2021 Syrah

Both the Syrah and the Nebbiolo fruit come from the Malakoff Vineyard in the Pyrenees, owned and farmed by Robert and Cameron John. The Pyrenees being further inland, has a more continental climate with cooler nights along with warmer sunny days, the low humidity leads to low disease pressure but dryer conditions. The fruit is grown on a north-east facing slope of red pervious clay with quartz gravel and ironstone, giving the Shiraz and Nebbiolo off Malakoff a lovely long ripening period allo...Read More...

Both the Syrah and the Nebbiolo fruit come from the Malakoff Vineyard in the Pyrenees, owned and farmed by Robert and Cameron John. The Pyrenees being further inland, has a more continental climate with cooler nights along with warmer sunny days, the low humidity leads to low disease pressure but dryer conditions. The fruit is grown on a north-east facing slope of red pervious clay with quartz gravel and ironstone, giving the Shiraz and Nebbiolo off Malakoff a lovely long ripening period allowing development of physiological ripeness for flavour and tannin structure. The fruit was picked on the 21st of March at 14.3 Baume with a selective harvester. The harvester picks the berries straight off the vine leaving behind any stalks or leaves or inferior quality berries. The berries remain whole for the most part which allows for the whole berry to ferment, a process Kirilly’s traditionally favoured, but without the stalks, which can add their own type of tannin when included in the ferment. It spent 10 days on skins including 2 days of cold soak, before pressing to barrel with 25% new oak (each year Kirilly adds a new French, 36 months seasoned, medium toast barrel to her collection). The wine spent 12 months in barrel, was racked a few times and sulphured and then spent another year in bottle before being released. Deep, bright ruby in colour, the nose is of dark red fruits -  morello cherries and mulberries. The French oak is well integrated, adding lovely mocha, spicy roundness. The palate is soft and generous, medium bodied with fine glossy tannins making this a very approachable wine.” Kirilly Gordon, Bowerbird Wines - Kirilly Gordon, Winemaker.

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