Accolades and Awards:

Gary Walsh, The Wine Front:
Has a vaguely Italianate feel about it – sort of like Nero d’Avola – black jellybean, cherry, a little spice. Medium bodied, minimal tannin but enough to lend a little grip, fresh but balanced acidity and buoyant juicy fruit – though not too sweet. Tails off a bit on the finish, but it’s a nice easy drink that’s not trying too hard. Bistro and mid-week quaffing at a pretty keen price.

Jeremy Pringle, Wine Will Eat Itself:
A multiregional blend with 59% of the grapes coming from the large catch-all Big Rivers GI (akin to the Riverland in many ways) and 41% from McLaren Vale. Affable, unaffected gear. Blackberry pastilles and plums mostly. A little milk chocolate and spice. Not much in the way of oak, a hint of red fruited confectionary flavour. Vibrant acidity is a tad on the pointy side and there isn’t much endurance but at the price who exactly is complaining? Works just fine.

Bleeding Heart Wine was born from a shared passion in the wines and vineyards of South Australia. The ancient soils and moderate climate create rich and full bodied wines that are incredibly satisfying. Few that experience the lifestyle of food and wine or the beautiful landscape could argue that it is not better a bleeding heart than none at all. Sourced from a combination of established, dry-grown vineyards in central South Australia and low-yielding McLaren Vale vineyards. Wines are made and matured by Jim Zerella in McLaren Vale.

Fruit is chilled before de-stemming and a cold soak for three days. Each parcel is fermented separately with the McLaren Vale Shiraz fermented in small open two tonne vessels before maturation in two to four year old oak barrels for six months. The Big Rivers component is fermented and matured in stainless steel before blending.

A very dry and low yielding vintage that created a small crop of intensely flavoured fruit. After an unsettled flowering, summer came early but delivered few truly hot spikes before a cooler than average January. Warm and dry conditions returned in February before much needed March rains revitalised the vineyards leading in to A relatively trouble free harvest.

A lifted and aromatic nose displays bright red-berried fruit, plums and sweet spice with a hint of savoury oak. The palate is generous and expansive with ripe dark berry and cassis flavours framed by soft tannins. Approachable and rewarding now with the trademark richness and depth of McLaren Vale.