Pirathon - 2008 Vintage

Vintage Notes

Growing Season

2008 was an extremely hot and dry vintage. There were superb ripening conditions until March when the Barossa experienced its biggest heat-wave of all time with 15 days in a row over 35 degrees. Fortunately, the majority of grapes were harvested by this time so were not overtly affected. The few blocks of grapes harvested during the heat-wave were partially dehydrated and add rich intensity and concentration to the wine. Overall 2008 is a very good vintage, with average yields and great quality.

Vineyard

The grapes were harvested from the low-yielding vineyards of traditional family growers in the north-western Barossa districts of Greenock, Moppa, Belvedere, Stonewell, Seppeltsfield, Koonunga and Ebenezer. Each vineyard adds its own exclusive dimension to Pirathon Shiraz and combined they produce the ultimate blend.

Winemaking

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. The fermented grapes were pressed with a traditional press. The wines were then filled to new and seasoned American, French, Russian 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.