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The Story
2009 Sableux Shiraz
Sableux, from the French for ‘sandy' was originally intended to be two separate single vineyard wines from Garry Rice's Vineyard (44%) just outside Stawell and Garden Gully vineyard (56%), my two warmest sites and those with the most sandy, light soils. Neither site cropped far above 1 tonne per acre in 2009, and while both wines were excellent in their own right, as a blend they rise to another level. Both parcels were fermented with natural yeasts in open, 500lt oak puncheons with 40% whole bunches for structure and to build aromatics. The new wines rested on gross lees until the blend was assembled after 13 months. The oak regime was 38% new French barriques from Meyrieux and Gillet coopers, the balance older barriques. It was bottled without fining or filtration. So different to Westgate, but very different terroir as well. As it should be.
2009 Westgate Vineyard Shiraz
A single vineyard wine, situated in the hills south of Great Western, and my favourite vineyard in the region. Its oldest vines are now over 40yrs old. It is a much cooler site on an easterly aspect which loses the sunlight an hour or two earlier than nearby sites, delaying ripening by a week or two. Grapes were 100% destemmed and wild fermented in 500lt open oak puncheons over 19 days before resting for 14 months in French oak, approx 33% of which was new, from Francois Freres and Gillet coopers. The slightly lower new oak regime compared to 2008 has helped this wine immeasurably I think, and it is to me the most complete Westgate to date. It has light and shade, purity of fruit and effortless length. Should age a treat. Again bottled without fining or filtration.
So what's the Story? We get asked that a lot. Our answer is that every wine has a story.
For the last 7 years I have been making wine, first in a converted warehouse in the drab, light-industrial zone of Cheltenham, and now in a slightly less drab winery near the cultural hub of Patterson Lakes in Victoria. There, we receive grapes from some of the best vineyard sites in the Grampians, and turn them into wine. Production is small, our ideals lofty and our goals simple - To make great Shiraz from our favourite region that people like to drink, and that engages them.
I was in my mid 20's back in 2004 living and working in Melbourne when I decided to start a winery, in a manner that I could afford. Planting a vineyard was out of the question. It costs too much. It also takes a very long time. Buying a vineyard was out. It costs too much... and I was 25 when this began. I could have inherited one, or gone into the family wine business, but alas, neither I nor my partner has a family history in the industry. What we did have was a burning desire to make small batch, real wines and enough money to rent a factory space, buy a basket press, a few open fermenters, a mono pump, some fittings and some decent oak. I also had a few precious vintages under my belt, both in Australia and Oregon in the US. And hence we have some wine, made thoughtfully from grapes bought from some excellent sites (in some cases quite old), a love for the cool spice of Grampians Shiraz, and some stories. Each vintage there is a new story to tell, and each year our label changes to reflect that story. We hope they are enjoyed and shared.
The Story
