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www.buyersandcellars.ca Cellar Profile
Region
Adelaide Hills is a wine growing area in the Mount Lofty Ranges region of South Australia. It is one of the largest wine regions in the state, reaching the Flurried Peninsula and McAllen Vale in the south, and the Bares and Eden Valleys in the north. Key to the region’s grape growing is the altitude of its vineyards, which range from 400 to 650 masl. This gives the region, in an Australian context, a cool climate. Throughout the Adelaide Hills, the ripening season has historically been dry. This, along with cooler temperatures, allows the grapes to mature at a slow pace, resulting in concentrated wines.
Vineyard
2018 was a near perfect vintage, with plentiful rainfall during winter and spring. Aside from a few hot January days, temperatures during growing season were consistently mild, prolonging ripening and enabling intense fruit flavor development without high sugars. Shoot thinning was conducted a month before budburst to improve shoot length and control yields. Bunch thinning prior to flowering and then again during veraison ensured improved airflow and reduced variability in the crop. Longview fruit is all sourced from the single estate and therefore much of the work to provide depth and character is completed in the vineyard. Each block is serviced differently in order to build complex flavour profiles; these are then fermented separately and blended to make the wine of any one vintage.
Varieties
Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that produces good yields and is known for deep colour, full body, low tannins and high levels of acid. When young, the wines offer a very intense aroma of fresh red cherries and blackberries. In the lightest versions, notes of cherries, raspberries and blueberries; and with notes of blackberry and black cherries in wines made of more ripe grapes. Many producers employ the use of toasted oak barrels, which provides for increased complexity and aging potential. The lightest versions are generally known for flavours and aromas of fresh and dried fruit.
Winemaking
All fruit is hand-picked. Both varieties were destemmed and crushed before a cool, open co-ferment for 21 days. Maturation occurs in French Oak Hogsheads, 3rd and 4th use. Bottled after 12 months.
Tasting Notes
Deep ruby in the glass, this wines shows aromatics of stewed fruit and spice. The Shiraz has all the hallmarks of cool-climate fruit: spicy and savoury with crunchy berries. The Barbera provides a juicy, cherry-like brightness and taut acid backbone that gives the wine wonderful structure.