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93 Points
2006 Shingleback McLaren Vale Shiraz, Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2010. Read more....
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Vine to Wine
Viticulture
Vineyard Notes
The Shingleback Vineyard is located in the Willunga Basin at the southern end of the acclaimed McLaren Vale Wine Region in the State of South Australia . Brothers Kym and John Davey planted their family-owned estate vineyard on land their grandfather purchased in 1959. Their goal is to produce high-quality wines from select vineyard blocks through careful, hands-on vineyard management. Superior fruit is grown by managing canopies for balance through a moveable foliage wire system, hand-pruning, precise deficit irrigation, integrated pest management and attention to detail.
70% of the vineyard area is planted with selected clones of Shiraz , with the balance of plantings including Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Semillon.
Rows are planted north to south to capture maximum sunlight. Vines are trained "one up - one down" to cover 3 m of cordon wire. This reduces shoot crowding and controls vigour, resulting in balanced canopies. Spacing is 1.5 m between vines and 3 m between rows.
Winemaking
Vintage Snapshot 2010
Saturday 20th February 5.00am
- vintage is well under way, making 2010 another early harvest year as a result of the above average minimum and maximum temperatures during the growing season. Chardonnay and Semillon have been picked and are happily fermenting away in tank and barrel. I have been unloading our Viognier which has been harvested in the cool of the morning. This fruit, grown on deep sand over clay soil, is displaying bright apricot and honeysuckle flavours. Michael, Shingleback’s vineyard manager, has had his team picking some of the earlier ripening Shiraz from the Loan Tree block on the estate since midnight, and all going well they will finish by early afternoon.
After draining some of the free run Viognier juice to barrels for white wine production, the wet skins will be combined and co-fermented with the Shiraz to produce Shingleback Haycutters Shiraz Viognier. The Shiraz fruit is 14.4 Baumé and shows ripe blackberry and strawberry flavours. When fermented with the Viognier a bright orange peel note and firm tannin structure will be added.
At this stage the vintage looks very promising with average yields and vibrant flavours. Please let the weather gods give us a break with some mild conditions! Someone has just cranked up the music in the cellar so looks like the day shift are arriving. As I leave my desk there is the anticipation that this will be the best Shiraz Viognier yet!
Cheers
John Davey
