2021 Dave's Block Shiraz

COLOUR | Rich dark purple to black.

AROMA | Very pretty aromas of camphor, lavender, red cherries, mocha, glazed sweets, fresh plum, mint and olive lift from the glass

PALATE | Straight away the palate is coated with a sweet inner core and energy. The mulberry and blackberry fruits roll and caress the palate as if in slow motion. This holds a lovely nerve, where the fruits generosity rolls and lengthens through the velvety soft tannins. This is tailormade McLaren Vale Shiraz, showing much more interest and imagination than so much of the regions standard fare. What I love the most is the soft stony
mouthfeel you receive once the wine has had time in a good decanter. Tasted with a top flight stem, balance and effortless energy is what we have here. This wine will age at a snail’s pace, and will reward the smart person that ages it for the longest of hauls.

The 2021 season in Blewitt Springs delivered Shiraz of outstanding pedigree. With winter rains recharging the deep sands and a mild, temperate summer allowing slow ripening, the fruit developed beautifully balanced flavour, sugar and tannin profiles. A timely late February shower freshened canopies and extended hang-time, helping the berries to retain vibrancy and natural acidity.

The resulting Shiraz is a textbook expression of this elevated sub-region: dark, brooding fruit with lifted aromatics, a supple yet defined tannin line, and a freshness that gives drive and length. Fine-grained, sandy tannins from the soils are ever-present, ensuring structure without heaviness.

WINEMAKING | This block was crushed and de-stemmed into a stainless steel open top fermenter. The time spent on skins was 10 days. All free run and pressings were combined in tank and racked off gross lees to barrel, where malolactic fermentation occurred. The wine was bottled with minimum fining and no filtration.

MATURATION | 18 months in up to 50% new French oak and 2/3 year old hogsheads. 3 barrels were bottled in November the following vintage.

CLOSURE | Diam Cork
VOLUME | 750ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.8%
REGION | McLaren Vale
SUB-REGION | Blewitt Springs
VINE AGE | 54 years
ALTITUDE | 152m
AVERAGE RAINFALL | 675mm
SOIL | Deep bleached white sand
overlying mottled orange clay.