The Sterling 2021
90% Grenache, 10% Shiraz
750ml
A medium bodied and bright style with hints of cherry and raspberry on the nose. The palate is lifted and bright with savory red fruits. Natural grape tannins provide on the finish. The wine will age gracefully over 5 to 10 years.
Awards
Bronze Medal - 2023 James Halliday Wine Companion
Tasting Notes
The 2021 Vintage
2021 was a very good year. Rainfall from the prior year left an excellent store of moisture in the ground. Warm weather during the growing season interspersed with rain events helped the grapes to ripened evenly and maintain leaf cover.
The Vineyard
All fruit was estate grown, sourced from north facing slopes of the Dowd’s Lane vineyard. The Grenache vines are on a high rocky slope exposed to the summer sun. The vines are unirrigated and very 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
All of the bunches were retained whole and stored in a stainless tank under CO2 for 21 days, then transferred to small open fermenters, foot-stomped, and retained therein with daily hand plunging for the remainder of fermentation, and then basket-pressed. The wine was aged without oak in semi-permeable food-grade plastic tanks for a period of 6 months prior to bottling.
Variety: 90% Grenache 10% Shiraz
Vintage: 2021
Harvest Date: 11 March 2021
Vineyard Location: North west vineyards
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 1.0 tonne/acre
Alcohol: 12.5%
pH: 3.48
TA: 5.68
Production: 77 dozen (153 cases)
Bottle Packaging: 750 ml punted premium burgundy
Closure: Stelvin ROTP Screwcap
Cartons: 6 bottles in branded cartons stand-up