Dune The Empty Quarter McLaren Vale Red Blend 2024 (Australia)

Description

Oak, Raspberry, Spice

Rose floral and cherry aromatics with bitter herb and white pepper. Juicy entry on the palate, blue and dark fruits, plum, raspberry, pomegranate and black tea. Fine and long supple tannins give great length.

Vine growth started relatively early with cool but sunny and dry conditions, followed by a dramatic change from mid-November 2023 to mid-January 2024. Wind and rain dictated the summer period, all irrigation was stopped and canopy trimming and leaf plucking was required to ensure sufficient light onto fruit for ripening. In late January, the rain stopped and we had a prolonged dry and warm weather pattern including a mini-heatwave in March. Shiraz parcels looked impressive with great colour and concentration of fruit, and mataro performed well with nice even crops and great fragrance and purity.

The Empty Quarter 2024 is a grenache, shiraz, mataro co-ferment. The varieties are all picked together and fermented in open top concrete fermenters for around 10 days on skins. The wine is then pressed off into seasoned oak for approximately 12 months before bottling.