling in early 2023 the wine was bottle-aged for six months before release. 

Out of the Bottle

Our Shiraz is a rich ruby colour, a balanced wine with velvety texture and mouth-coating tannins. Strawberry and cherry fruits and vanilla pod are dominant characters, with subtle white pepper and a smooth finish.