Heathcote Shiraz

WINEMAKER NOTES: Our Heathcote Block Two Shiraz is an intense powerful wine bursting with concentrated dark berry flavors and exotic spice. The ripe fruit and fine tannins make this an impressive drink. Block Two is a big powerful typically Heathcote Shiraz. Deep purple in color, there are blackberries and violets on the nose, with a wisp of Central Victorian eucalypt. Layers of intense dark berry fruit and Moroccan spice unfold on the palate, mingled with subtle liquorice and vanilla. The deftly handled French oak enhances the richness of the fruit and adds complexity. Block Two is a wine with structure, length, and fine tannins. It will continue to improve over the next 5 or more years.

This is the second release of this single block selection from the oldest Shiraz vines in our Camelback vineyard. We have long been convinced that the Block Two produces the best quality Shiraz fruit we have. Previously it has been blended with the fruit from the other blocks, but in 2005 the quality was so good we decided to keep it separate and have ever since.

ACCOLADES
Released: November 2007

The Winemaking Notes: Some batches were co-fermented with Viognier to increase complexity. Ferments were plunged 3-4 times daily to gently extract color and flavor. At the end of fermentation, the resulting wine was pressed and transferred to mostly French oak barriques, with a small percentage of older American hogsheads. After one racking during the year, the wine was blended, given a light fining and filtered ready for bottling.

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