Awards and Accolades

BRONZE - Victorian Wine Show 2015

94 Points - James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion
"From two vineyards, picked 6-20 Mar; half wild-fermented, half cultured yeast, French oak of various sizes (30% new), with stirring, small portion mlf. A suitably complex wine has emerged, moreover with good drive and tension through to the bright, zesty finish."

Past Vintages

2012: 92 Points - Harvey Steiman, Wine Spectator "Light and expressive, silky in texture, with lime-accented pear and floral flavors. This hints at white pepper as the open-weave finish lingers enticingly. Drink now through 2020."

From the Winery

The fruit for this wine comes from the elevated cool climate region of the Strathbogie Ranges. The majority of the fruit came from Block 16 on Upton Run, our family vineyard (57%), and 43% came from Baarrooka - a stunning neighbouring vineyard just up the road.

The fruit for this wine was harvested at night on 6 March on Upton Run and 20 March on Baarrooka. We harvest in the cool of the night to ensure fruit temperature is low to preserve primary fruit flavours. The grapes were crushed with open rollers to minimise phenolic extraction to help create a more delicate wine. A number of old-world winemaking techniques were used to make this wine, including oxidative juice handling and fermentation in barrel on solids. These methods not only encourage the integration of primary fruit and oak flavours, they add texture and complexity to the wine.

This wine was fermented between 16° and 23° Celsius, with around half wild fermented by the natural and ambient yeasts present on the fruit and in the winery respectively. Wild yeast fermentation adds a layer of complexity because it often produces wines that are more textural than those made using cultured yeast. However, we did ferment the balance of this wine using cultured yeast selected by our winemakers that promoted the development of varietal aroma and contributed its own unique attributes to build layers of flavour in this wine. The yeast selected was a variety called Lavin D47. A Côtes du Rhône isolate, this yeast is renowned for accentuating fruit character and helping promote a full-bodied palate.

A small component of this wine underwent malolactic fermentation. Malolatic fermentation is a process that softens natural acids in the grapes and encourages lovely butterscotch aromas in the wine, as well as softer feeling lactic acid that enhances body and flavour. This wine was fermented and matured (for nine months) using new (30%) and old (70%) French oak of varying sizes, including hogsheads
(300 litres), puncheons (500 litres), barrels (600 litres) and one 6000 litre cask with lees stirring. Lees stirring is a process where the lees (residual yeast particles) rest in barrel with the wine to help promote an appealing yeasty aroma and flavour.