The fruit is hand-picked from 21-year old Syrah vines and sorted by hand. It is then crushed into small open-top fermenters. Around 5% whole bunch is used with wild fermentation to build structure and texture and provide the framework on which to express the opulence and spice of Syrah. The wine spent two weeks on skins prior to pressing directly to fine-grained large format French oak (40% new). The wine is aged for 14 months prior to bottling and made with minimum effective sulphites, it is not fined and only minimally filtered.
"Syrah from Frankland River from one of the best grape growers in the area. Beautiful red. Composed, flush with berried fruit, peppery, ferrous, smoky and more simply delicious. It’s all set on tight strings of tannin but the succulence of the fruit keeps the momentum high. Peppercorn, plum, blueberry and florals; what a combination. Gorgeous."
95 points, The Wine Front (October 2019)
"Deep, bright red/purple colour with a sweet, ripe blueberry to blackberry aroma. Traces of ironstone. A superb array of spices and berry fruits, pepper among them. Great elegance and persistence; a very stylish modern Aussie shiraz which justifies the syrah name."
96 points, The Real Review (August 2019)
"NB not Shiraz! 25% new oak.
Very dark purplish crimson. Rich but not exaggerated nose. Rather sumptuous again in texture. Liquorice. Not the coolness of northern Rhône. Definite structure and freshness. Bone-dry finish. Ambitious."
17 points, jancisrobinson.com (October 2019)
"Medium to fullish in weight, earthy and Cornas-like; fiery, peppery and faintly leathery, with black and red berries, cedary oak, chilli and gravelly tannins finishing long, ferrous and savoury."
95 points, jeremyoliver.com.au (August 2019)
Two hand-picked parcels from 21yo vines, berry-sorted, open-fermented with 55% whole bunches, pressed to large-format French oak, matured for 11 months. Elegant, savoury and long, with sour and black cherry fruit. Was there enough extraction? A curious question in the context of reverence of fruit flavours in current practises. Time may answer an emphatic yes.
94 points, Wine Companion (December 2019)
