2015 Bella's Garden Shiraz 1500ml

COLOUR | Deep, dark red with a black core. Tending a purple hue towards the meniscus.

AROMA | Deep set aromas of red currant to blackberry with notes of incense, Christmas spice, and warm lavender oil.

PALATE | This bold Shiraz hits the palate with power and presence. Lashings of dark fruit with notes of incense and aromatic spices, floral hints add layers and complexity. The wine rolls across the palate coating every corner of your mouth. Dense and chewy tannins compliment the fruit nicely, which tighten through the finish adding a savoury graphite note. Incredibly long and complex through the finish, this is quintessential Barossa Valley.

The 2015 vintage was challenging but ultimately very rewarding for Shiraz, especially in the Barossa Valley. A solid start with good early and mid-winter rainfall quickly gave way to a dry spell from August through November, pushing vines into rapid early growth. Warm, dry spring conditions accelerated budburst and flowering, setting the stage for an early and condensed vintage. Shiraz was among the first varieties to feel the impact of the January heatwave, which rapidly pushed sugar levels across regions. By February 12, Shiraz started arriving at the winery the earliest harvest on record. Over the next three weeks, the winery experienced an intense influx of fruit, crushing 75% of the total vintage by early March. Shiraz from all regions ripened simultaneously, compressing the vintage into a fast and frantic window.

In the Barossa Valley, Shiraz benefited from the 50mm of rain in early January, which refreshed the vines following a dry lead-up. Although frost damage in areas like Ebenezer, Greenock, and Marananga reduced yields compounded by ongoing eutypa dieback the dry and mild growing season helped concentrate flavours. The hot spell in early February further advanced ripening, and most Barossa Shiraz was harvested by the end of February. Despite the climatic challenges, Shiraz quality was reported as excellent, the low yields contributed to the depth and structure of the wines from this vintage.

WINEMAKING | De-stemmed, crushed and fermented in three to ten tonne open top fermenters, with regular pump overs (three daily over peak fermentation) to extract colour, flavour and tannins. Some parcels had 20% whole bunch ferment and punchdowns.

Average time ‘on skins’ was 14 days before the dry free run was drained to tank and the pressings combined. After 24 hours the wine was then racked to barrel, where malolactic fermentation took place. The bottled wine is unfined and unfiltered.

CLOSURE | DIAM Cork
VOLUME | 1500ml
VARIETAL | Shiraz
REGION | Barossa Valley
ALCOHOL (% vol.) | 14.2%