As always this is a single block from the original (1986) plantings. Don’t ask me about
clones because in 1986 no one cared, especially in Tasmania where it was still all very
new. At harvest time the pickers do a pass through the 0.6Ha block to only pick the
bunches where the stalks are lignified down past the elbow. Whatever we get from
this pass is what becomes the whole bunch component for this wine. They then go
back and pick the rest which is destemmed on top of the whole bunch. Every year it
is different, and in the very good 2022 harvest it was 70%. The wine is allowed to
ferment naturally and once fermenting we tread the grapes once a day for the first
few days and then plunge twice a day until the ferment is finished. It is then pressed and put into barriques (30% new) and is there until late September where it is racked and returned to oak before being bottled in February.

Red cherries and spicy oak on the nose with some cassis and forest floor showing on the palate. It’s quite plush and almost fruity at the front of the palate but while the tannins are initially quite subtle, they build in the mouth. Our usual structure and mouthfeel back this up and give the wine its long finish. A wine to be put down if you can. – Joe Holyman