2023 Estate Nouveau Pinot Noir Grenache Shiraz

It's long been an ambition of mine to produce a "serious" light to medium-bodied red that is complex; still "fleshy" and generous; without falling into the trap of being cloying. The balance in the blending of the 3 grape varieties is carefully done to deliver compexity and tension. After much research, and a good deal of experimentation, I actually feel like I've nailed it - this wine is exactly what I was trying to achieve, and I am so happy with it (and those of you who know me well, know that I am VERY rarely completely satisfied with a wine). I still like the '22, but the generosity of '23 takes it to another level.

2023 was a very cold and wet year though it warmed and dried up a bit for harvest which was helpful to fully ripen the grapes. Yields were low due to shoot and bunch thinning, and the quality was exceptional - the best I've seen in Mudgee. The Pinot especially enjoyed the cool! 10/03/23: 2.86T of grapes from Block 12 Pinot Noir and 1.68T from Block 1 Shiraz (our best) were picked at 13.5Bé; co-fermented and sat on skins for 14 days. 6/4/23: 2.05T of grapes from Block 14 Grenache were picked at 12.1 Bé and fermented on skins for 12 days; with some whole bunches added to the ferment for the aromatic kick that carbonic maceration provides. The wine was blended on 27/4 and bottled 5/10/23 at 13.68% alc/vol.

2026+