Heathvale - Shiraz

Shiraz

Heathvale Shiraz wine label

With a bouquet of intense fruit and flavours of pepper and spice with hints of chocolate, the Shiraz wines have a luxuriously long and satisfying mouthfeel. The Shiraz will evolve and reward patient and careful cellaring. Because of the close-knit structure of the Shiraz we recommend decanting and letting the wine breathe for at least an hour to be at its best. Enjoy with spicy, medium-weight game and meat dishes.

For Vintage Notes contact trevor.march@heathvalewines.com.au

Viticulture

First planting 1993 - 2 and a half acres/ 1 hectare, further planting 1994 - 2 and a half acres newest planting 1997, known as Daniel's Block, 2 and a half acres
Clone BVRC30, very old Australian clone
Yield aim is 1 and a half - 2 tonne/acre
To develop full colour and flavour, bunch exposure requires canopy management
Trial use of VSP and Scott-Henry trellis systems, with Scott-Henry showing great potential
Currently using a mixture of spur and cane pruning with bud levels at 40 per vine for VSP, & 60-80 for Scott-Henry
Soils vary from 500mm of sandy loam over podsolic clay to more alluvial sandy loams along ancient creek lines
Essentially dry grown, supplementary irrigation only applied to ensure no vine stress at flowering and to ensure consistent ripening
Mid-row management is permanent sod based around grass dominant swards
Bird protection provided by single row, over-vine nets
Row spacings 3m by 2m plantings, giving density of 1667 vines per hectare

Vinification

Grapes are hand-picked and left to 'cold soak' for 4 days at between 5-10 degrees Celsius
Crushed and destemmed, must is brought to 20 degrees Celsius and inoculated
Rack and return is then practised every second day initially, and heading down boards are used
After period of maceration, wine is drained and gently pressed
Pressings are fined and blended back to free-run
Wine is transferred to predominantly French but also American Hogsheads (small % new, the rest 2nd and 3rd fill), and allowed to go through malo-lactic fermentation in barrel
2 months later the wine is racked, pH adjusted and sulphured and returned to barrel for a maturation period of 18-20 months
The wine is made to capture the true character of the vineyard with minimal interference