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Wine Description
The Story
The south facing 12 acre vineyard – located in the sleepy picturesque and biscuit-coloured Murrumbateman landscape – is planted on sandy clay loams over friable clays. The need to be different during the 1980s boutique winery boom moved Clonakilla away from the mainstream in 1986 and into the unproven but tantalising marriage potential and astounding nuances of Viognier as a co-factor in the vinification of Shiraz. This is a supreme example of where generosity of spirit as much as vineyard site and winemaking practice inextricably weaves through the wine. The perfumed, sensuous, Clonakilla style is essentially about “fruit leading the wood”. It is a highly aromatic wine with ginger, white pepper, apricot fruit, some savoury French oak nuances and fine slinky/boney tannins.
Vintage 2009
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Near-optimum rainfall over winter, followed by dry, mild conditions over spring provided a good environment for budburst and an ideal start to the growing season with canopies developing well. Climatic conditions favoured flowering and set with mild and calm weather, however there was some shatter in Shiraz across parts of the state resulting in small crops for many regions. Some early to mid-December summer rainfall was followed by conditions drying up very quickly and continuing until the end of February. Summer was hot with some extreme heat but cool conditions returned in February and March, allowing the fruit to ripen across a long harvest with balanced acidities and excellent tannin ripeness. An elegant, yet still powerful follow up to the conditions brought about in the preceding 2008 vintage |
