Death & Taxes GST 2021

Tasting Notes
The wine displays lifted aromas of fresh youthful blood plum, herbaceous and savoury, with a raspberry coulis, aniseed and cola character. Its medium-bodied with silky tannins and will cellar for 5 to 8 years (if there is still any around). Pair it with ancient-grain salad or lamb.

The 2021 vintage
2021 was an excellent year. There were good rains leading up to budburst and the growing season had dry spells interspersed with decent rains. Vine health was excellent with good leaf cover, and the bunches had no evidence of shrivel or disease.  

The Vineyard
Fruit was sourced from our Dowd’s Lane block which is on the west side of the ridge. The soil is a deep and rocky red clay loam with excellent structure and water holding capacity. The vines are unirrigated and relatively low yielding. They are cane-pruned by hand and wrapped to a single wire trellis to encourage some bunch shading during the heat of summer.

The Winemaking
The grenache was whole-bunch fermented for 21 days, then foot-stomped to allow fermentation to complete on skins and stems. The must was pressed into semi-permeable plastic tanks for aging. The shiraz and tempranillo components were destemmed, crushed and fermented in small open vats and aged for 18 months in old oak barrels, prior to bottling.

Variety:                           40% Grenache   40% Shiraz   20% Tempranillo

Vintage:                          2021

Harvest Date:                 1st to 21st March 2021

Vineyard Location:        Dowds Lane vineyard

Geology / Soil Profile:   Deep, red rocky clay loam (derived from Cambrian Rock)

Viticulture Practices:    Un-irrigated vineyards, zero tillage, grass sward between

                                          Rows, cane pruned

Yields                                1 tonne/acre

Alcohol:                           14.4%

pH:                                   3.76

TA:                                     5.67

Bottle Packaging:          750 ml Eco friendly burgundy bottle

Closure:                           Stelvin ROTP Screwcap

Cartons:                           6 bottles in branded cartons 1 x 6 standing up