Shiraz 2021 Half Bottles

TASTING NOTES
Deep dense colour of dark plum. It opens with lifted spice and black pepper aromas cutting through deeper vanillin oak. This wine is very impressive. The medium weight palate is supple and soft with nice balance of fruit and oak. A gentle and persuasive wine that creeps and delivers by stealth and is a typical Shiraz that comes from this part of the world.


VINEYARD
Fruit sourced from our 41 year old 12 hectare Dry Grown Vineyard. Our old vines are not irrigated; something quite unusual in these days of mass commercial production. Having smaller fruit fosters an intensity of the flavour, with most of the colour and tannin of the grape being concentrated in or near the skin. The characteristically cool climate of the district ensures slow ripening of the grapes, which also allows for the development of rich flavour and quality grape juice. Grown on ancient gravely loams, our old vines are all cane pruned and yield 2 tonne per hectare. Galafrey harvest their grapes from mid-March to late April depending on the season.


VINTAGE COMMENTS

After 2 years of lower volumes and drier years. This year was a reminder of what vintage is always like, fast pace as you battle the weather. Did you love the 2013 reds? Intense in flavour. Well, that is 2021. Big wines, big flavours and not that easy to juggle in the winery. The biggest difference this vintage was the rainfall in Nov, Dec, Jan and Feb with 121ml of rain. A wet February saw 51 ml fall for the month to start us of for vintage. January max temp was 39.5 degrees, February was 36.2, March was 37 degrees. With lots of beastly eastly drying winds in the first few weeks of the January.

WINEMAKING
Mechanically harvested these dry, cool to mild climate grapes of the Great Southern region will produce classic Shiraz, wines with great depth of flavour and structure. Pick from two blocks, Old Vine Shiraz which is 35+ years old and young vines which ironically is 20+ years old. We endeavour through meticulous viticulture and wine production sympathetic to the vintage conditions to produce a Shiraz that will express varietal characters in tune with its sense of place. Left of Skins as long as possible to ensure depth of colour and flavour our winemaking is geared toward producing a wine that is harmonious, with a minimum of two years in quality French oak.