Smidge Wines

Tasting Notes

A multitude of aromas, including plums, luscious cherries, tobacco, licorice, spice and crËme anglaise. The palate is elegant, but rich with spicy, fleshy plums, dark chocolate notes and balanced acid, tannins and fleshy creamy mocha notes.

Viticulture

All fruit is sourced from vineyards ranging from 5 to 60 years old in the western ranges of the Barossa Valley. The blocks averaged yileds of 2 tonnes per acre and all had soils profiles of deep red clay loam. With mild summer conditions, the vines grew relatively stress free and required minimal irrigation. Flavour in Shiraz reached its full potential later in the season, coinciding with slightly elevated sugar levels, with the resultant wines being rich and powerful.

Vinification & Maturation

Average fermentation time lasted 7 days and was allowed to reach 28oC, with the total time on skins averaging 12 days before pressing to tank. The blended free run and pressings were then rough racked 24 hours later to oak, which consisted of 20% new French barriques and the balance 2-4 year old French barriques and hogs heads. Like all Smidge reds, malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel and over the 12 months of maturation the wine was cleanly racked twice and then went to bottle without filtration.

Technical Analysis

Harvested - March/April 2005
Bottled - March 2006
Alcohol - 15.1%