Carlei Green Vineyards Cuvee Stephen Thomson Shiraz 2017

"Very deep vibrant red colour with a slight purple hue, the aroma has intense lifted ripe red and black fruits avoiding any over-ripe elements reflecting the cooler year. Hints of black and white pepper spice and savoury notes lead to a palate that complements the aromas, rich and round with intense, juicy and chewy fruit, framed by soft but persistent tannins and a touch of French oak. A lingering, balanced mineral acidity finishes a complex wine representing the classical Cambrian terroir in a moderately cooler year. Although the wine is rich, like its predecessor, it shows a focused structure and will, therefore, continue to develop with further bottle ageing.

2017 was a relatively cooler year allowing the grapes to mature slower than previous vintages resulting in tremendous flavour development with retention of natural acidity. This classical Cambrian grown Shiraz fruit (several different clones including PT23 & 1654) is from low yielding vines and was harvested using the biodynamic calendar to ensure optimum balance, ripeness and intensity of flavour. The fruit was destemmed; berries not crushed or pumped to preserve their physical integrity and transferred to a majority of open 4000 L & 9000 L wooden and some stainless steel 5000 L vats. A combination of different maceration times (mainly pumping over) from 20 to 40 days on skins and most of the batches were naturally fermented. The wine was aged in new and used French oak barriques and puncheons for 24 months."  Carlei Green Vineyards

About the winery

"Sergio Carlei has come a long way, graduating from home winemaking in a suburban garage to his own (commercial) winery in Upper Beaconsfield. Along the way Carlei acquired a bachelor of wine science from CSU, and established a vineyard with organic and biodynamic accreditation adjacent to the Upper Beaconsfield winery, plus 7ha in Heathcote. Contract winemaking services are now a major part of the business."  James Halliday