The Exception "Cowboy" Shiraz
Colour
Inky deep red with purple hues.
Nose
Intense aromas of ripe berries and stewed plum meld with spicy oak and sweet vanilla.
Palate
Lush, rich ripe berries balanced with black pepper spice. Slight warmth and sweet vanilla oak with dusty tannins to finish.
2018 was an outstanding vintage. The year was warm without being too hot, which allowed the vines to ripen the fruit to the degree we desired without any stress, resulting in all aspects of fruit composition being excellent. This wine is a blend of Block 7 and 13 from our Upton Run vineyard, with Block 7 typically producing the most intensely coloured and flavoured wines of all our Shiraz blocks.
The fruit from each block was picked in small parcels, nine days apart, to ensure optimum ripeness and full-spectrum flavour. The grapes were picked using a selective process harvester and left as whole berries rather than crushed for fermentation on solids. This Shiraz was fermented using wild yeast, with its slightly unpredictable nature, this builds more complexity in the wine. The wine was matured in new American oak 'puncheons' (500L) for 14 months, hence the name 'Cowboy'.