Tasting Notes
The 2006 Houdini has aromas of fruitcake and Christmas pudding with subtle bitter chocolate and lifted floral and lavender characters.  The palate continues the fruitcake theme with a little extra spice and hint of cassis, and then follows through with some big jammy fruit and dark berries.

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 2 tonnes per acre and all had soil profiles of deep red clay loam. The Merlot comes from a small vineyard (< 2 ha) in the heart of Verdun, in the Adelaide Hills. The vineyard rows run down the hill following the North Westerly aspect and are planted on red brown clay mottled with granite and rock. The canopy is structured as a true Vertical Shoot Position (VSP). Lastly, the Barossa Zinfandel is grown in the western range of the Barossa in the Seppeltsfield area with a soil profile of red clay over limestone. The rows run north – south and have a subtle northerly aspect. Although the vineyard is pruned to produce low yields, the block was thinned, contributing to its rich and powerful flavour.

Vinification & Maturation

Over the three varieities, average time on skins was 15 days, with the average ferment temperature being 29.5oC, as Zinfandel is allowed to get up to around 32oC compared to Shiraz and Merlot which attain a maximum of around 28oC.

Technical Analysis
Bottling Date: April 07
Alc/Vol: 15.0%

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