2010 Hay Shed Hill Shiraz Tempranillo
| Vintage: | 2010 |
| Growing Region: | Margaret River 100% |
| Grape Varieties: | Shiraz 86% Tempranillo 14% |
The Vineyard
The Hay Shed Hill vineyard lies in the heart of the acclaimed Willyabrup triangle in the Margaret River wine region. Hay Shed Hill is a classic site first planted in 1973 during the pioneer days of the local wine industry. Planted with the varieties that have established the reputation of Margaret River as a world class wine producing area the Hay Shed Hill vineyard produces low yields of outstanding fruit from fully mature vines, combined with world best practice winemaking to produce flavoursome wines of great depth that reflect the character and essence of this wonderful site.
Old Vines Modern Wines.
Vintage 2010
The 2010 vintage in Margaret River was in two distinct phases. Early in the season it was warm to hot and very dry. The fruit was scrupulously clean due to the lack of spring rain, making bright, clean and very fruit expressive wines.
While the height of summer was quite warm the season broke very quickly with temperatures dropping dramatically in late March proving beneficial as it allowed more time on the vine for the red varieties and prevented excessive sugar build up in the grapes which has moderated alcohol in the final wines. Red grapes need time on the vine to produce fine supple tannins and this is the key attribute evident from the cooler second half of the vintage in 2010 reds.
Winemaking
Both Shiraz and Tempranillo were de-stemmed and fermented separately in open vessels with extensive pump over cap management to aid colour and flavour extraction as well as optimize the tannin development. The wines were pressed off skins and matured in French oak barriques, approximately one third new oak with the balance one and two year old. After 15 months in barrel the wines were blended according to taste.
Appearance
Vibrant red/black colour with a deep opaque centre.
Nose
The nose displays a complex blend of violets and spicy black pepper notes of the Shiraz with the more savoury licorice aromas from the Tempranillo.
Palate
Shiraz and Tempranillo are wonderful partners; two old varieties coming together to make a new vibrant blend. The Shiraz brings all the Australian fruit power, deep plum flavours with a peppery edge in a fleshy fruit sweet palate. The Tempranillo adds savoury elements and complex tannin structure to the wine resulting in a more complete wine than either of the two components could make on their own. This wine has all the sweet fleshiness that we expect in Shiraz with the added benefit of textural complexity.
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