Bethany 'First Village' Barossa Valley Shiraz 2016

The Shiraz was sourced from the Schrapel family vineyards grown along the eastern ridge of the Barossa Ranges. Established 80 - 100 years ago by Lawrence Schrapel; the vineyard follows the contours of the hillface and is planted in fertile red brown loam topsoil with a deeper red clay calcareous base.

The higher elevation of the vineyard and east west aspect is ideal for cool even ripening and sunlight exposure, naturally intensifying the aromatics and flavour profile of the fruit. Traditional viticulture practices of hand pruning to 70 buds per vine limit the yield from these old vines to 6.25t/Ha, concentrating the flavours into fewer berries.

The fruit was crushed, de stemmed and left on skins in open top fermenters for eight days at a controlled temperature of 15-18 degrees. The juice was then racked from the skins and pumped over the skin cap for optimal colour and fine tannin extraction. Once the primary fermentation was completed the juice was pressed and left to settle to complete secondary fermentation before being transferred into new and older French oak barrels for maturation. The wine was matured for 22 months in oak to enhance fruit and palate structure development before bottling. Winery Notes