This wine is 98% Syrah with 2% Viognier. The Syrah comes from the original 1988 plantings in our Winery block of the Houghton’s heritage clone, combined with a significant portion (45%) of our exciting 2017 plantings of Hermitage clone 470, which ripens a little earlier at lower Baumé on our site and adds lovely red-fruited aromatics to the profile. The stems on these clusters also get ripe, so there is no herbal greenness in the whole-bunch components, which made up 15% of the wine this year. The wines matured mainly in 3500-litre French oak foudre for 13 months, with a few of the whole-bunch parcels fermented in older 500-litre puncheons. All the parcels were kept on their lees throughout their time in oak, adding a creaminess and depth to the palate—the same effect we enjoy with our Rieslings. Our cool nights and sunny days produce quite a unique style of Syrah that has in common with Saint-Joseph or Cornas than the Barossa Valley.

A beautiful electric purple colour is matched by an equally bright, engaging perfume that
somehow smells glossy. There are notes of blue flowers, cherry pit, stone fruit kernel, red
cherry, satsuma plum and black olive. It has a glistening, silky texture on entry, with iron and graphite wrapped around firm, ripe red and black fruit. There’s energy and reach to its long-flowing juice, and savoury notes ripple through a gorgeous back palate. Silken ribbons of tannin then show a pumice-like authority on a finish that rings with peachy muscat, violet and tarragon tones. The cool season has yielded a Syrah whose disarming charm belies layers of flavour that roil and unfurl with time in the glass.