Who would have thought........ the 5th vintage of Syrahmi is here.
My aim has always been to express the true terroir of the vineyard and vintage and along the way I have learnt you can have great success through minimal human intervention in the winemaking process and by simply putting your trust in Mother Nature.
Each year grapes for Syrahmi are sourced and selected from a different vineyard in the Heathcote region. Thus each year the wine has a different name.
In 2008 the vintage was quite simply out of control; stressful, manic…storm like. Certainly the most difficult I have experienced in my 10 cumulative vintages in Australia and France; and so I present 2008 Syrahmi Maelstrom Shiraz. There are only 500 cases and 60 magnums. I have attached the latest review by Jane Faulkner in The Age.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
On the vineyard:
In 2007 my quest to find some of the best growing areas in Heathcote, led me to a new spot in the Mt Camel Ranges roughly 25 km north of the Heathcote Township. Named Camel Back; it’s a relatively young vineyard with great potential planted out with Shiraz clone PT23 on a mix of rootstock and own roots. Soil types vary ranging from red clay intermixed with ironstone on Block 2 through to a narrow strip of ancient pre-Cambrian soil 550 million years old on Block 5. Furthermore - Viticulturist Stuart Wareham, his eye for detail and understanding of the vineyard and land is I believe sets this vineyard apart in the Heathcote Region.
On the Vintage:
We all remember the heat wave in the second week of March 2008; 40+ deg for 7+ days across Australia.
It was such a gentle growing season before the hot spell; December and January were in fact quite cool, and so it was shaping up to be a great vintage. Luckily I had picked all my fruit before the heat with the first grapes being picked on the
26th Jan and the last coming in on the 5th of February. As such I managed to escape the worst of it.
The wine is intensely focused, black with bright purple hue, a riot of perfume and spice with ripe raspberries and cherries, black pepper, Asian spiced aromatics with savory smoked meat complexity all wrapped around sexy French oak. Finely textured, medium bodied palate with super long length, clean refreshing acidity finishing with fine velvet like savory tannins.
Facts on Syrahmi Maelstrom:
- Handpicked grapes < 2 tonnes per acre
- Single Vineyard, single Shiraz clone PT23 used
- 5 day cold soak < 8°C
- Wild yeast ferment and malolatic fermentation
- Only whole berry with 20% whole bunch
- Only hand pigeage
- Extended time 19-25 days on skins before pressing
- Fourteen months in 100% French oak, 30% new
- Unfined & unfiltered bottled in April 2009
- Only 500 cases 60 magnums released
