Shiraz and Tempranillo are wonderful partners; two old varieties coming together to make a new vibrant blend. The Shiraz brings all the Australian fruit power, deep plum flavours with a peppery edge in a fleshy fruit sweet palate. The Tempranillo adds savoury elements and complex tannin structure to the wine resulting in a more complete wine than either of the two components could make on their own. This wine has all the sweet fleshiness that we expect in Shiraz with the added benefit of textural complexity. Both Shiraz and Tempranillo were de-stemmed and fermented separately in open vessels with extensive pump over cap management to aid colour and flavour extraction as well as optimize the tannin development. The wines were pressed off skins and matured in French oak barriques, approximately one third new oak with the balance one and two year old. After 15 months in barrel the wines were blended according to taste. The Hay Shed Hill vineyard is situated on a picturesque property that was established as a group settlement farm for returned soldiers from the First World War. Known as Sussex Vale the property was originally a dairy farm. The current homestead, considerably renovated, still has much of the original Group Settlement look and feel. Vines were first planted in the early 1970s. In the late 1980s the vineyard was bought by the Morrison Family and the wine brand Hay Shed Hill was established taking its name from the local reference to the hay shed located on the property. The sister label, Pitchfork, was developed to complement the single vineyard Hay Shed Hill label. A series of ownership changes saw numerous alterations to labels, wine style and distribution until the current group of partners bought back the farm and the brand in late 2006 and returned to the original concept of producing wine with integrity that expresses the quality of the site.

Grape variety - 100% Shiraz. Oak maturation - 40% new and 60% older French. notes. Colour - Deep red with purple hue. Aroma - Concentrated with bacon fat, pepper, lifted florals and incense. There’s an underlying meaty-gravy complexity with balanced oak, mulberry and plum. Palate - Full with a dense texture and fine grain tannins. The palate is loaded with pepper, beef gravy, potpourri, black raspberry, mulberry and plum. A complex, savoury and elegant wine that’s more Syrah than Shiraz Food matches - Seared prime beef and roasted root vegetables or Fillet of venison with wild mushrooms. Peak drinking - Drinking well now but will show further integration over the next 8 - 10 years. Viticulture - The Home Block Shiraz vineyard comprises 0.7 ha of open lyre, minimal irrigated vines planted on ironstone gravel over deep friable loam. Judicious shoot and bunch thinning is always used to maintain a very light crop which was hand picked in early March of 2021. Harvested at 12.5º Baume the fruit exhibited intensely concentrated flavour and colour. Winemaking - The hand picked fruit was harvested early in the morning and processed straight away. 5% whole bunches, including stalks were placed into the bottom of the fermenter before filling. The remaining fruit was de stemmed into the small open fermenter with heading down board, which keeps the cap fully submerged between drain and returns. After nine days of fermentation, the fruit was pressed into a blend of new and used French Burgundian barrels. Storage and Bottling - Maturation lasted 11 months before the wine was carefully blended and bottled. Bottled under screw cap to retain freshness in a premium Burgundy bottle. Held in bottle for approximately 1 year prior to release.

The Leston Vineyard is the home of Howard Park in the Margaret River and produces a Shiraz that is plush and youthful with a sweet fruit palate married with delicious underlying spice and oak intergration.

A Margaret River blend of classic Australian red grapes - rich in fruit flavour and soft tanins.

Margaret River icons, Leeuwin Estate, have produced a wine of true class here. A great finish to the vintage shows up here with aromas of cassis, redcurrant and chocolate. Sweet ripe fruit on the palate is well matched with toasty French oak and fine tannin.

In the glass: Full red.On the nose: Cherry berry, plum and cedar lift.On the palate: Dense and full-bodied with firm yet ripe tannin depth under a rich core of dark fruits with black pepper and liquorice on the long, bright finish.