2024 Winifred Grenache

High altitude | Bush vine single vineyard | 773 bottles produced
This wine is named after our paternal Grandmother, who would drive from her home in Gippsland, Victoria, to come and babysit us as often as possible, and to prune the 300 odd rose bushes on our original Nuriootpa estate. Nan, as we called her, was always up for a glass of wine in the afternoon. Whilst happy to drink anything, one of her favourite sayings was, “Red wine is a party!”

From our vineyard atop Mengler Hill in the Eden Valley, one of the highest Grenache vineyards in Australia at 550m above sea level. This was formerly used by Thistledown for their Fool on the Hill Grenache. The leaner, rockier soils are scattered with pink quartz and ironstone. With three clones planted in bush vine formation, these vines have very little access to water and so are extremely low yielding, however with fruit density and a finely detailed yet assertive tannin profile with intensity in abundance.

Picked 10 April 2024. Destemmed/crushed into a 1350L old French foudre, which can be rotated, for fermentation. We wanted to avoid whole bunch this year, given it was our first year working with the vineyard, to allow us to have a really good look at the fruit, acid and tannin profile of this site. 8 days on skins before pressing to old French oak hogsheads for malolactic fermentation. Full ferment, racked before bottling. - Jules Ashmead & Brock Harrison

Alcohol: 14.3

Aroma: Wafting berry fruits with freshness of an almost ethereal floral note

Appearance: Medium garnet

Taste: Super supple mid palate peppered with a complex mix of dried herb and just enough red fruit. Fine powdered tannins are ever present, spiralling on the palate with a light berry twist.

Mouthfeel:

Ageing Process: Fermented in French foudre, aged in seasoned French hogsheads