Monolith Vintners Old Vine Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015

The 2015 vintage proved to be another good Barossa vintage following on from the 2012, 2013 and 2014 years which although had challenges provided excellent varietal flavours. The dry grown, old vines that yielded this fruit managed to produce wonderful fruit despite small volumes. We hand picked the fruit from a single block with vines aged up to 90 years. The fruit was transported to the winery where it was gently de-stemmed into concrete open top fermenters. It was then carefully nurtured for 7 days on skins with pump overs occurring twice daily, varying in duration and intensity. When primary fermentation was almost complete, the wine was drained from the skins and the must is gently basket pressed for 8 hours. The wine remains in a stainless steel tank until primary fermentation is completed. It is then run directly into new and old American and French hogsheads where it spent the next 24 months. Once the oak and the wine had perfectly become one the wine is blended and bottled without the use of filtration or fining. 

The Colonial Estate Explorateur Barossa Valley Shiraz 2016

The vineyards that make up Explorateur are based in the northwestern Barossa Valley. This is a belt of land/terroir that runs from just to the northwest of Tanunda – Marananga, Greenock, Moppa, Ebenezer, and through to Stockwell, just north of Nuriootpa. Cropping levels are kept low to ensure fruit flavour is highly concentrated. The same equipment that is accorded to our more expensive wines is made available to Explorateur. Fermentation is French in approach for up to two thirds of the wine made; the rest is vinified in a more Australian way, as is the oak treatment.

The Derek Victorian Shiraz 2017

Sourced from premium vineyards across Victoria. The fruit was crushed then underwent cold macerating. Fermented in open top fermenters with regular pump over’s to extract both colour and tannin. Following another week of maceration the dry free run is drained to tank. The skins are then pressed and the pressings transferred to the same tank, the wine is then racked with select parcels going into barrel. The wine is aged in older oak hogsheads then bottled after 12 months maturation with minimal fining and filtration.