PAST ACCOLADES & AWARDS:
Gary Walsh, The Wine Front:
Has a vaguely Italianate feel about it – sort of like Nero d’Avola – black jellybean, cherry, a little spice. Medium bodied, minimal tannin but enough to lend a little grip, fresh but balanced acidity and buoyant juicy fruit – though not too sweet. Tails off a bit on the finish, but it’s a nice easy drink that’s not trying too hard. Bistro and mid-week quaffing at a pretty keen price.

Jeremy Pringle, Wine Will Eat Itself:
A multiregional blend with 59% of the grapes coming from the large catch-all Big Rivers GI (akin to the Riverland in many ways) and 41% from McLaren Vale. Affable, unaffected gear. Blackberry pastilles and plums mostly. A little milk chocolate and spice. Not much in the way of oak, a hint of red fruited confectionary flavour. Vibrant acidity is a tad on the pointy side and there isn’t much endurance but at the price who exactly is complaining? Works just fine.


Sourced from a combination of established, dry-grown vineyards in central South Australia and low-yielding McLaren Vale vineyards. Wines are made and matured by Jim Zerella in McLaren Vale.
Fruit is chilled before de-stemming and a cold soak for three days. Each parcel is fermented separately with the McLaren Vale Shiraz fermented in small open two tonne vessels before maturation in two to four year old oak barrels for six months. The Big Rivers component is fermented and matured in stainless steel before blending.

2014 can be characterised by tiny yields, unsettled weather and very good wine. A cold start to Spring disrupted flowering and significantly reduced yields. As is often the case, the weather flipped with two heatwaves and then heavy rains – however the small berries and bunches handled the conditions before relatively benign Autumn conditions. The result crop was for many the smallest on record but the fruit is outstanding - balanced and intensely flavoured.