2021 Optume Shiraz

Eight individual parcels were hand-picked over an eighteen-day span from four Shiraz clones grown across six specifically selected Yarra Valley blocks. The fruit was hand-sorted before being destemmed or gently crushed to small open vats. Select parcels received judicious stalk inclusion to enhance aroma, complexity, and tannin structure.

Natural fermentation was allowed to initiate before inoculation with a varietally-enhancing yeast strain. Gentle hand-plunging was carried out once daily to extract flavour and tannin with finesse. Cuvaison extended for three to four weeks on skins, with the wine then matured exclusively in French oak before bottling. A total of only 1,788 bottles were produced.

The 2021 Optume Shiraz represents the pinnacle of Yarra Valley cool-climate Shiraz. This assemblage of diverse sites harmonises density and power with finesse and restraint, creating a wine that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Broodingly aromatic and deeply layered, it carries a core of black fruits, blueberry and granite, wound tight and integrated so that no single element overshadows the whole. The result is a graceful yet powerful Shiraz, refined in structure, balanced in intensity, and resonant in length. Suitable for vegans, this wine will reward careful cellaring over the next 15+ years.