Mount Horrocks Alexander Vineyard Shiraz 2018
$44.99
SPECIAL BUY 6 or more. 96 points, Halliday. Vibrant, dark fruited, superb Clare Valley shiraz.
Description
Mount Horrocks Wines is operated by proprietor/winemaker Stephanie Toole, who restricts production to approximately 3,500 cases per annum in order to achieve her aims of quality and single vineyard expression. All three estate-owned Clare Valley vineyards, totalling ten hectares, are ‘A certified’ by Australian Certified Organic (ACO). James Halliday says “Stephanie Toole has never deviated from the pursuit of excellence in the vineyard and winery. She has three vineyard sites in the Clare Valley, each managed using natural farming and organic practices. The attention to detail and refusal to cut corners is obvious in all her wines. 5 Red Star Winery”
Stephanie carefully crafts “essentially hand-made food wines with emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours”. Only estate grown grapes are used and these are hand-picked and gently handled under conditions that ensure the varietal and site-specific flavours in the resultant wine, as well as its organic status, are retained. As no finings have been found necessary the wines are all suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Only the finest French oak barriques are used for those wines spending time in barrel.
Estate grown, single vineyard, certified organic. We love this wine! Full of character and class, the 2018 Alexander Vineyard is a supple, smooth shiraz of tremendous style.
Initially inspired by Stephanie’s love of Rhone wines, her deft handling of fruit from this unique vineyard has resulted in the most stylish of shiraz wines, accurately reflecting the cooler vineyard site yet defying the common preconception of the bolder Clare Valley Shiraz. This is a result of the gently northerly sloping low but even site, the Alexander Vineyard sits isolated – a perfect site in the north eastern most corner of the Watervale subregion.
This is hand made with a very traditional winemaking approach: handpicked and partial whole bunch foot-crushed, with the balance cold soaked on skins then fermented in purpose-built vessels which allow gentle extraction of colour, flavour and tannins. The wine then spent 18 months maturation in 40% new French oak barriques prior to blending and bottling then bottle aged for nine months before release.
Stephanie explains how she makes this style: “The first thing is to plant the vineyard in the right place: the Alexander Vineyard is beautifully sited and low yielding. Then, at vintage it’s about hand harvesting at optimum (not jammy) fruit ripeness. From there, one quarter of the fruit is whole-bunch foot crushed in open fermenters, pressed, then run into French barriques and left on the yeast lees. This gives a fresher more perfumed but less tannic component. The remainder is fermented and plunged four times a day for a week, then pressed and run into French barriques (40% new) where it remains for 18 months. This component has more weight, colour and extract”. Stephanie has found that over the past twenty-two years of making shiraz, this approach (often referred to as ‘more European’) gives the most expressive wine.
Vibrant cherry red in colour. Dark-fruited with fragrant, almost floral oak aromas. Very alluring. On the palate outhful, lively red and black fruits, mandatory Shiraz spice in the toasted mixed spice arena, plush tannins and a long, appealing finish. Drinks beautifully now and will age well for 12 or more years.
96 points, James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2023 “Excellent, full crimson/purple colour. A wine that is all about high-quality shiraz picked at precisely the right moment. Equal amounts of blackberry and plum drive the bouquet and medium-bodied palate with consummate ease, oak and tannins in dutiful support.”
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review “Very deep, bold red-purple colour; concentrated, the bouquet confirming the intensity of smoked plum, dried fruits, and earthy aromas. The wine is rich and full-bodied, deep and concentrated, with a long finish and lashings of smooth tannins. Excellent shiraz.”
94 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “Yes. Excellent. Smashing. What more do you need to know? Black berried fruit flavours, mint and peppercorn, cedarwood. A significant spread of tannin but with a fruit-rich context. One sip and I was convinced.”
RRP $54 *Our Special Price $44.99 when you buy 6 or more*
Additional information
Producer | Mount Horrocks |
---|---|
Region or Country | Australia, Clare Valley |
Variety | Shiraz |
Vintage | 2018 |
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