Following a very minimal 4 barrel production in 2020 after our grape harvest suffered smoke taint from the fires, we’re incredibly excited to be back this year with a fully stocked cellar! The fruit sourced this year is very promising and we’ve even added some new varieties to the list. With plenty of barrels fermenting, it’s safe to say that we are thrilled about how the 2021 vintage is shaping up so far this year at our boutique winery on the NSW South Coast.
We caught up with our Winemaker Wally Cupitt to chat about what you can expect from a few of this year’s varieties, the process behind our winemaking and just some lovely behind the scenes information.
Bordeaux Varieties from our South Coast Winery
We source the fruit for 3 different Bordeaux blend varieties from the Hilltops region in south-west NSW. The grapes are hand-picked before being immediately delivered to our South Coast winery where we begin our European taught & inspired wine-making techniques.
The Hilltops region presents ideal conditions for growing these varieties due it’s cold climate and red granite soils. Sourcing our fruit from friends in these regions means we can hand-craft our wines right here on site at our boutique winery while also enjoying everything incredible the South Coast has to offer – it’s a win-win!
Today we’ll shine a light on a new addition to the family, Malbec. The other Bordeaux varieties we source from Hilltops are our beloved Merlot & Cabernet Sauvignon, we’ll give an update on those another time for you.
Welcoming Malbec to the Range
We’re very excited to introduce Malbec to our South Coast winery line-up for the first time, and we already know it’s here to stay. The wine is currently aging in small format oak barrels where it will remain for around another 12-18 months.
Typically boasting a beautifully big, juicy & plush character with structure & firm yet moderate tannin, we can’t wait to watch this beautiful variety develop it’s profile. Red plum, blueberry, vanilla and even cocoa are typical tasting notes for Malbec, along with a distinctly dark purple-ish colour. We’ll keep you updated on how it’s coming along but its promising to be beautiful so far.
Pointer Pinot Noir is Back
One of our most popular wines, we’re thrilled to have the Pointer Pinot Noir back in barrel in the cellar. Fruit for this variety is sourced from the snowy Tumbarumba region even further south of NSW. The fruit was really ripe but brought along some beautiful natural acidity to the party too. We ferment some of this on whole bunches (around 30%) and some de-stemmed. In terms of the barrels, around 30% is aging in new French oak which should see some pretty aromatics and a lovely fruit to acid to tannin balanced profile. Yum!
Tempranillo is already looking tempting
We source the fruit for this Spanish variety from the Hilltops region before it’s carefully trucked to our south coast winery for production on the same day. This beauty is wild yeast fermented, pressed off and put into majority Hungarian oak barrels to give it a nice spicy character & freshness that we find really compliments the varietal characteristics of Tempranillo.
