Full Circle 2020

Our best two Shiraz vineyards form the backbone of this blend. The grapes were hand-picked in the early morning and force cooled to 4 °C. The Shiraz and Mourvèdre components were then bunch sorted, destemmed and berry sorted on vibration tables by 25 highly trained staff. The berries were gently crushed into a satellite tank and deposited separately in open fermenters. The must was dejuiced by 10%. It was given a cold soak of 3 days at 9 °C protected by a CO2 blanket. The juice was pumped over once daily during this period.

The Shiraz and Mourvèdre tanks were then heated to 18 °C and inoculated with BM45, L2056 and D254 yeast. The fermentation temperature was allowed to peak at 28 °C and then brought down to 24 °C. The fermenting cap was manually punched down three times and two pump overs daily. The Shiraz was given extended maceration after fermentation for 21 days total on the skins and then pressed into 100% new Allier French oak barrels. The Mourvèdre was pressed at 0ºB and finished fermentation in barrels. The Viognier was cold fermented separately in barrels. The press fractions were separated. Malolactic bacteria were inoculated and malolactic fermentation was completed in the barrel.

After malolactic fermentation, the wines were given a low sulphur dose and left on gross lees for 11 months. The wine was then racked, and the different components were blended and returned to barrels. After a total of 20 months in barrels, the wine was racked and filtered through a coarse sheet filter. Bottling was done with fine sheet filtration. The wine was bottle matured for 11 months prior to release.