2012 Ares Magnum

COLOUR | Deep dark crimson, black core

AROMA | Layered and complex. Notes of black cherry, blueberry, five spice, coal dust and vanilla bean.

PALATE | Complex and caressing. A huge volume of black accented fruit cascades across the palate highlighted by notes of pen ink and lavender. Tannins are dense yet lovely and fine weaving beautifully through the sheer weight of fruit. Concentrated yet has a sense of savoury with elements of coal dust, smoked meat and cracked black pepper. The palate has great length with notes of baking spice and toast emerging through the finish.

2012 in the Barossa Valley, Shiraz thrived despite generally low yields. The near-perfect season, with only minor rain interruptions, led to high-quality fruit. Shiraz was picked alongside Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon an unusual occurrence given Shiraz is typically harvested earlier. The resulting wines showed exceptional colour and flavour, reflecting the favourable ripening conditions and careful vineyard management, especially in cane pruned blocks.

WINEMAKING | Crushed, de-stemmed and fermented in five, seven and 10 tonne open top fermenters with regular pump overs; up to three times daily during peak fermentation to extract colour and tannin. Following 7-21 days of “on skins” maceration the free run was
drained to tank with the skins then pressed. Both the free run and pressings are blended to tank and then racked to oak after 24 hours. Malolactic fermentation takes place
in barrel. Minimal fining and nonfiltered.

MATURATION | 23 months maturation with 30% new
and 30% one year old French oak. The remainder in two-to-four year old French oak.

CELLAR POTENTIAL | If cellared well, 20+ years for 750ml and 40+ years for 1500ml.

CLOSURE | Cork
VOLUME | 1500ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
REGION | Barossa/McLaren Vale
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 15.2%