2008 Shiraz (Sans Viognier)

Vineyard

There are two Shiraz vineyards planted on Bloodwood, the Top Shiraz and the (ahem!) Bottom Shiraz vineyard. Although they are planted to the same clone; are exactly the same age and are both trained to Scott-Henry trellis systems, they are on two different soil types. The Top Shiraz is planted on laminated siltstone at 840metres while the Bottom vineyard is on altered andesitic volcaniclastic conglomerate at 820metres. The result of all this geological geomancy is that the lean top block provides the fruit and perfume while its lowly, higher yielding brother adds a neat dash of white pepper and licorice to balance the wine. We are pleased to report that both vineyards contribute equally to the sans Viognier component of the resultant blend.

Vintage Conditions

2007 was a touch and go vintage for most of the Orange vineyards. We had our moments at Bloodwood with a very dry growing season leading into around 200 mm through the ripening months. And you can see that in the wine…it is very French!. Luckily, because of our low crop levels and very careful viticulture, this late ripening Shiraz came through with surprisingly good fruit definition, perfume and ripeness. There is a lot to be said for our old weak soils in a wet year.

Winemaking

As I’ve outlined elsewhere, we believe in macro-oxygenation during the early fermentation process here at Bloodwood. And this wine is no exception. The top vineyard fruit was hand plunged with plenty of air in an open fermenter, whilst the bottom vineyard Shiraz was treated in the usual manner. A high proportion of uncrushed berries are a constant in all our red ferments, and regular splash pumping over helps bring the tannins into shape early in the winemaking process. The wine spent 24 months in mostly older French oak hogsheads before sterile filtration and bottling in August 2009.

Wine Analysis

Tasting Notes