Whole Bunch Shiraz 2019

Dry Grown Whole Bunch Shiraz 2019

Hand Picked fruit from our "young Shiraz block" which is 20 plus years old and dry grown. Whole bunch fermented showing brilliant fragrance and perfume spice and a lovely complex slightly crunchy palate. An exciting and innovative wine.

Stemmy, crunchy and vibrant, this whole-bunch shiraz has a silky texture and red fruits on the palate. Perhaps not as much density as expected from a Mount Barker shiraz, but with that in mind, the delicacy and light extraction has brought about a most alluring wine. The acidity on the palate gives a tangy jolt of freshness to proceedings.

Erin Larkin 92/100

VINEYARD

Fruit sourced from our 41 year old 12 hectare Dry Grown Vineyard. Our old vines are not irrigated; something quite unusual in these days of mass commercial production. We prefer low-yielding wine crops with small berries. Although it limits our volume, having smaller fruit fosters an intensity of the flavour, with most of the colour and tannin of the grape being concentrated in or near the skin. The characteristically cool climate of the district ensures slow ripening of the grapes, which also allows for the development of rich flavour and quality grape juice. Grown on ancient gravely loams in Mount Barker, in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, an are renowned for excellence in cool climate viticulture. Our old vines are all cane pruned and yield 2 tonne per hectare with small bunch weights which add intensity of character and flavour. Galafrey harvest their grapes from mid March to late April depending on the season.

VINTAGE COMMENTS

To sum up Vintage 2019 was a difficult but solid vintage with some varieties experiencing a decline in volume of up to 30-60% and other varieties battle extreme weather conditions. Despite conditions wines look solid with standout varieties of Muller Blend and whole bunch Shiraz.

WINEMAKING

Hand Picked fruit from our "young Shiraz block" which is 20 plus years old and dry grown. 100% Whole bunch fermented, and basket pressed. No fining needed. Minimal. I wanted to challenge the concept of what a cool climate whole bunch Shiraz could look like with this wine and essentially make Shiraz like our 100% whole bunch Pinot.