The Sextant 2019

Shiraz and Merlot blend.

Yield: 4 tonne/hectare

Soils: Black sandy loam over limestone with a high ph.

Winemaking: Dry grown, hand-picked, basket pressed in whole bunches, malolactic fermentation in barrel. Aged for 22 months in 10% Grande Reserve American Oak and 90% Grande Reserve French Oak used with the new oak component being 35% with 2, and 3 year old oak barriques. The new oak percentage has come from middle of the Forrest growth oak with a tighter knit and seamless feel. Minimal intervention when bottled.

Tasting Comments: This wine is what you get when you leave the winemaking team to create whatever they want. When the decision was made that this style of wine was being made, the boys went out and hand selected rows of Shiraz and Merlot from the best paddocks.  The grapes were picked in three goes; firstly when the fruit was ripe, the second third was cane cut and the last third was left on the vine to raison. What we ended up with was a wine that was so dense we had issues plunging it and a colour so dark that it resembles a black hole.  The nose and palate are full of quince, dates, blackberry and anise. This is loaded with flavour, you could not possibly fit anymore fruit into this wine and despite the very high alcohol, doesn’t feel alcoholic. Good length of flavour rounds this out, making it clear that it will live for a very long time, up to 30 years if you have the will power.