• Blackberries
• Chocolate
• Roasted coffee beans
• Fine oak tannins

Vibrant purple-red in colour. Primary aromas of blackberry and sweet summer strawberries lift from the glass, highlighted with notes of chocolate and roasted coffee beans. Red and black berry flavours fill the medium to full bodied palate and are focused into the long finish by fine fruit and oak tannins.

The region has a Mediterranean climate with wet winters, dry summers and plenty of sunshine. The proximity to the 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 richly flavoured wines of the highest quality.

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.