SLATE SHIRAZ 2021

Description

BACKGROUND
When Thomas Hardy purchased the Upper Tintara Vineyard in
McLaren Vale in the late 1870s, it heralded the foundation of one of Australia’s greatest
winemaking dynasties.

The original winery, later extended and improved by Hardy, was built by the
legendary Dr A.C. Kelly in 1863, the slate mined at nearby Delabole quarry in
the Willunga Hills.

These fermenters were last used in the late 1920s.

WINEMAKING
2.5 tonnes of fruit from the Moreton Bay block of the Upper Tintara vineyard was destemmed,
crushed and chilled before being bucketed by hand into an open slate fermenter of the original Tintara winery.
Ably assisted by wild yeast, the lively ferment was hand plunged three times a day over a period of 9 days,
after which the wine was pumped out and skins dug out with bucket and shovel.
Skins were basket-pressed to seasoned French oak (Radoux and Francoise Freres hogsheads)
for 16 months maturation before bottling on April 14th, 2023.