ST. ANDREWS SHIRAZ

Background

In 1969, after a considerable search, the Taylors family found a promising 178-hectare site by the Wakefield River in the Clare Valley. They were certain the soil – red brown loam over limestone (now called terra rossa) – would prove conducive to crafting wines of the highest quality. The contrast of warm days and cool nights in the Clare would be equally beneficial – helping the grapes ripen in the day, and allowing the vines to rest at night.

Winemaking

St.. Andrews vineyard, block E30, E40. Small quantities were also selected from the Eighty- Acre blocks. The latter contains some of the oldest vines on the family estate. Once harvested, the grapes for this wine were taken the short distance to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed to protect the vibrant fruit characters and minimize any maceration and extraction of harsh tannins. The fruit was then transferred to headless barrels and inoculated with a special Shiraz yeast strain for fermentation. The fermenting must was then hand-plunged twice daily to aid gentle extraction and then the wine was left to soak on the skins for another 2 weeks. Once pressed, the wine was then transferred back to the same oak barrels to complete its secondary malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked off lees prior to final blending. The blended wine was then transferred to high quality water-bent American oak barrels and matured for 20 months prior to filtering and bottling.

Tasting Notes

Complex and enticing bouquet of dark berry fruit along with juicy black plum, spice, cedar and hints of chocolate and roasted coffee.
Rich and complex with layers of dark berry fruits layered with lashings of coffee, chocolate and spice from high quality oak. The palate builds further with well-balanced, elegant tannins delivering a very generous and complete wine with textural complexity and long, persistent flavors.