Crittenden Estate Geppetto 2008 Shiraz

Fruit

Grapes were grown at the vineyard located at our winery near Patterson Lakes in Victoria. Although this site doesn't share the regional name of the Mornington Peninsula it does share the same cool climate.

Harvest

Late March 2008.

Winemaking

The hand harvested grapes were mostly destemmed (15% whole bunches were retained for enhanced structure and aromatics) to open fermenters where the fermentation process was allowed to commence spontaneously with naturally occurring yeast. The ferment was allowed to peak at a temperature of 32 degrees centigrade and was both hand plunged and pumped over regularly to extract colour, texture and flavour. A short maceration on the skins was allowed post ferment before the wine was pressed to a mixture of second and third use French oak barriques for maturation. It remained in barrel, with occasional rackings, for 10 months prior to being assembled for fining and filtration and bottling.

Bottling

Feb 2009. Sealed under screw cap.

Technical information

Alc. Vol. 14%

Residual sugar: < 1 gm per litre (dry)

Ph: 3.44

Total acidity: 6.78gms per litre

Tasting notes

The fruit for this wine was sourced from a cool climate vineyard (essentially the same climate as the Mornington Peninsula), allowing us to produce a wine of vibrant colour with lifted berry fruits and spice on the nose. On the palate you'll find mouth filling structure, juicy acidity and those most desirable of attributes: cherries, pepper and liquorice. This wine has it all in abundance.

Cellaring

Although drinking well now this wine will continue to improve with thoughtful cellaring over the next five years.