• American & French oak
• Spiced blueberry
• Vanilla
• Fine tannins

Deep purple-red. The vibrant blackberry, blueberry, redcurrant and violet primary aromas are highlighted with notes of spice, black olive, vanilla and cedar oak. Luscious dark berry flavours are tightly framed with fine tannins that focus the long finish of this medium to full-bodied estate McLaren Vale Shiraz. The intensity and structure of this wine ensures longevity and will reward careful cellaring.

The Davey Estate Vineyard is located in Whites Valley, at the southern end of the acclaimed McLaren Vale wine region in South Australia. Kym and John Davey planted & nurture their family-owned and sustainably managed estate vineyard on land their grandfather purchased in the 1950’s. Their goal is to produce high-quality, single vineyard wines. Modern viticultural practices that minimise work to the soil & encourage a balanced environment are used. Superior fruit is grown by managing canopies, hand-pruning, precise deficit irrigation & integrated pest management.

After a dry start to winter they had good rainfall, ending up 10% above the long-term averages, flushing and filling soil profiles to saturation. Although a mid-September bud burst was later than recent vintages it was in line with long term averages. Spring rainfall was well below average, resulting in low disease pressure. Average day and night spring temperatures were close to record highs, resulting in steady vine shoot growth, catching up some ground after the later bud burst.
They had 10mm of rain on December 1st and another 15 mm on December 15th, freshening the vines during early berry development. With only 6 mm of rain in January and 5 mm in February summer rainfall ended up only two thirds of the average. Drier and warmer than average conditions continued through March and April resulting in a disease free and orderly progression to vintage, allowing time for the potential of each batch of grapes to be maximised in the winery. Harvest started with Semillon on February 6th and our McLaren Vale white and rosé blocks were all off by February 19th when the first Davey Estate Shiraz was picked. Shiraz harvest, other than a small parcel for fortified, was completed on March 24th and Cabernet Sauvignon soon after on March 29th, just before Easter. Mataro, the last of the Grenache and Shiraz for fortification were harvested after Easter with all fruit in by April 5th. The 2018 white and rosé wines are richly flavoured with good length. The reds are full bodied and deeply coloured, showing intense fruit flavour with big round chewy tannins. Simply an outstanding vintage with the promise to be rated as one of the great years for McLaren Vale.

Only select parcels of Shiraz grown on both red & black soils over limestone on the Davey Estate vineyard are chosen for this wine. The wine is handcrafted in small open & static fermenters to maximise the potential of each small parcel of fruit. Maturation for an average of 15 months in new to 6 year old fine-grained American (50%) and French (50%) oak hogsheads softens, enhances & integrates the fruit & structural components of the wine.