Cascabel Shiraz 2001

Cascabel Shiraz 2001 90 pts Wine Advocate

Tasting Notes

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: Dense, deep red colour; scent of blackbery liqueur and cassis; palate is concentrated with earthy, peppery notes and plenty of tannin structure

Food Accompaniments

Steak; BBQ or marinated chicken; beef; prime rib; grilled steak; sun-dried tomatoes; grilled vegetables; grilled, BBQ, or sautéed pork chops; pork tenderloin; grilled veal chops

Awards, Reviews and other Notes

90pts, Robert Parker, Jr., #148 The 2001 Shiraz Fleurieu reveals surprising elegance for a South Australian wine as well as a bouquet of sweet blackberries and currants intermixed with hints of licorice, camphor, and damp earth. With beautiful texture, elegance, and a medium to full-bodied finish with well-integrated tannin and acidity, it should drink well for the next 4-5 years.
88pts, Wine Spectator 7/31/03 Supple in texture, tangy with a sharp touch of acidity to balance the mint, pepper and cherry flavors, more Rhône-like than Aussie. Drink now through 2006. 800 cases made.

Winemaker Notes

Winemakers: Duncan Ferguson, Susana Fernández
Region: Middleton, Fleurieu Peninsula, SA
The 2001 Fleurieu Shiraz is also fuller bodied than our 1999 version. We are not convinced that the hotter regions are best suited to Shiraz, so from our first release in 1998 we source grapes from a vineyard near Victor Harbor, on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Fruit from this vineyard does not suffer from the degree of heat that affects other regions in summer. Instead, it produces fruit with plenty of flavour and balance rather than simple, overripe flavours.
The grapes are all hand picked and transported to our winery to be fermented with a few whole bunches, in open vats. After fermentation, we give it between two to three weeks maceration and then it is pressed straight into French barrels for 16 months for the 2001 Shiraz (only 20% new). We bottled the wines on the premises in August 2002.
Our vineyard (Viña Cascabel) is at the southern end of McLaren Vale, with a northern aspect. The soil type is Urrbrae Stony Loam, very well drained and appears as a reddish gravelly clay, with medium size stones throughout and no apparent impediment for the roots to explore deeper, although it becomes quite hard during summer. There is little shelter from winds that occur almost every evening, which help keep diseases down, devigourate the vines and cool down the nights during spring and summer. Our soil and aspect allow us to ripen the fruit a bit earlier than the traditional areas of McLaren Vale, ideal conditions for Monastrell, Graciano and Tempranillo.
From a vineyard near Victor Harbor, on the Fleurieu Peninsula. With its mild weather, this area tends to produce fruit with a concentration of spicy Shiraz flavours and accompanying balance rather than simple overripe, jammy flavours.
Hand picked in late March 2001, 14.1 Bé; small open fermenters; some whole bunches; hand plunged; warm ferment to 32°C; left on skins for 3 weeks; pressed straight to barrels; 20% new French oak, remainder old French oak, for 16 months; bottled in August 2002.

Chemical Analysis

Price

SKU

Varietal

Alcohol: 14.0%
pH: 3.60
Residual Sugar: 0.2 g/L
Total Acidity: 5.8 g/L

$9.99

4340

Shiraz