There is so much care and thought put into De Bortoli’s Yarra Valley reds these days that you’d almost call them works of art. That said, the style choices made for this wine have pushed marginally beyond my boundaries.
It’s time to talk about bitterness. For a long time it was a dirty word in Australian wine, though slowly some are starting to see that bitterness is not always a bad thing. In fact it’s often a desirable thing. Bitterness is not always an excuse for unripeness and there’s an argument to say that sweetness must be watched as closely as bitterness traditionally has.
This 2008 De Bortoli Syrah has a bittnerness to it. It’s both its strength and its weakness. It’s otherwise plummy and cherried and decidedly nutty - I love the general flavour profile, mostly because of its distinctly dry, food-enhancing, savoury quality. Clearly there are stalks involved here and for me, they are on the high side - though the characters they add, are likely to age well. A wine to be watched. And kept for a few years. And enjoyed with food. Love the nutty aftertaste, even if there are streaks through it. Drink : 2012 - 2017 91 points Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
"Gee, this is a lovely cool-climate shirazer, syrah (same thing, different language). It's beautifully fragrant, elegant and smooth, with a long, persistent finish. The flavours meld beautifully - blackberry, dark cherry and licorice, with a late hit of spice. Ideal for a Christmas gift or to knock over on the big day." Rick Allen, Manly Daily, December 2009
"A RHONE-like shiraz, first in De Bortoli's 'estate' range made from fruit off its Yarra Valley vineyard. Whole bunch fermentation in warmer temperatures and use of older oak casks has worked wonders. There's dynamic spice, licorice and blackberry on the nose, fine tannins and a long finish. Widely available." Jeff Collerson, The Daily Telegraph, December 2009
"With plenty of talk about Yarra Valley syrah, this is a brilliant cool-climate example from 2007 winner Steve Webber. Compact, pure dark fruit spiced with smells of juniper and green pepper, make way for a plush, chewy and delicious mouthful of wine." Matt Skinner, The Sun Herald, November 2009
Vintage Conditions
2008 saw timely December and January rainfall followed by warm dry days and cool nights. Harvest dates were earlier than normal.
Winemaking
Fruit is sourced from from 4 estate vineyards planted in 1971, 1987, 1990 and 1994. Vines are cane pruned to 18 bunches per vine and shoot thinned at the 10-15cm stage so that there are no more than15 bunches per vine. The vines are hand picked into 8kg buckets and transported to the winery. Fruit was hand sorted and a combination of whole bunches, whole berries and crushed fruit is gravity tipped to open fermenters. The fruit was then allowed to ferment with ambient yeast. Both hand and foot plunging are used to gently extract colour and flavour over 20 days. The grapes are pressed and settled for 24 hours before racking to cask (10% new) for MLF and maturation. After 10 months the wine is gravity racked and then bottled. Syrah with lots of whole bunches is quite a defining Yarra style. The whole bunch characters and the graphite from the soil are a lovely combo.
