2021 ROSE & BRAMBLE ROSÉ

Andrew made a great Rosé, Margan Shiraz Saignée, for about 20 vintages and then got bored with it so declared he wouldn’t make it anymore. Just as the Rose’ boom hit! Lisa decided to take over the project and with our winemaker Nicole Wilson and daughter Alessa Margan they re-worked the style, renamed the wine Rose & Bramble and designed a new label. Since we launched it in 2018 it has won medals, trophies and fans. Andrew is still part of the picture – he grows the grapes – and reluctantly acknowledges that he is also a fan of the new style.

GROWING SEASON

With much welcomed spring rain in 2020 we saw excellent canopy balance through all vineyards for our 2021 vintage. A mild summer allowed for excellent acid retention and a long ripening period resulting in elegant fruit character and seamless acid balance in white wines coming from 2021.

VINEYARD

This wine is mostly sourced from our Ceres Hill Vineyard (Merlot and Barbera) with these grapes grown on the parcels of red volcanic soils. We add a small volume of Pinot Grigio grown on our Saxonvale Vineyard on the Fordwich Sill which adds texture to the palate.

WINEMAKING

Our Rosé is made using a combination of varieties and winemaking techniques. A blend of Shiraz, Merlot and Barbera picked and pressed off skins immediately to achieve a faint salmon blush and encourage floral aromatics and elegant fruits. The Pinot Grigio component Is handpicked and fermented on skins to contribute texture to the palate.

TASTING NOTES

The wine has lifted berry aromas and a rose petal perfume with mulberry, strawberry, and pink grapefruit on the palate. The finish is dry and refreshing and the palate has lots of texture. An eclectic approach to winemaking has produced a dry wine packed with mouthfeel and fresh fruit.

WINE COMPOSITION

pH                                                                  3.25

Titratable Acidity                                       7.5 g/L

Alcohol                                                         12 %

Residual Sugar                                           < 2g/L

VINE AGE/CLONE

50 years / Busby

FOOD MATCH

Kangaroo steak tartare with quails’ egg and toasted brioche

CELLARING POTENTIAL

2-3 years

2018 WHITE LABEL SAXONVALE CABERNET SAUVIGNON
The Hunter Valley is mainly known for Shiraz, not so much for the other noble variety of France, Cabernet Sauvignon. Having said that, a handful of Hunter producers make excellent Cabernet when planted with the right clone to the right soils and we think we are one of them. Our old vines ensure yields are kept low which allows the fruit to achieve full ripeness at lower alcohols compared with cabernet grown in other warm climate regions

Growing Season

Small bunches and intensely flavoured fruit with bright aromatics was a characteristic of the 2019 vintage, resulting in beautifully ripe and healthy fruit that we handpicked early February. Fruit quality was exceptionally high.

Vineyard

Cabernet is usually the last of the varieties to bud, ripen and be picked here in the Hunter. Our vines were planted on our Saxonvale Vineyard on the Fordwich Sill in the late 1960’s and covers a small 3-hectare block. They produced the great Lindemans Saxonvale Cabernets of 1984, 85 and 86. We took over this vineyard in 2007 and are the proud custodians of these old, low yielding vines.  

Winemaking

The fruit is handpicked, and the juice is fermented at cool temperatures using aromatic yeasts. We mature the wine in a combination of new and old American and French barriques for 12 months, we select the best barrels based on freshness of aromatics and structural tannins to be bottled in limited quantities under our prestigious white label.

Tasting Notes

Vivid purple in colour as a young wine and displaying intense dark fruit aromas. The palate is rich and earthy with blackcurrant, spiced fruit, dark chocolate, vanilla bean and a touch of Chinese five-spice. The tannins are firm and structured, and the finish is long and lingering.

Wine Composition

pH                                                           3.48

Titratable Acidity                                  7.1g/L

Alcohol                                                   13.5%

Residual Sugar                                       <1g/L

Food Match

Venison backstrap with beetroot puree and burnt shallots

Cellaring Potential

10 to 20 years

2021 WHITE LABEL CERES HILL ALBARINO

Albariño originates from the north west coastal regions of the Iberian Peninsula. Like the Hunter Valley this region is also classified as warm maritime and its wines are low in alcohol and acid focused. We were the first in the Hunter Valley to plant Albariño on our Ceres Hill Vineyard in 2014 and the second in Australia. This is a great food wine and pairs with most things you would add a touch of lemon to. It is of course a classic catch with fresh seafood.

Growing Season

With much welcomed spring rain in 2020 we saw excellent canopy balance through all vineyards for our 2021 vintage. A mild summer allowed for excellent acid retention and a long ripening period resulting in elegant fruit character and seamless acid balance in white wines coming from 2021.

Vineyard

Planted in 2014 on the Sandy Loam behind our kitchen garden on our Ceres Hill property. Traditionally in Spain, Albariño is trellised on tall pergola style structures designed to provide maximum shade to the fruit. We use a modern style of trellis here (vertical shoot positioning) but are mindful of shaping the leaf canopy to also shelter the bunches. Too much direct sun can encourage the development of flavours that we don’t want.

Winemaking

We hand pick these grapes with exceptionally high natural acidity. We ferment the juice in stainless steel tanks using a small volume of solids and wild yeasts to achieve more savoury aromatics. Extended lees contact post fermentation resulted in a textural complex wine

Tasting Notes

The wine has aromatic notes of lime zest and crisp, nashi pear and sea spray. The palate has juicy lime, sherbet, grapefruit, pear and lemon balm. The palate is textural with mineral notes and finishes with refreshing acidity and a characteristic touch of salinity, paying homage to its coastal origins.

Wine Composition

pH                                                          3.28

Titratable Acidity                                8.7 g/L

Alcohol                                                  12.5%

Residual Sugar                                     < 1g/L

Vine Age

7 years

Food Match

Grilled garfish with harissa roasted capsicum, squash and eggplant

Cellaring Potential

10 + years

Growing Season

Small bunches and intensely flavoured fruit with bright aromatics was a characteristic of the 2019 vintage, resulting in beautifully ripe and healthy fruit that we hand picked in mid January. Fruit quality was exceptionally high.

Vineyard

Whilst looking for diversity in shiraz within our vineyards, 9 years ago Andrew asked some his mates who owned Heritage Vineyards in Pokolbin for some buds to graft over a 30-hectare block of 50 year old Shiraz vines. We grafted 6 different clones of Shiraz onto the 50yr old rootstocks, and 9 years later we now have six different clones producing some very interesting results. The BC4 block always stood out from other blocks due to its vibrancy of fruit and soft framed tannins and is the first block of these heritage clones that we have bottled separately as a standalone wine.

Winemaking

We use ‘partial carbonic maceration’ which is a fermentation technique made famous from the Beaujolais region in France. It results in a complex, bright and fruit forward red wine with soft, velvety tannins. The wine was placed in a mixture of 3 and 5-year-old French oak puncheons (500 litres) for six months before bottling early to be enjoyed as a fresh, fruit driven style.

Tasting Notes

Bright purple in colour with lifted aromas of blueberries, blackberries, and violets. The palate has loads of vibrant blue and black fruits, a touch of liquorice and juicy mulberries. The tannins are soft and silky, and the finish is refreshing.

Wine Composition

pH                                                          3.45

Titratable Acidity                                  6.9g/L

Alcohol                                                  13.5%

Residual Sugar                                     <1g/L

Food Match

Steak tartare with toasted brioche and quails eggs

Cellaring Potential

10 to 15 years