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Wine Description
The Story
Ripe fruit notes of dark plum and cherry along with background vanillin oak. Rich in colour with deep red tints, due to
the low yield and low juice-to-skin ratio. For this wine, mostly large format puncheons and a 3000L cask are used. Dry ripe tannins give perfect structure and carry the sweet fruit right to the back palate. An impressive wine, which is a great follow on from the 2014 vintage. Subtle but powerful.
Rated by the Langton's Classification of Australian Wine V as Exceptional.
Wine Information
Winemakers' Comments
Looking back at the previous vintages, the lead up to 2006 mirrored that of
2003, except for a mere 60mm of rain in one downpour right in the middle of
winter. The actual vintage conditions were very similar from the heat through
to the low crops.
If the Hunter didn’t get that 60mm the rain would have matched winter 2002, with 120mm over six months. For July and August 2005 there was only two rains days, both in July for 7mm. Again the district pipeline scheme paid its way with extensive winter irrigation. Spring/summer saw good rain to lead into what was to be one of the hottest summers on record.
Christmas Day 2005 and then New Years Day 2006 were both 45 degrees Celsius. By late January the Hunter had had another 7 – 10 days of plus 40C weather. What was looking like a normal start, after Australia Day, became a 14th January start for many.
The shiraz was certainly early by at least 2 to 3 weeks. Again low yields, some down as much as 30%. The last of the old vine shiraz was picked on the 20th February. In some years we haven’t started till the 1st March and a week earlier than 2005.
Vinification
Four-day cold soak, five-day ferment with hand plunging two times per day in small two-tonne fermenters, then run off to oak. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrels – 80% French and 20% American, with about 80% new.
Tasting Notes
The middle year of three dry vintages and very similar to the 2005. Medium density colour with purple tints. Lifted aromas of dark cherry, clove and ‘sweet’ earth. These are complimented by soft mocha oak. Initial flavours of dark chocolate and plums. The tannins for the 2006 are ripe with a dry, cedar edge. Some spice/pepper characters on the finish. Perfect weight of fruit, alcohol and tannin. A wine with great ‘line’ – a Len Evan’s expression used to convey structure, balance and length. A comparison to other Graveyard Shiraz is difficult as it is quite the complete wine but the alcohol and style is close to 1994/2005.
Food
Osso bucco & oven roasted goat
