Smidge Wines

The 2007 is a blend of 60% Shiraz, 35% Zinfandel and 5% Petit verdot, all sourced from the Barossa Valley. Although our entry level label, all wine was matured in French oak barriques for 10 months.

Tasting Notes

The 2007 Houdini has aromas of cherries, plums, Christmas pudding with subtle bitter chocolate and lifted notes of violet and spice.  The palate continues the fruitcake theme with a little extra spice, earth and hint of cassis, and then follows through with some dark berry fleshiness and fine, tight tannins.

Cellaring

Smidge recommends drinking this wine within the next 5 to 6 years.

Viticulture

The Shiraz was sourced from vineyards ranging from 6 to 60+ years old in the western ranges of the Barossa Valley. The blocks averaged yields of 1.2 tonnes per acre and all have deep red clay / loam soil profiles. The Petit verdot comes from a small ele vated Barossa vineyard in Marananga of the Western Ranges. the rows run north-south with a slight easterly aspect. the red clays are quite shallow and are littered with rock.  Lastly, the Barossa Zinfandel is grown in the nothern area of Kalimna with a soil profile of sandy loam (30cm) over red clay. The rows run east-west and the block is ultimately flat. Although the vineyard is bush vines and is pruned to produce low yields, the block was thinned, contributing to its rich and powerful flavour.

Vinification & Maturation

Over the three varieties, average time on skins was 15 days, with the average ferment temperature being 29.5^oC, as Zinfandel is allowed to get up to around 32^oC compared to Shiraz and Petit verdot which attained maximums of around 28^oC. Each batch was pressed independently, as they were all destined for their own blend until certain barrels ‘escaped’ to become the Houdini. Each barrel was kept separate just prior to bottling when selected components were combined.

Technical

Harvested - March/April 2007
Bottled - April 2008
Alcohol - 15.0%
Blend - Shiraz 60%, Zinfandel 35% & Petit verdot 5%