This wine takes its name from the old peppertree which grows in the Shiraz vineyard at Watervale. It is a happy coincidence that the nose and palate of the Peppertree Shiraz show the spicy peppery characters of high class shiraz wines. The grapes are picked at optimum ripeness and fermented on their skins to extract maximum flavours and characters.
Careful ageing for about 18 months in small French oak barrels adds complexity to the finished wine. The wine is full flavoured and has a soft, almost velvety palate which makes the wine very easy to drink in its youth. The underlying quality and structure of the wine gives it the capacity, however, to mature and improve for many years in the cellar. All in all, this is a wine which shows the virtues of Shiraz as a premium grape variety.
Rich and deep in colour, and rich and deep in aromas. Ripe, spicy shiraz flavours; dark chocolate with hints of liquorice. The silky mouth coating tannins give a gentle firmness and an elegant structure to the wine. Excellent long term cellaring potential.
Awards and Accolades
93 Points - Campbell Mattinson, Wine Companion "It sits at the (ultra) ripe end of the spectrum, with saturated blackberry, gum leaf and chocolate-coated plum flavours giving the wine a port-like intensity. But it does so with a firm sense of control; with an impression of stoicism-in-the-face-of-an-onslaught. It will live for a very long time, but can of course be tucked into now."
2012 Vintage: 94 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion "Good colour; a very well balanced medium-bodied wine, content that the vintage, the variety and the place will all speak for themselves, with only mild assistance in the winery. The champion wines from '12 are now emerging, some towering over wines such as this, which is desperately unfair, but life wasn't meant to be easy, was it?"
From the Winery
Don't Pay: $29.00
WBW Rating: 93/100
Closure: Stelvin
Region: Watervale, SA
Winemaker: Andrew Mitchell & Simon Pringle
Drink now until: 2032
Alc/Vol: 14.5 %
