Description

Having the benefit of an extra couple of years and perfect cellaring in the bottle, this vintage of the lovely Pyrette is really singing. Violets, plums, white pepper, subtle oak. The palate is silky, and fresh with a bit of spearmint coolness. There are some fine tannins and great length of flavour. Drink over the next 10 years. Roasted vege and olive galette is the match for this wine.

Pyrette Heathcote Shiraz is sourced from a vineyard near Colbinabbin on the Mount Camel Range. The specific parcel of vines this fruit comes from is at the highest block on deep red, rocky Cambrian soils on a cooler easterly facing slope. The picking date is carefully assessed in order to capture fruit vibrancy and freshness whilst also capturing the typical mouthfilling richness and length of the region. The wine is made in 1000 litre open vats, fermented with ambient yeast and matured in French barrels, 20% new. The yield, harvest date and winemaking are deliberately aimed at producing a wine of regional authenticity in a style highlighting fragrance, vitality, finesse and harmony.

Heathcote

The glamour region of Victoria for lovers of big reds. And the core production is Shiraz and Cabernet with ‘guts’. But it is a region that offers a lot of diversity when you scratch the surface. The cooler southern parts border Macedon and make lovely aromatic wines. There is a lot of experimentation and adoption of more drought resistant Italian varieties to great effect too.

Shiraz/Syrah

A bit of a chameleon, Shiraz can change how it looks depending on terroir and/or wine maker influence. The Syrah based wines of Northern Rhone are dry and austere while the Shiraz of Barossa is rich and fleshy. A variety that lends itself to long aging but can be drunk at any time of its evolution.