A steady, relatively warm season, punctuated by a couple of solid rainfall events, resulted in one of the very best Shiraz seasons I can remember in our amazing region. The Shiraz vineyards largely loved the natural moisture along with the warm temperatures and the resulting fruit has great flavour with perfectly ripe tannin structure.

This wine is almost entirely from our old vine central Wilyabrup vineyard planted in 1972. The fruit was hand-picked and varying amounts of whole bunches were employed in small open top fermenters. A minimalist approach in the winery included only twice daily plunging and pressing after 12 days on skins to a mixture of new and seasoned French oak. The individual parcels were kept separate and aged on lees for twelve months until the final selections of the parcels were made. The final blend incorporates a combination of 30% and 100% whole bunch fermented batches allowing for a wine of both great depth
and complexity.