Size & Type
Other
$51
This wine really requires no introduction. Every year it’s produced it garners superlatives from critics and consumers alike.
The devil as always is in the detail from super close planted vines that require specialised machinery and loads of manual work. The yield control and balance in the vines and their fruit offers wines of balance and harmony.
Out of stock
This wine is from the Shiraz block planted in 2003 with Viognier from the original 2001 plantings. There are two clones in the block, Best’s Old Block sourced from the original plantings at Best’s Great Western planted in 1868 and clone 1654, a Barossa selection. The Viognier is from cuttings at Yarra Yering, that l cut personally in 2000, Dr Carodus told me he had personally taken them from Chateau Grillet in Condrieu in the 60’s. Highly illegal at the time and even more so now.
The nose is quite concentrated and black fruited, with a fragrant violet note> It’s loaded with spicy red and blue fruits and a lick of ginger and spice from the Viognier. There is so much going on here violets and perfume and a heady mix of Asian spice and a hint of black pepper.
The palate is layered and woven with super fine savoury but silky tannins. Blue and red fruits, spice, perfume and fragrant, it is finely structured and detailed.. The 2019 has a richness, fleshiness and real volume of fruit, structurally and texturally it reminds of the 2013. It has quite a graphite like savoury kick at the end of the palate.
Best 2025-2040
This is Tom and Nadège’s Serrat Vineyard. It looks so peaceful. First plantings in the early 00’s, vineyard coming inline, the 2009 fire destroyed it including the shed on the hill, 2010 no crop, 2011 tough year, end if 2011 hail destroyed 2012. Now in 2017 if you look carefully to the left you can see the vineyard looks different. That’s a 16 year old vineyard about to reach its peak ripped out as phylloxera has hit and they are back to square one.
So when you pay less than a pineapple for a bottle of Serrat you are helping someone survive and share their passion. No superfund in vineyards! This is simply the reality of farming grapes.
P.S. The couple of cows that eat that grass make for pretty bloody tasty steaks too!
2020, a year none of us will ever forget for many reasons! At Serrat one of them is the extremely small vintage. It is such a shame, as the wines are excellent, and we are so proud of them, but we were seventy percent down. Although we shouldn’t complain, unlike 2007, 2009 or 2012, at least we had a 2020 vintage!
Where in the world does the magic happen?
1 Simpsons Ln, Yarra Glen VIC 3775, Australia
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Red Blend | South Australia, Australia
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