SOLD OUT // 2021 perseverance OLD VINE shiraz
The remarkable old vines that bear fruit for this wine were originally shipped from France to Glenrowan back in the late 1800s. It astounds us still, that having survived the rough sea voyage and having flourished through the 20th and now 21st centuries, this vineyard continues to provide us with such high-quality fruit of rich flavour intensity. The wine’s namesake, Perseverance, should now be quite evident.
The vineyard has been dry grown since the day it was planted; completely left to the whims of nature and representing a true and unique reflection of Australia’s wine history. In respect, we approach winemaking with the sensibilities of yesteryear, with no desire to bring too much modernity to these historic vines.
The 2021 growing season was very mild and with consistent rains; just about perfect for this ancient dry land. Without any stress, the vines were able to plod along at their own pace, gradually ripening the grapes to a comfortable level around two weeks later than we would normally see. We watched and waited and saw the whole thing come together (vitality, flavour and concentration) at 13.7 Baumé. Yields were predictably small, with only 1.7 tonne harvested and only 116 dozen bottles produced. But boy are we proud of what we got.
Grapes from this vineyard are always the first into the winery, which any winemaker will tell you is a rather peculiar thing given that it’s Shiraz. Our theory is that this old vineyard knows what it’s up to and doesn’t waste any time messing around – it’s had 130 years to figure it out after all.
The grapes were chilled overnight and then gently destemmed, but not crushed, to retain whole berries. The fruit was transferred to a single open fermenter, which we sandwiched 20% whole bunches in the middle of. The condition of the fruit was just about as good as it gets, meaning we saw lovely fresh acidity and only tinkered ever so slightly with the pH. Interestingly, this vineyard is interplanted with the white variety Ugni Blanc, 2% of which we co-fermented with the Shiraz.
Once processed, a 48-hour cold soak was undertaken before we allowed the fruit to warm slowly. Once it reached above 15c, we inoculated the batch with a carefully chosen and well proven cultured yeast. We kept the ferment relatively cool, only allowing it to rise to 27c. We also only lightly hand plunged as to not over extract tannin.
Post fermentation, the tank was locked down. We tasted and plunged daily, and saw continual improvements through to day 25 when we decided it was time to gently basket press into two 500L puncheons; one new and one two-years old. Maturation took place in our temperature-controlled barrel room for 18 months on full lees to build texture.
Although in small quantity, this is a very strong release of Perseverance. Perhaps more than most vintages, our 2021 showcases the beauty of dry land viticulture with a noticeable expression of the weather conditions the season brought.
Unfined, vegan friendly, gently filtered, and hand bottled onsite August 2022.
Learn more about the story of this amazing vineyard through the Dulcies 1890 Vinyard link at the top of the page.
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