It was a pretty cool vintage – well, it wasn’t really it was actually pretty darn
warm, but the wines are cool. In my book, rosé quite likes a warm vintage. With an 88%
share, Sangiovese is the hero of this wine, backed up with 8% barrel-fermented
Tempranillo. Then we chucked in 4% Grenache, too. Not sure why - just had it and it
worked - and, as in the past, don’t tell anyone; it hasn’t made the label but it helped
make the wine!

This wine is fine, ethereally light and delicious – I hate the term smashable as it sounds crass, so let’s go with this wine takes you too pleasure town. It’s what Ron Burgundy
and Veronica Cornerstone would drink if they came to Margaret River.
The fruit comes from the sub-region of Carbunup, with the sites being relatively flat
and warm, with fertile, red sandy soils. The Sangiovese was harvested on 17 and 19th
March and the Tempranillo just prior on 10th – a touch laterthan the previous year.
The Sangiovese was simply destemmed, chilled and pressed using only the free-run
fraction of the juice. It was then fermented at moderate temperatures using, as always,
indigenous yeasts only. It was then matured on gross lees for three months postfermentation to add additional texture. The Tempranillo was handpicked and, after
chilling, whole bunch-pressed directly to old oak for fermentation. Fermentation took
four weeks, and the wine received a further eight weeks’ maturation in barrel. At this
stage the final blend between Sangiovese and Tempranillo was decided, and the wine
was emptied from tank/barrel, settled, filtered, sulphured and bottled on 14th July.
This wine, in keeping with the theme of SR4, is different. It’s more Sangiovese-based
and finer than in the past. That said the texture and structure are impeccable. Those
who miss out on a magnum of this for their summer “A” list super-yacht regattas hold
their vinous credentials too cheap. It is, as always, a pale salmon dream best drunk
wearing white xxx – Julian Langworthy