Amber tawny in colour with an olive green hue, exhibiting aromas of rich toffee and caramels, sweet figs, chocolate, caramel and licorice spices with elegant brandy spirit and hints of nutty wood aged complexity. The palate is richly flavoured featuring caramel crème brûlée with fine spirit characters and lingering flavours of dried fruits and nuts. The texture is sweet and smooth with roundness from the wood maturation and brandy spirit filling out the middle palate, providing the firm, drying finish. This is an outstanding dessert wine.
Made over five decades ago, the original wines were blended from old-vine varieties such as Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Muscadelle. Since 1985, the use of Portuguese fortified varieties Touriga, Tinta Cao and Tinta Molle has added complexity to the blend, bringing finesse and elegance to this wine. The grapes are crushed and fermented on skins for several days to extract the fruit flavours and to build palate texture. After draining and pressing off skins, the fermentation is arrested by fortification with brandy spirit. The vintage wines are then put aside into small oak barrels to mature over time, developing the classic tawny characters of chocolate, caramel and wood aged nuttiness. After many years of maturation, a selection of older and younger wines are judiciously blended to produce wines of complexity, balance of fruit and aged characteristics.
INFORMATION DETAILS
Grape Variety: Shira - Grenache
winemaker: Kevin Glastonbury
total acid: 6.4 g/L ph: 3.54 total so2: 87 mg/L
oak details: Matured for an average of 12 years in various older hogsheads and barriques.
Food Pairing: Serve with stilton or hard cheddar; baked figs and pistachio ice cream; or ginger flavoured pudding.
