JM 1ST APPROACH

There are many lessons to be learnt from the old world. Like pinot it is important to avoid oxidation; it tends to dull the perfume. Like all wines at Samuel's Gorge the Grenache spends a long while on red lees; the creaminess extends the mouth feel. I open the crusher up and let a large percentage of whole berries through; this amplifies the strawberry notes. Wild ferments also generate heat that aids extraction. I can't explain why but the indigenous cultures race with fever early in ferment but lack the stamina to deal with the higher alcohol; so I often co inoculate with something safe toward then end of ferment. I like dry wine.

Quite frankly one of the most challenging wines I've had to blend for many years; to ensure, as always, a complete wine of balance and excitement was not easy. They say the rewards are always relative to the challenge? This wine is pure pleasure, against the odds of the heat wave. The aromatics highlight lifted perfumes of all the expressions of quince; fresh and aged (in that fruit bowl for months), poached and ever so slightly baked then there is Redskin lollies without confectionery notes? The nose offers a spectrum of dark cherries, cinnamon quill, eucalyptus sap, sweet smell of the scrub with a collection of native floral. Imagine boiling that billy in the bush, dipping into your pouch of dried Oolong tea leaves?! The mouth feel is fresh, youthful and structured. It will reward patience in the cellar.  A typical McLaren Vale play of power and vivid brightness; the sun and the sea.

Complex aromas, perfumed almost, inviting, beguiling, sweet but in a savory way, never tripping the fine line of stunning fullness and over extraction. Licorice, dark berries, herbs, spice, cherries and earth on the nose leads to more of the same on the palate, with depth, length and power in lovely balance. Oak plays its supporting role beautifully, with fine tannins and subtle acidity rounding out the palate. A wonderful, must have wine from a fantastic vineyard and talented wine maker. Gavin Trott