Yarra Valley Reserve Release Syrah 2010

Region
Yarra Valley (Dixons Creek - single site)

Appearance
Medium red/garnet.

Bouquet
Bright, detailed, perfumed, graphite, mineral, very sexy.

Palate
Quite fine, plump, pepper spice, smokey, grainy tannins, unique.

Vintage Conditions
The growing season was the end of the four year dry spell. Ripening was still early, perhaps as a result of such a long period of stress. Timely rainfall received in early summer (December and January) gave the vineyard some relief from a dry winter and spring. Conditions for ripening of Syrah were fantastic with warm days, cool nights and good humidity.

Winemaking
Fruit was hand harvested from our oldest Syrah vineyard (planted in 1971). The grapes are hand sorted over a triage table to ensure near perfect fruit. A combination of 60% whole bunch and 40% whole berry is tipped into an open fermenter. Some foot plunging at the beginning followed by some remontage and foot plunging toward the end of ferment. 22 days of maceration and fermentation with wild yeast. Pressed, settled overnight and then filled to barrel via gravity. Allowed to mature for 10 months at 16°C. Racked by gravity and filled to bottle without fining or filtration.

Wine Analysis
Alc/Vol: 13.0% pH: 3.73 TA: 6.5 g/L

Cellaring
This wine will continue to develop beautifully over 10 years if stored correctly.

Suggested Cuisine
Spicy home made pork sausages and lentils.

General Characteristics
Dry      Medium Bodied