2021 Sandalford Margaret River Range Shiraz
Bright red fruit flavours and savoury spices. Mocha and toasty oak flavours evolve with the fruit flavours adding to the many layers within this wine. Soft acidity and fine-grained tannin provide length to the finish. This medium bodied, elegant, cool climate style Shiraz drinks well in its youth, but can be cellared for up to 10 years with confidence.
Winemaker comments
Winemaker Notes
The fruit was destemmed to static red fermenters and allowed to cold soak for three days before inoculation with a selected specialised yeast isolate. Routine pump overs lasting for around 10 days ensures optimum extraction of colour, flavour and tannin. The ferment was then drained and pressed at dryness to tank, allowed to settle, and then racked to tank for malolactic fermentation. The resulting wine was then matured on French oak for 3 months before being transferred to seasoned French oak barriques for a further 6 months maturation. The wine was then blended, filtered and bottled.
Meet the maker
By the time I turned 18, I had become fascinated with wine. I was keen to learn as much about wine as I could and I received some great advice: to work in the industry before committing to any tertiary study....
Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Continue Reading > I was lucky enough to get my start at the cellars at Houghton Wines, here in the Swan Valley. I loved it, and it was the beginning of a career which was to eventually see me spend 20 years with Houghton’s. But first, I wanted to discover what traditional winemaking was like in the northern hemisphere. I took myself off to Burgundy, France, where I worked several vintages learning as much as I could about the craft of winemaking from some the best in the business. Returning to Australia I continued my career, picking up a few awards in the process of learning more and more about winemaking and achieving Bachelor of Applied Science and Oenology at Charles Sturt University, NSW. I was awarded the inaugural Gourmet Traveler Young Winemaker of the Year 2001, James Halliday’s Winemaker of the year in 2009, Winemaker of the Year in Ray Jordan's 2017 Annual West Australian Wine Guide, and I’ve judged extensively at capital city and regional wine shows. Australia makes some amazing world class wines! I’ve been fortunate to be Senior Winemaker at Sandalford Wines since March 2021 and I’m delighted every day by our estates’ old vines, the passion of the viticulture team here, and the outcomes we are able to achieve each vintage.
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Tasting notes
Varietals
Varietal
Shiraz
Colour
Other Notes
Deep garnet red with crimson hues.
Nose
Production
Red cherry, raspberry and pomegranate fruits with a hint of fennel seed and ginger. Alluring spicey notes of cardamon and white pepper overlayed with roasted nuts and white chocolate.
Palate
Tasting Note
Bright red fruit flavours and savoury spices. Mocha and toasty oak flavours evolve with the fruit flavours adding to the many layers within this wine. Soft acidity and fine-grained tannin provide length to the finish. This medium bodied, elegant, cool climate style Shiraz drinks well in its youth, but can be cellared for up to 10 years with confidence.
Vintage Conditions
Vineyard Notes
The 2021 vintage could be best described as challenging. A reflection of the wetter than average summer impacting picking decisions. Our Wilyabrup vineyard however fared well and produced fresh, bright, flavoursome fruit to make wines from. The low yielding Shiraz vines were machine harvested in the cool of the night and transported to the winery for processing. The resulting wines are fresh, balanced and display wonderful varietal fruit characteristics.
