Pirathon 2016The Pirathon Black Shiraz was introduced to Pirathon's range in 2016 as a premium reserve wine.
Grape lots were carefully selected from the 2016 intake and aged in French and American Oak barrels with no compromise on quality.
The resulting wine is finely balanced but bold and full bodied with juicy dark fruits dominating.
The Pirathon Black Shiraz is for those with a love for Shiraz who want something refined and bold to appreciate the finer details of the wine. The top grapes are picked and reserved for this truly delectable wine which makes it a cut above the typical Shiraz that will certainly make a statement.
Absolutely mouth-filling. Strong tannins, but fine and integrated. Plush juicy dark fruits dominate. Creamy oak is evident but in the background. Fine balanced acid giving poise. Extremely lengthy finish.
Deep purple in colour
Dark fruit cake, ripe plums, blueberry. Very uplifting & alluring. Also floral rose perfume. Some chocolate oak.
Barossa Valley, South Australia.
One of Australia's oldest
and most premium wine regions, famous for it's Shiraz around the world.
Destemmed and crushed berry
Primary: Select Yeast. Secondary: Wild Malolactic.
Open top fermentation, 7-12 days on skins.
Belvidere & Moppa
The grapes were harvested from the low-yielding vineyards of traditional family growers in the north-western Barossa.
Elevation approximately 300-350m.
50% French Oak, 50% American Oak.
67% New 33% Used.
2 years aged in barrel.
100% Shiraz
The grapes used are grown from traditional Barossa clones first introduced to the region over hundreds of years ago.
200 cases produced
Unfined and unfiltered
7 Lots in February 2016
The best lots selected.
Average yield of 2 tonne per acre.
Sugar at harvest 14.2 - 14.8 Baume.
Enjoy now or cellar for 5-15 years
15% Alcohol
Vegan friendly
Vintage 2014 was an excellent year. The wines from 2014 are strong with deep and vibrant colour, excellent fruit definition and solid but integrated tannin structure ensuring longevity for the wines. The 2014 growing season began with slightly above average Winter rainfall however Spring and early Summer were very dry with 40% less rain than normal. Temperatures were also up with the Spring/Summer growing season being an average of 2 degrees C warmer. However, this dry and warm season changed dramatically in mid February with 100mm of rain falling, the wettest February day in 45 years. This slowed the ripening of the grapes considerably and combined with average mild temperatures in March (25.7 degrees C) a steady ripening of the grapes ensued. This ensured good flavour and moderate sugar development producing outstanding quality.
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.
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.