Serrat Shiraz Viognier 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

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.

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!

The 2021 Vintage at Serrat

The wines from the 2022 vintage follows on from the 21 with a similar high quality set of wines. It is the second in a now trio of La Nina’s, an unprecedented occurrence in our lifetime. 21, 22, 23, cool wet springs, difficult flowering, cool summers later picking.

Abnormal amounts of extra work in the vineyard, but the results are worth the effort.

The wines showed their potential from the day they started fermentation, lovely detail, intensity and flavor profile. They are complex incredibly pure and detailed and have wonderful mouthfeel and balance. 21 and 22 an incredible pair of vintages at the very top.