Beautifully integrated with the finest French oak, this elegant yet rich Shiraz has perfumed fruit showing plum and cherry nuances with hints of cloves and nutmeg. Ripe, long, fine, silky tannins provide a wonderfully elegant structure to this Shiraz. Its persistence of flavour finishes clean and tight. This wine is designed to mature and develop to give many years of drinking pleasure. 10 years at least.
About:
Each year we strive to gain even a little more perfection to making this wine. While the essential element in the making of Centurion is the critical quality selection of the fruit from the 1892 plantings, we augment the style using several techniques. All ferments are small scale - we purchased a third vat in 2017 to allow most of the components to be fermented in oak. Some even smaller ferments are hand plunged with some whole bunches to build structure and aromatics. Ultimately, maturation was in a combination of hogsheads and vats with several workings and swapping of vessels to promote longevity of the wine and enhance the palate length. On final blending in May 2018, the wine was made ready for bottling in June.
Technical:
100% French oak - Initially 50% New and 50% large Vats for 8 months, then 6 months in 1-5 yo hogsheads to finish off. Variety: Single Vineyard Shiraz
Richard Hamilton Wines, McLaren Vale, South Australia.