This fantastic cool climate Shiraz from McWilliams stays true to the Syrah style; medium bodied, supple and with spicy notes. A vibrant reddy-purple in the glass, the nose offers a fusion of black cherry and violet underscored by toasted oak. The black cherry flavours continue through the palate, but are joined by juicy red fruits and a lovely tannin structure that adds texture and a skeleton to the wine. Drinking well now, this will continue to improve in the medium term.
Awards and Accolades
94 Points - Special Value Wine - James Halliday, Wine Companion "Bright crimson-purple; a slickly made wine featuring fruit first and foremost, establishing its sense of place with its spicy medium-bodied berry and currant fruits before fine-grained tannins and integrated oak click in. High quality wine at the price."
From the Winery
Harvested in the cool of the morning to preserve fruit integrity, the fruit upon arrival at the winery was transferred into open top fermenters with an average of 15% whole bunches included. Following a gentle three day prefermentation cold soak the wines were inoculated with cultured yeast.
Extraction was achieved through a combination of plunging and pump overs for a period of 12 days then gently pressed prior to being racked to barrel. Barrel details were all French oak puncheons and hogsheads with 20% new, 40% one year old and 40% two year old. Maturation in barrel for nine months prior to be carefully blended and lightly fined in preparation for bottling.
A mild Spring and early Summer set the vines up well for a good vintage. Rain in the second week of January freshened the vines and provided ideal moisture for the ripening period. This was followed by warm weather which persisted throughout the entire harvested period, resulting in a compressed vintage. There was nil disease pressure due to the great canopies and low yields. All red grapes were of great quality this season with vibrant fruit flavours and supple tannins.
