2024 'Sheer Madness' Blewitt Springs GSM
TASTING NOTE
Lifted bright cherry and red berry fruit aromas, violet and rose florals with hints of red licorice. Flavours of fresh dark cherry and blueberry along with cardamom and dried ginger spice as well as hints of sage. The wine is medium bodied with bright fresh acidity, fine tannins and lingering fruit flavours.
VINEYARD
Grenache and Shiraz is sourced from our Willunga 100 Blindspot vineyard in Blewitt Springs on deep sandy soil. The Shiraz was planted in 1936 and is on a North facing aspect at 150m above sea level on a spur pruned trellis. The dry grown bush vine Grenache was planted in 1968, the altitude ranges between 150 and 170m on a South West Facing Slope. The Mataro was sourced from a nearby vineyard in Blewitt Springs, again on deep sandy soil, these dry grown bush vines were planted in 1940 at 200m altitude.
VINTAGE
The season started with a dry winter and start to spring. Warm days and quite cool nights meant a slow start to shoot growth, and smaller crops in some early flowering varieties, but in mid-November the weather pattern changed to give us a lot of rain and some humidity. This helped with shoot growth and to improve crop levels, but was challenging in the vineyards to keep disease under control. In early January the rain stopped thankfully, and we had dry conditions right the way through harvest, so disease was much less of an issue than it could have been. A few short heat waves provided some challenges, however the wine quality is very good.
WINEMAKING
Each parcel was harvested and fermented separately in open fermenters for between 7 and 10 days before being gently pressed. The wines were matured for 18 months in a combination of French puncheons (500L) and hogsheads (300L) before being carefully blended prior to bottling.
WINEMAKER: Renae Hirsch
REGION: Blewitt Springs McLaren Vale
FOOD PAIRING: Tea smoked duck, farmhouse terrine, or mushroom ragu.
REVIEWS
New release