Our Estate wines are crafted from 100% estate grown fruit and are made on site in our winery. These elegant cool-climate varietal-focused wines are a reflection of our unique vineyard, surrounded by native flora and laden with deep mineral-rich red volcanic soils. Each release embodies the notion of terroir, painting a picture of our secluded corner of the Upper Yarra Valley with a stamp in time.
The 2023 vintage, was one of the coolest and wettest vintages on record, marked by low yields and producing fine-framed, elegant and aromatically intense wines.
La Nina delivered high rainfall throughout Spring and into December however, the New Year brought with it blue skies, drier conditions and mild Summer temperatures allowing steady flavour development and retention of natural acidity and freshness. Cool and windy conditions during flowering and low bud fruitfulness from the year before combined to bring light bunches and low yields.
The Estate Shiraz was handpicked with initial bunch selection carried out in the vineyard. Once in the winery, fruit underwent second pass down the sorting table. Around 20% whole bunches were retained, and the remainder de-stemmed into 3-tonne open top fermenters.
After a four-day cold maceration, fermentation commenced spontaneously, with daily hand plunging for gentle cap management. After pressing, the wine was run directly to French oak – a combination of puncheons and hogsheads (comprising 20% new) where it matured in barrel for a further 12 months. The wine was then carefully racked to tank and bottled without fining or filtration.
Super fragrant and floral this wine shows lifted aromas of potpourri, red currant, alpine herbs, pepperberry, graphite and earth.
The palate is energetic yet generous for our cool-climate site, delivering complexly intertwined flavours of Davidson’s plum, blackberry, bayleaf and violet. Defined natural acidity and pops of crushed rose petal and dry roasted spices drive the length of the palate, keeping things tight, fresh and focussed on the finish.
97 points, Halliday Wine Companion
“All estate grown, including a portion of original 1972 plantings; 32% whole bunches. A vibrant crimson red. Gently brooding with aromas of dark cherries, dark chocolate shavings, brown spices and a little cherry blossom. While it's still a touch closed, the palate has an old-vine creaminess to it, finishing with ripe, very persistent tannins that foreshadow a long life ahead. In fact, given it's under screw cap, there is every reason to think this will still be looking good 15–20 years from now.”
Philip Rich
