ST. ANDREWS SHIRAZ
Wakefield
APPELLATION
Clare Valley
GRAPE VARIETIES
100% Shiraz
WINEMAKERS
Adam Eggins
TECHNICAL DATA
Acidity
3.63
Alcohol
14.5%
95POINTS
92POINTS
In 1969, after a considerable search, the Taylors family found a promising 178-hectare site by the Wakefield River in the Clare Valley. They were certain the soil – red brown loam over limestone (now called terra rossa) – would prove conducive to crafting wines of the highest quality. The contrast of warm days and cool nights in the Clare would be equally beneficial – helping the grapes ripen in the day, and allowing the vines to rest at night.
TERROIR & VINTAGE NOTESSt. Andrews vineyard, block E30, E40. Small quantities were also selected from the Eighty- Acre blocks. The latter contains some of the oldest vines on the family estate.
In the Clare Valley, growing conditions leading up to vintage 2013 could best be described as benign, apart from a frost event of mid-October which impacted several blocks on our estate vineyards. There were very few significant rainfall events over the growing period with the season being described overall as dry. The first week of December saw an 30mm down pour which was most definitely a season changer. Without the rain event, the overall yields from 2013 would have been very low. Harvest conditions were excellent with the first white varieties picked in early February. The winemakers report that quality is outstanding across all varieties, with excellent acid balance and flavor development displayed in the resultant wines.
WINEMAKINGOnce harvested, the grapes for this wine were taken the short distance to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed to protect the vibrant fruit characters and minimize any maceration and extraction of harsh tannins. The fruit was then transferred to headless barrels and inoculated with a special Shiraz yeast strain for fermentation. The fermenting must was then hand-plunged twice daily to aid gentle extraction and then the wine was left to soak on the skins for another 2 weeks. Once pressed, the wine was then transferred back to the same oak barrels to complete its secondary malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked off lees prior to final blending. The blended wine was then transferred to high quality water-bent American oak barrels and matured for 20 months prior to filtering and bottling.
TASTING NOTESComplex and enticing bouquet of dark berry fruit along with juicy black plum, spice, cedar and hints of chocolate and roasted coffee.
Rich and complex with layers of dark berry fruits layered with lashings of coffee, chocolate and spice from high quality oak. The palate builds further with well-balanced, elegant tannins delivering a very generous and complete wine with textural complexity and long, persistent flavors.
RESOURCES
Wakefield Portfolio
