Wine Decoded Yarra Valley Shiraz 2017

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

You can “Follow the Grapes through the Eyes of the Winemaker” in the Wine Bites Mag articles about the making of the wine! You’ll find loads of videos taking you from vineyard to bottle.

A big shoutout to Stuart Proud for growing some superb fruit at his Syme Vineyard in Seville East, Upper Yarra Valley. Thanks to Dylan & Dominic at Seville Estate for helping destem our fruit. To all those how were part of the making process, Maree, Genevieve, Ken, Alfonso, Emma, Margaret, Eddie, Shane, Tresna, Stuart M. & Carolyn 🙏🏻.

I was a toddler when I had my first glass of wine (all be it a generous gift of a partygoer who left some fizz on my highchair). Just 17 when I commenced studying winemaking in Adelaide.

Throughout the years I have had the pleasure of working with some of the most passionate, knowledgable people in the industry. Steve Webber from DeBortoli along with Dave Bicknell, now the madman in charge of Oakridge were there for my first vintage, Bailey Carrodus, my 2nd, 10th-12th vintages, Tom Carson for my 5th-9th, Alex Moreau for a fun stint in Chassagne in the middle and many more.

During a break from the industry, I never found myself far from Wine, after joking for so long telling people, winemaking’s easy (…good winemaking is another matter), you can do it in a bucket or bathtub, Fonz ‘Instigator of Mischief’, finally pushed me to put some grapes where my mouth was.

It is with great pleasure that I share our 3rd release, the 2017 Wine Decoded ‘Bathtub’ Shiraz with our community today!

Enjoy!

The Syme Vineyard

Winner – Vineyard of the Year, 2018 Yarra Valley Wine Show!

We’ve been lucky to have Stuart Proud working hard to sustainably grow our wonderful Shiraz fruit. Check out the interview with him below.

Wine Decoded hits the Vineyards to talk soil, grapes and vino with Stuart Proud, grower of Wine Decoded’s Bathtub Shiraz Grapes! Look out for wines from this vineyard. Wine Decoded’s and others will be hitting the site soon.

We want a healthy and diverse system – not a sterile monoculture that exists in many mainstream, conventional vineyards. This biological farming approach has led to the fruit and resultant wines to best express the truth of where they have come from and the influence of the seasons. Stuart Proud

Pic’s courtesy of Stuart Proud

In the Winery

Making wine from grapes you’ve never worked with before is always novel. I would say that it takes 10 years to truly get your head around a site and it’s fruit. By then everything changes. The climate, vine age, your winemaking experience and philosophy.

In the back of my mind were all the things I love in good wine. Elegance, sophistication, complexity, graceful texture, balance, freshness. Above all wine with personality!

In 2016 we had a warm compressed vintage. I learned much about the fruit during that vintage, the substantial tannins, colour and depth of flavour.

Although 2017 was a very different year, cooler, with a longer ripening period, understanding of the tannins from this fruit had me wanting to focus on this area, looking to take a gentle approach of infusion rather than extraction of tannin.

Beyond that, I was thinking of extending the period of time on skins for a portion of the fruit to build complexity. I reckon I’ve done OK. You can let me know when you devour a glass!

The end result is a wine that reflects, the site, the vintage(s), and, the maker. The concept of ‘Terroir’ for mine must include the hand of the maker. Maker’s must choose the path the fruit travels, the options are endless.

Current fashion leans toward single site wines, from single vintages.

Yet, throughout history, some of the greatest wines made are blends from multiple sites, regions separated by hundreds of kilometers, and, multiple vintages.

Think Rinaldi & Bartolo Mascarello in Barolo. Many Australian blends like Penfolds St Henri. Champagnes made with reserve wines based on a Solera System blended across many sub-regions.

Current labeling law requires a component of a wine only be mentioned when it is greater than 15% of the blend. You might be suprised at what actually is in a single site, single vintage wine!

There is a secret ingredient in the 2016 Wine Decoded Shiraz. 7.5% of it is from the 2017 Wine Decoded Shiraz.

Why? The blend made for a better wine, a more complete wine. Equally the 2017 Wine Decoded Shiraz is blended with 12% of the 2016 wine. We played around with these blends across 3 months before locking them in!

The addition of 7.5% 2017 Shiraz to the 2016 added freshness, mid-palate vibrancy and took the edge off the tannins.

The addition of the 12% 2016 Shiraz to the 2017 layered in complexity, earthiness and layered in some tannin in the right spots.

Both were better wines for the blend.

Just like Giuseppe Rinaldi we have made wines that are more complete by blending.

Drinking Tips

🌡Devour at 16-18ºC

🍷Decanting recommended. This is going to be a long-lived wine. Decanting it in the morning and drinking it over a couple of days. This helps open it up and bring the fruit out.

The 2017 Vintage & Making of the 2017 Wine Decoded Shiraz

2017 was a cooler, year with good water stores available for the vines. Ripening was slow and even with phenolic ripeness matching sugar levels. A short spell of rain a couple of weeks prior to harvest freshened up the vines and we ended up picking delicious fruit with ripe tannins . The water stressed from 2016 was not a challenge.

If you get the chance go through the Articles in the Wine Bites Mag Articles that share the making process and you’ll get a deep understanding of each step in the process, the care and detail we took in handling our grapes, and, guiding them through to the bottle.

About the Label

Every year we share our passion for wine, making it, talking about it, most importantly sharing it. This is a passion project, made, by hand with Friends! The label for each wine we make reflects this. This year, the label shows Genevieve’s hands covered in pink foam from the fermenting Shiraz.

Each day during vintage the kids are in the winery with us experiencing and playing as we make our wine. Why hands? Our wines are made with touch, the detail we apply in making them, and, minute scale, mean it is both necessary & pleasurable to work by hand!