Shottesbrooke*
Shottesbrooke is being run by both Nick Holmes and Hamish Maguire.They have about 50 acres under vines and crop about 4 tons/acre. The soils in the vineyard are high in magnesium, calcium, sodium and iron.
The mower that Shottesbrooke uses to get rid of weeds.
Slasher machine take trims the vines back when they are too vigourous.
10 tonne receiver that feeds the grapes in the machines. Cost about $15000
Imagine grapes being transported along this "tracks" for gentle handling.
Rotatory Fermenter. Once popular in the 90s, but considered too anaerobic especially for reds that need some oxygen
Tanks cost $80000 each
Airbag press that can press up to 800L of juice. Cost about $100000
A Vacuum Filter that filters lees after the cold-settling the juice for 72 h after crushing. The juice that is left with more time on the lees tend to produce more flavour than free run juice.
Chardonnay planted in 1994. So far the vines have been sprayed 8 times with copper oxide and uniZ which is a fungicide
Ferrous oxidize to ferric iron by pumping water over hut to collect small amounts of oxygen. The makes it into sediments so that it can be collected and flushed out and wouldn't make the soil rich in iron.
The machine is being backflushed to reverse the flow of sand and other unwanted sediments. The water needs to be clean or it will start blocking the drippers. As a result, the vines cannot receive adequate water.
Machine to pump water and collect sediments
Dripper system
Shiraz vines in Shottesbrooke being trained into 2 cordons aka four arms with 2 arms being on the 2nd top wire. Vine spacing 1.8 m x 3.2
A tractor ploughs through the rowes and digs up the soil with a hydraulic arm and then pushes the dirt aside. The weeds are being pulled out and thrown back underneath the vines. This means the machine has to go through the rows twice to dig and throw.
2007 was also difficult in that there was a drought and this caused ripening problems. Many of the berries were slightly stalky and sappy with heat wave (defined as 5 days that were over 35 degrees). 2008 was a bad year with 15 days over 36 degrees up to 40. The evening temperatures were 35 degrees with no breeze and this caused the berries to dessicate and cook. The Baume was so high that it was impossible to measure. This was unusual for the region as most days were 36 degrees and less than 20 degree at night.
The vineyard next door that has no herbicides being used and thus weeds are growing
The climate in McLaren Vale is more mediterranean and not maritime. It gets frost in winter. I was taken for a ride through range road which was the divide between McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. I was told that Adelaide Hills spans from 50-60 km.
Shottesbrooke uses oak barrels from Heinrich cooperage, Saury, St Matin and AP Johns Shenandoch and Appellation. I found the Shenandoch much more beautiful on the nose compared to the Appellation which imparted a more smoky cedary aroma. I also notice the McLaren fruit has the ability to soak up US oak better than the fruit from Victoria
Shiraz suffering from zinc deficency.
A grafted vine
Alpha, Box & Dice*
Justin is the owner/winemaker of AB&D. He has had 8 years of experience in France and Puglia. He is making some really interesting wines from other varietals and believes in adding as little acid in his wines. His Barbera Cab 2009 was really delicious with at least 2 g/l of malic acid in there that hasn't gone through MLF. It was good to find that he realeased a 2002 and 2003 Shiraz that still had fruit in there with the developed characters. Justin makes only 3000-3500 cases/year. He gets his grapes from 3 different vineyards that has different types of soil (He gets some from the wollanga foothills with iron and gravel) and blends them together.
Primo Estate*
It was nice being able to meet with Daniel, the winemaker and ask him questions about the region. Daniel has a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the region. Over the last 5 years, there has been an increase in the temperatures. Night time temperatures don't change much here. During flowering, vines get reduced yield if there is a heat wave and grapes has problems ripening properly when the vines shut down. Sugars in the berries do spike up during that period. Primo crushes 400 tonnes/year and is family owned. They usually harvest in march. The region usually sees low disease presure. Copper & Sulphur are usually used to control diseases, Ridimil for downy and not much Botrytis sprays like are used. Sprays can be done up to every 10 days to control downy during December.
It was interesting to try their Colombard which had flavours of melon and cucumber. I last time I tried this grape was years ago in a French wine. I also found their Merlot to be of fantastic quality for $15. Impressive too is the 2008 Zamberlan which is Cab Sauv and 15% Sangiovese. The wine is done using the ripasso style where the Cab is being dried for 3 to 7 days on racks under aronud 40 degrees and the size of the berries start to shrink and the stalks brown. The Cab is being fermented, the juice drained and the skins placed in another batch of Cab to ferment. I found that this made the mouthfeel of the wine really complex and rounded with a long length. It tends to produce wines with a higher VA level that gives it a lift and aroma profiles of figs, dried prunes and more concentration. The 2008 MODA is made from cab sauv and 19% merlot made from the same style.
Inside Kay Bros Cellar Door
The Dead arm Shiraz. Over $70 a bottle. Delicious but ex
Additional Notes: I do recommend that you also try and pay Samuel's Gorge a visit to taste their Grenache and their Tempranillo if they have it on tasting. Other places I visited were Tapestry, which I felt made wines that were of high quality and good pricing, Huge Hamilton, Graham Stevens, Kay Brothers, and d'Arenberg (I tasted the 2007 Dead Arm Shiraz there). I wish I had more time to go and see Yangarra, K1, and Foxey Creek. Maybe when I head back to the Vale.
