Vinteloper
MUSEUM RELEASE - 2009 Shiraz
From our second ever vintage. It was a simpler time. iPhone 3. Beats by Dre. Barack Obama was inaugurated.
Thanks to COVID-19 there has never been a better time to drink the good stuff. This is as good as Vinteloper stuff gets. After over a decade in bottle, the longevity this wine showed as a youth is paying back our patience.
It was obvious from its debut that the best days of this wine were a long long way ahead. It was a serious wine, ahead of its time for a young brand with a 29-year-old winemaker at the helm.
Tasting notes from the original release
The nose is intense and carries a fragrant bouquet dominated by lifted blue and black fruit, white pepper and chocolate layered over toasty oak character. The concentration and intensity on the palate the epitome of McLaren Vale Shiraz. Compact and well structured the layered palate is seductive and the smooth, long tannins indicate this wine has many great years ahead.
Remembering 2009
Early in the growing season, the foundations were set for an excellent harvest. Then things went a bit haywire. A 13-day, 40 degrees + heatwave from the end of January to the middle of February made Adelaide feel like the pits of hell and split the vintage into two halves. Many vineyards in the region suffered and yields were hit hard. The 2009 harvest was the smallest in the McLaren Vale region for 10 years, despite a surge in plantings in that time. This was put down to small berry size and light bunch weights, both bad for yield but excellent for quality as it increases skin to juice ratio.
Where it comes from
- Single Vineyard
- McLaren Vale
- Grower: Shirvington - Redwind Vineyard. Planted 1996.
- Split cordon - Scott Henry Trellis system
What we did to it
- Minimal intervention.
- Wild yeast fermentation.
- 24 days on skins.
- 66% French Oak. 33% American Oak.
- 18 months matured in Oak barriques.
- Production. 2208 bottles
- Label Art: This is before we had nice looking labels