the solipstic snollygoster

THE SOLIPS
ST
TIC
SNOLL
LY
YG O S
ST
TER
Shiraz 2012
McLaren Vale, Shiraz (100%)
The Name
The Characteris
Characteristics
tics
Solipsism is extreme egocentrism at its best.
This 114 year old vineyard believes that
nothing could match its excellence, so with
snollygoster style, it unscrupulously sends
its roots to absorb all the best benefits from
the soil, which produces amazing fruit with
great age-ability.
Generous, juicy McLaren Vale Shiraz. Pure,
sweet fruits leap from the glass, plums,
blackberry, boysenberry. A hint of earth
follows, a nod to the old vines and thick soils
on which the vineyard lies. The palate is
laden with more ripe fruit notes from
raspberry jubes to wild blackberries. There
is a twist of something woody, maybe
sage-like, that pricks the senses. A highly
decadent mouthfeel with no rough edges,
just velvet, with depth of flavour and
richness to burn. All of this fruit seems to be
intricately woven together by a seam of the
most supple, mouthwatering fruit tannins.
Welcome to McLaren Vale.
The Vintag
Vintagee
A wet summer and winter in 2011 set the
vines up perfectly for the 2012 vintage.
Spring and summer were drier than normal,
resulting in lower fruit yields. A small heat
burst just prior to veraison assured a solid
colour change, small berries and
pronounced tannins in the grapes. The red
wines from this vintage are black, solid and
quite structured, the biggest year for some
time; not oily but definitely gutsy.
The Winemaking
Small batches of grapes are crushed gently
and then transferred to five tonne headed
down open fermenters. These batches
remain separate until final blending. Foot
treading is undertaken two thirds of the way
through fermentation. The wine is then
basket pressed and transferred to a mixture
of new and used French and old American
oak barriques to complete fermentation.
The barrel ferments are aged on lees, and
there is no racking until final blending. Only
the best Shiraz blocks from each vintage are
selected to be part of the Amazing Sites
range.
Harvest dates
Residual sugar
pH
Chief Winemaker
2 March
0.8
3.46
Ches
Chester
ter Osborn
Alcohol
Titratable acid
Oak maturation
Senior Winemaker
14.
4.4%
4%
6.8
20 months
Jack W
Walton
alton
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