Excellent Langtons Classification. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot with the occasional inclusion of Shiraz or Petit Verdot. One of Australia's most revered red wines, vinified from a backbone of superlative fruit grown to the eminent
Len Evans and Sharefarmer Vineyards at the heart of Coonawarra's cigar shaped strip of precious
Terra rossa soils. Petaluma employs hand pruning and hand picking, foreign practices in Coonawarra, for an enduring red blend that's now an iconic Australian wine and regional benchmark.
Whole bunches are de stemmed, crushed and chilled into Potter heading down board or 1½ tonne open fermenters. The must is inoculated after three to four days cold soak. Potter fermenters are rack and returned each day, the juices are drained away from skins and pumped back up, refloating the cap. Open fermenters are hand plunged twice daily, ensuring the floating cap does not dry out. The sugar dry batches are drained off, skins gently pressed and the combined wine gravity fed with full lees to a selection of seasoned and new, French oak barriques. Upon completion of malolactic, components are rack and returned for an extended term of maturation, followed by the final cull and assemblage.
Deep intense colour. Complex nose expressing blackcurrants and plum alongside cedar, spice, classic leaf characters and graphite. An elegant Coonawarra style, the Shiraz adds a lovely sweet supple middle presence to the palate, important in a young wine. An impressive red wine to decant and to savour, the tannins are soft, sandy and abundant, a big brooding dry red which will sit happily alongside the best Coonawarra vintages.
