Evans & Tate Redbrook Shiraz

Description

TASTING NOTES:

Colour: Deep purple/black with a bright red rim.

Aroma: Lifted fruit aromas of fresh mulberry and maraschino cherry, intertwined with aromas of green peppercorn and floral notes. Whole bunches and stalk inclusion during fermentation has added lovely peppery and savoury aromatics and textural complexity.

Palate: Redbrook Shiraz is a style rare to Margaret River. Medium bodied with the palate showing remarkable drive and length of flavour with layers of texture and flavours and the capacity for longevity in the cellar. This is a wine that will continue to develop and evolve in the bottle over time. Vibrancy and the purity of fruit is at the forefront of the style.

pH: 3.36

Acidity: 6.94g/L

Peak Drinking: Will cellar beyond 2022

Wine Maker: Matt Byrne

About Evans & Tate’s Redbrook: Redbrook represents a range crafted from only the most exceptional fruit parcels of the vintage that enable a bold, thought provoking expression of Margaret River. Full of rich fruit character, these beautiful wines will rewards for many years to come.

Winemaker Matthew Byrne introduces Evans & Tate and their Redbrook vineyard. (Video: E&T YouTube)

VINTAGE CONDITIONS:

The 2012 vintage in Margaret River was the sixth consecutive outstanding vintage that the region has experienced. The lead up to vintage was dry and warm with only a couple of very warm spells in January and early February which the vines handled well and was ideal for the Shiraz varietal.

The night temperatures were cool (cooler than in 2011) which has produced richly flavoured Shiraz wines whilst still ensuring elegance and balance, typical of Margaret River.

VINIFICATION & MATURATION:

The fruit for our Redbrook Shiraz is grown on three unique vineyards located in central and southern parts of the Margaret River wine growing region. These vineyards show near perfect vine balance which in turn produce low crop levels and small berry size with vibrant aromatics and intense flavour in our end wine.

Our more southern vineyard is subject to cooler ripening conditions from the influence of the Southern Ocean, but has gravelly free-draining soils ? this combination produces highly spiced, peppery fruit with intense floral and red berry fruit characters.

All fruit was picked in the cool of the early morning with a select parcel being handpicked for the inclusion of whole clusters in the ferment (which represented ~20%).

Once at the winery, the must was transferred to a small fermenter and held cold at 5C for 4 days before the slow commencement of fermentation. Fermentation was then conducted over 10 days at 22-24C with the juice being racked and returned over the cap every 8 hours for the gentle extraction of colour and skin tannin.

After this 10 day fermentation period, the must was gently pressed when sugar dry on skins. The pressings fraction was added back to the free-run to add structure and style to our wine. The wine then matured for 12-14 months in a combination of new (20%) and older French oak barriques (225L), hogsheads (300L) and puncheons (500L).

Following maturation, each individual barrel was tasted and assessed to determine which barrels were included in the final blend. The wine was then carefully blended following these trials and bottled without fining followed by extended maturation in bottle prior to release.

AWARDS & ACCOLADES: