Double Gold
98 Points - VINUS International Wine & Spirits Competition 2024

Colour
At release, the wine has a concentrated dark ruby red colour with a vibrant purple hue to the rim.

Nose
The wine has ripe and concentrated aromas of violets, blackberry, red plum and liquorice. Concentrated layers of mocha, vanilla and spice from American oak add complexity.

Palate
This is a generous, mouth filling wine with fresh fruit flavours of blackberry and red plum along with a hint of fresh, crushed violets and clove spice. The palate structure transitions seamlessly from front to back with a plump, curvaceousness to the mid palate. Concentrated fruit sweetness marries harmoniously with mocha and spice from the barrel fermentation process. The finish is long and lingering with elegant, fine grained tannins.

Oak Maturation
All of the fruit for this wine was fermented in headless American oak barrels and left to soak on skins for up to 4 weeks. Post fermentation, the wine was matured for 18 months in the same high quality water-bent American oak barrels (a combination of new and 1 year old barrels).

Vintage Conditions
In the Clare Valley, the season for vintage 2021 commenced with good late-winter and early-spring rains. Dry conditions prevailed from November onwards, with rainfall well below average for the remainder of the growing season. Weather conditions from mid to late November were ideal for flowering and fruit set. The latter half of the season was ideal for fruit development with some of the best conditions seen in the last 10 years. Overall, our winemakers report the ideal conditions have produced stunning wines from this vintage with great varietal distinction.