Chapel Hill ‘McLaren Vale’ Shiraz 2018
Grape Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Growing Region: McLaren Vale - Australia
Winemakers: Michael Fragos & Bryn Richards
4 Stars ★★★★
The Chapel Hill winery is built on the hill-top site of the historic Seaview Chapel. The original Chapel was built in 1865 and is now their charming tasting room. The estates first vines were planted in 1972, with the first vintage in 1975. The winery and character filled wines are under the guidance of winemakers Michael Fragos and Bryn Richards. Where they produce hand-crafted wines with varietal purity, a sense of place, elegance and real character.
The fruit for this Shiraz was sourced from vines all grown on their own roots and aged from 12 - 36 years. As the various vineyard parcels came into the wine, they were separately open fermented to ensure that each parcel retained and expressed the unique character of each site. All the ferments remained on skins for a minimum of 8 days and then were gently basket-pressed, where the free run and pressing fractions were combined.
The wine was maturation in fine grained French oak barrels for 21 months, where individual batches of barrels were racked and returned periodically to seamlessly integrate the tannins into the structure of the wine. To preserve varietal and site characters the wine is unfined and bottled unfiltered.
★ As you pour a rich red colour will fill your glass with a purple hue. On the inviting nose you have blackberries, brambles, dried spices and a floral undertone. These all vivid characters develop further onto the full palate showcasing dark berries and earthy notes along with those well integrated defined tannins, oak and cacao that all lead seamlessly to a lingering dry finish.
This 2018 Chapel Hill ‘McLaren Vale’ Shiraz has 14.5% Alc./vol. Mild decanting of around 20-30 minutes and serve in an appropriate wine glass at 17°- 18°C.
CELLARING POTENTIAL: *(Review 21/03/21)
Drinking now with mild decanting; plus will age well for another 7 - 8 years.
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:
Perfect wine pairing with slowed cooked lamb rack, game meats served with a rich wine jus, well-seasoned pasta and richly flavoured pizza’s, earthy vegetarian cuisine and aged hard cheeses - enjoy
