2022 Silk Road OLD VINE shiraz // SOLD OUT
The Silk Road vineyard is located in a valley in a north-western pocket of the rugged Warby Ranges dominated by the granite laden Mount Bruno. This secluded parcel of land was originally gifted by the Victorian Government to Count Bruno, who held visions of a luxury silk empire. These dreams were never realised and the stone ruins that sit above the vineyard offer a stark reminder of just how hard and unforgiving this landscape can be. Many years later in the late 1960’s this site was planted to wine grapes which thrived for many decades but time began to run away in the 21st century. Unmanaged, unkept and unappreciated the Silk Road vineyard dwindled into disrepair. We have since resurrected this historic dry grown vineyard and our inaugural release of 2022 Silk Road Shiraz fills us with pride.
Tiny amounts of fruit are hand- picked and hand sorted in the field and then stored in our cool room overnight. Fruit is chilled down to protect it from oxidation and improve its handling ability in the winery. The hand-picked grapes are gently tipped and berries removed with the intact berries again tipped not pumped into our open top fermenters. During fermentation we cool the fermenter, daily hand plunge and when fermentation is complete, we finish with basket pressing. Every step is gentle and slow to preserve the flavour, show case the vineyard and avoid over extraction of the tannins. The freshly pressed wine was then transferred to a single Taransaud 555 French puncheon barrel for eighteen months ageing in our dark temperature controlled cellar. This particular barrel is often used to mature Grenache and are known to be subtle and soft and we believe to be a perfect barrel match for our Silk Road Shiraz.
Serve at 18c, put in the fridge for 15 minutes before serving in summer. As all our wines are unfined and left to rest on lees to build texture in barrel, decanting the wine before serving will allow it to shine.
Food Match: Slow cooked lamb shank on a creamy mash with a side of sprouts.
Cellaring Potential. Time is your friend, store in a dark cool spot free from large daily temperature fluctuations. This wine will continue to improve over 5-10 years.
Unfined, Lightly Filtered, Vegan Friendly, Hand Bottled On Site July 2023
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