Striking the balance between up-front fruit and savoury tones, Philip Shaw's No. 17 blend highlights how Bordeaux reds can thrive in the high altitude Orange region.
The nose is driven by dark berry fruits and notes of dried herbs. The palate is dense whilst refined, showing beautiful berry fruit flavours and and earthy notes. Supple tannins provide a strong backbone for the wine, before a lingering finish.
From the Winery
A wet cool winter set the vines up for a good season with plenty of soil moisture. Spring was warm and dry with a hot spell coming in at Christmas time. January through February had higher temperatures putting the pressure on in the vineyard, to protect grapes from getting burnt or becoming overripe, with all varieties charging towards maturity. Rain in late February caused little detriment to an outstanding vintage. Midler days moving into autumn saw our Merlot ripen beautifully. It was simply superb conditions for Bordeaux varieties in 2013.
Grapes were destemmed, sorted and crushed into small batches for ferment. Wines were fermented with wild yeast, gaining layered complexity. Extended time on skins post fermentation gave the wine greater depth and savoury characteristics. The wine was pressed, and racked to oak for maturation. It was then left to evolve in oak for 12 months before blending for bottling.
