Winery & Vintage Info
The 2019 growing season can be summarised as one of high quality and moderate to below average yields. Rainfall for the 2018 calendar year leading up to vintage was only 62% of the long term average. A wet August allowed for good early spring growth but frosts in September and November combined with windy conditions during flowering impacted negatively on crop levels. January was very hot and dry with 6 days over 40˚C, fortunately temperatures cooled during the harvest months of February and March whilst the dry conditions continued leading to an early and condensed harvest.
The grapes were harvested from the low-yielding vineyards of traditional family growers in the north-western Barossa districts of Moppa, Belvidere, Koonunga, Ebenezer & Light Pass. Each vineyard adds its own exclusive dimension to Pirathon Shiraz and combined they produce the ultimate blend.
Each vineyard was harvested at optimal maturity between March 1 and April 3. Following harvest, each individual lot of grapes was crushed into a separate open top fermenter. During fermentation, hand pump-overs gently extracted colour and flavour from the grapes. After 7-12 days on skins the fermented grapes were pressed with a traditional press. The wines were then filled to new and seasoned American, French and Hungarian oak hogsheads for maturation for eighteen months before each lot of wine was racked from the barrel and carefully blended. The wine was bottled without fining, ensuring the true expression of the vineyards in the bottle.
