Wine Detail
'Over The Hill' Reserve Shiraz
2007
Given their ancient appearance, ‘over the hill’ would be a suitable description of the vineyard used to produce the grapes for this wine. The fruit for this classic Shiraz came from the oldest existing vineyard in McLaren Vale – planted over one hundred and forty years ago in the 1860’s. The vines are located on our “Home Block” in McLaren Vale, 5km east of the township. They were originally grown as low level ‘bush vines,’ with short red-gum posts.
From those 140 year old vines comes this deep, brooding Shiraz. Aroma and flavour of black fruits, raspberry, chocolate and coffee combine with French oak to yield a powerful wine of great intensity and length. It is rich and rounded with a complex palate showing well integrated and soft tannins.
The Vintage
The 2007 vintage was a difficult one in most areas of Australia, with drought conditions exacerbated by spring frosts that decimated many vineyards. Thankfully, McLaren Vale missed most of the frost damage, but yields were none-the-less reduced because of the dry conditions. Late rain in January interrupted a vintage that had started much earlier than usual, but the warm weather quickly dried everything and fruit remained in good condition.
Vinification
The ripe fruit was hand-picked and delivered straight to the winery where it was partially crushed. The combination of berries & juice were then transferred into 3 ton open containers and fermented for around 2 weeks. During this time the ferment cap was hand plunged & pumped over 2 times a day. It was then gently air-bag pressed, settled and then dispatched to a combination of 10% new French oak hogshead barrels, with the remaining in 2 and 3 year old French and American oak barrels to mature for 14 months. In August 2009, the wine was packaged in reverse tapered premium claret bottles, and closured with high quality natural cork. To retain maximum quality and substance, it has not undergone fining or filtering. This is why a small amount of harmless, natural sediment may accumulate and adhere to the bottle as it ages.
Technical
Alcohol by volume; 14.5% v/v
pH; 3.44
Titratable Acid; 6.66 g/L
Residual grape sugar; 1.3 g/L
Varieties; 100% Shiraz, Planted 1860’s
Geographical Indication; McLaren Vale, South Australia
Awards and Accolades
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'Over The Hill' Reserve Shiraz 2007, Silver Medal
2010 Winewise Small Vigneron Awards, Canberra Australia
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4.5 Stars, 2007 'Over The Hill' Reserve Shiraz
Winestate New Release Tasting 2010
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Gold Medal, 2007 'Over The Hill' Reserve Shiraz
2009 Sommelier Challenge, San Diego, California
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Availability
Limited stock
