"94 points. Deep garnet, purple hue; loaded with sweet dark fruits, liqueur kirsch, bay and thyme; full-bodied, unctuously textured, with toasty oak a mere seasoning to the huge volume of fruit on offer; plenty of backbone, with ample fine grained tannins and a long sweet-fruited finish." - James Halliday, Wine Companion.
Victoria's Heathcote region keeps growing in stature, producing hallmark wines that are becoming bywords for quality. Heathcote Estate, by virtue of more than just name, is at the forefront of this renaissance. Evident before the cork is even pulled (or stelvin twisted), by the brooding red behind the glass, their Estate Shiraz displays all of Heathcote’s trademark characteristics, from the punchy blackberry/raspberry nose, through the subtler shades of oak, spice and as always, flirtations of chocolate. The deft integration of tannins, always a sign of quality Shiraz, orchestrates a silky finish that lingers, and leaves you plotting a tour of the region's wineries.
The grapes were fermented in a combination of open and closed fermenters with up to three weeks total time on skins. The wines where then pressed and transferred immediately into barrels for malolactic fermentation. It remained in barrel for a total of 17 months (a combination of 25% new, second and third use barrels, 100% French oak) and during maturation was racked four times. During the winemaking and maturation process, the most exceptional parcels of shiraz were indentified and only the most outstanding made it into the final blend. The resulting wine was bottled in August 2010.
