Deep purple-red. Enticing ripe blackberry and dark chocolate aromas are highlighted with hints of violets and nut-like oak. The full-bodied palate overflows with dark chocolate berries, framed by chewy tannins and a slatey minerality. Seriously good now, careful cellaring for a few years will reward the patient.

The region has a Mediterranean climate with wet winters, dry summers and plenty of sunshine. The proximity to St Vincent Gulf, coincidentally named after the patron saint of winemakers, benefits fruit quality with warmer spring and autumn conditions and cooler summers. McLaren Vale is renowned as a premium wine region of great beauty that consistently produces high quality, richly flavoured wines.

Healthy soaking winter rains continued through spring and into early summer setting up good canopies without the need of supplementary irrigation. Wet soils and a cool start to spring resulted in flowering being 3 weeks later than in the previous years. Good fruitfulness of the vines and higher bunch weights meant crop levels were generally above average. Careful canopy management and a timely stop to the rains in mid-January minimised disease pressure. The dry & generally mild February and March were followed by a warmer than average April, allowing a long, slow ripening period and an orderly progression to harvest. Semillon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for Rosé, mostly harvested around the first week of March, all showed vibrant cool climate flavours and structural minerality. A burst of heat gave the reds a push allowing us to start filling the fermenters towards mid-March. The early red fruit was perfumed and spicy with excellent length. As vintage progressed fruit weight increased and flavours moved into darker berry profiles. Our palette of Shiraz wines are spicy and aromatic with good concentration and length. Cabernets are very varietal with blackcurrant and leafy notes. The Shingleback harvest finished with Mataro picked after Easter on the 18th of April, timed nicely before rains that fell shortly after.