2021 Majella Sparkling Shiraz

The colour is a vibrant dark red with a bright ruby hue. Exhibiting a fine bead with attractive fresh plum, raspberry and blackberry aromas with similar black fruit characters and a hint of spice on the complex palate, which is smooth, balanced and luscious with gentle tannins and a generous finish. It's a great wine for any occasion, and goes well with most food styles. "Great with bacon and eggs" Brian "Prof" Lynn "...it is a glorious awakening to a new way to enjoy sparkling" David Zyw, "101 Champagnes and Other Sparkling Wines to Try Before You Die".

The 2021 Vintage in Coonawarra has the hallmarks of an incredible vintage, with superb conditions and fruit of outstanding quality and quantity being harvested.
The peak harvest for the region began in early April, following the Easter break, and continued until mid-May when the last of the regions’ signature variety, Cabernet Sauvignon, was harvested.
The season was mild with very stable weather conditions. The temperatures during the growing season were mild with only minor fluctuations and no major rainfall events.
Dry conditions continued right through summer, and consequently, berries remained relatively small with thick skins. Coonawarra did receive several small rainfall events during the growing which was beneficial to the general vine health and soil moisture.
These climatic conditions lead to long and steady increases in maturity levels, allowing winemakers to pick at optimum levels for ripeness and flavour.
The 2021 Coonawarra vintage was free of disease, drought, and smoke taint. Based on the mild summer, and the colour and aromas that are coming through in the finished ferments, 2021 points to an exceptionally good vintage with good fruit expression and tannins across all reds, which at this early stage, will translate into wines that have excellent cellaring potential.

Winemaking
The base wine of our sparkling Shiraz is matured in 2nd and 3rd use French oak hogsheads for 5 months before secondary fermentation in bottle. The wine is on “lees” for 14 months and using methode traditionalle, the bottles are hand riddled, then disgorged and a small amount of liqueur (vintage port) is added for extra complexity.
Disgorged September 2022.

Winemakers Comments
The colour is a vibrant dark red with a bright ruby hue.
Exhibiting a fine bead with attractive fresh plum, raspberry and blackberry aromas with similar black fruit characters and a hint of spice on the complex palate, which is smooth, balanced and luscious with gentle tannins and a generous finish.