vintage
The 2024 vintage in Margaret River commenced very early due to the prolonged 7month period of warmer and drier than average months that commenced in Spring (Oct) 2023 and continued throughout the entire Summer and into mid-Autumn (April) 2024.
Fortunately, our vineyards are mature and located on ideal soil types and did not blink at the challenging warm and dry conditions that the 2024 vintage dished up. Although yields were down, flavour intensity and tannin ripeness in our red varieties is superb and we are particularly excited in seeing how these wines mature in barrel and taste in the months and years to come.
winemaking
The Shiraz fruit was handpicked cool in the early morning so the fruit could be fermented as whole bunches. Each small, 10kg bucket of fruit was tipped into the fermenter and after being kept cool at 10°C for 3 days the bunches started wild fermentation. Gentle plunging of the must was then done over 10 days to cool the ferment whilst extracting colour and the fine, ripe skin and stalk tannins to achieve the structure and style of the wine.
The Cabernet fruit was handpicked but destemmed to ensure the ferment consisted purely of berries. Fermentation started immediately and after 5 days of gentle plunging and extraction, the free-run wine was added to the Shiraz ferment (which was still on skins) with the Cabernet skins kept separate to blend into another wine.
Following another 2 days, the decision was made to press the ferment off skins, with the pressing’s component blended back into the free-run to give the ideal body and structure to the final blend.
The wine went straight into old French oak puncheons (500L barrels) to mature for 9 months. These larger puncheon barrels ensure perfume and freshness is retained whilst preserving the silky and refined palate along with textural complexity – a difficult goal to achieve in red winemaking. The result is a rarely seen wine style out of Margaret River of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon from some of the oldest vines in the region on the Redbrook Vineyard. Un-fined and unfiltered.
region
Margaret River
variety
79% Shiraz
21% Cabernet Sauvignon
analysis
- Alcohol: 14.5%
- pH: 3.66
- TA 6.52 g/L
