Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz – This Shiraz exhibits a complex nose laden with spice and red fruit which leads to a poised and balanced palate. Graphite, sage, kalamata olives, and plum flavours envelop the palate which is lively and medium bodied. Grippy tannins and bright acidity lead into the long finish.
The grapes were hand picked, hand sorted, and fermented as whole berries and whole bunches in open fermenters, with gentle plunging and minimal working. The wine was aged in new (15%) and used 500-litre French oak puncheons for 14 months. Unfiltered and unfined before bottling, the wine then underwent another 14 months of bottle ageing.
Shaw + Smith own two vineyards in the Adelaide Hills, at Balhannah and Lenswood, totalling 55 hectares. The vineyards are planted to varieties that perform particularly well in the region, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. Site selection is particularly important in the Adelaide Hills, with its diversity of altitude, aspect, microclimate, and soil. We also use a number of different cultivars or ‘clones’ of each grape variety, which contribute different qualities to the final product.
The Lenswood Vineyard, about 10km north west of the winery, is planted mainly to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, at 455 – 500m elevation. Undulating with east and west facing aspects, the soils are brown loams over clay with broken shale on the ridges. The vineyard was planted in 1999 and is 20 hectares in total.
M3 now comes from selected sites over the Adelaide Hills, not from the vineyard previously called M3. Pale strawgreen; it may be autosuggestion, but this has great freshness, vibrancy and finesse, the flavours pitched halfway between white peach/stone fruit on the one hand, grapefruit/citrus on the other. Obviously fermented in French oak, but is not obviously oaky. 97 points
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Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz – a great wine from a top class winery
£64.00 a bottle
27 in stock
Shaw & Smith winery is run by Martin Shaw, one of the pioneering Australia’s flying winemakers, and Michael Hill-Smith, Australia’s first Master of Wine.
Growing the best possible grapes, managing vineyards sustainably, and valuing vine health, soil health, and low yields are central to their approach. In the pursuit of quality the wines are fermented, aged and bottled on site at Balhannah. The wines are vibrant, modern expressions of their varieties, their sites and the season. They own four Adelaide Hills vineyards, in Lenswood, Piccadilly, Balhannah and Lobethal.
Shaw + Smith’s first vintage was in 1990 and in 1999 they purchased a property at Balhannah, where they planted vines, and built the winery and tasting room in time for the 2000 vintage.
The Adelaide Hills is one of Australia’s most charming wine regions and home to a large number of premium wine producers. The wine history of the area is similar to many other wine regions: industry developed after the first plantings in the 1840s, only to struggle for economic survival as consumer tastes changed with resurgence in the 1970s – most notably Brian Croser with Petaluma. Today it is very much a boutique vineyard and winery region that is pitching for quality and winning awards. This region has the coolest climate of all South Australian wine regions. Nestled in the Hills, its climate influenced by altitude (350m to 700m) and winds from the St Vincents Gulf. Main wine styles: White – Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling; Red – Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Shiraz.
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