Pikes The Assemblage GSM 2023 Clare Valley

Winemaking Notes
Pikes The Assemblage GSM 2023 is a masterful blend of Grenache, Shiraz, and Mataro (Mourvèdre) that showcases the winemaking team's ability to create beautifully balanced and seamless wines even in challenging conditions. Generous Grenache red fruits lead the palate, flowing into plum and blackcurrant jube flavours from the Shiraz, with hints of Satsuma plum, blueberries, and a touch of chocolate-covered liquorice adding layers of complexity. The wine displays rich cherry and raspberry coulis complemented by dark chocolate on the nose, with the aroma of red fruits prominent initially, but over time, deeper, more ripe fruit elements become apparent, showcasing the wine's complexity and depth. Soft cocoa tannins and herbal sage and pepper spice on the finish create a beautifully balanced and seamless wine, with the youthful and energetic palate showcasing bright red fruit notes with harmonious balance in each glass. The careful winemaking approach ensures the wine displays the excellent concentration that came from the lower yields and careful irrigation, with the red varieties displaying deep colour and intensity that translates into the bright ruby-red appearance with excellent clarity, reflecting the wine's youthful vigour and quality Clare Valley fruit.

Vintage Conditions
The 2023 vintage in the Clare Valley endured one of its most challenging vintages, with the second driest year on record creating conditions that tested the resilience of the vines and the skill of the winemaking team. A wet July was followed by a dry, warm spring and summer, and on 17 September, frost hit the Polish Hill vineyard just after budburst, creating additional challenges for the growing season. Fortunately, the early timing of the frost allowed the vines to respond with healthy shoot growth and a smaller canopy, and lower yields and careful irrigation led to full ripeness, with the fruit showing excellent concentration and red varieties displaying deep colour and intensity. This challenging vintage ultimately produced fruit of exceptional quality, with the generous Grenache red fruits, plum and blackcurrant jube flavours from the Shiraz, and the soft cocoa tannins and herbal sage and pepper spice creating a beautifully balanced and seamless wine. The 2023 Assemblage GSM showcases the exceptional character that can emerge from challenging vintages when careful vineyard management and skilled winemaking combine, with the wine's bright ruby-red colour, rich aromatics of cherry, raspberry coulis, and dark chocolate, and the youthful, energetic palate all reflecting the excellent concentration and deep colour that came from the lower yields and careful irrigation in this second driest year on record.