Amietta Shiraz-Lagrein
2007 Shiraz-Lagrein
Our blend of the relatively rare Italian grape variety Lagrein* with Shiraz has produced a rich, full bodied, satisfying wine that cascades across the palate with flavours of spicy dark plums, musky rose blossom and blackberry, with savoury notes of leather, mushroom and tobacco leaf. Fourteen months in French oak 300 litre ‘hogsheads’ has produced a finely balanced wine underpinned by earthy terroir characters. This wine was made from hand-picked fruit grown at the Amietta Vineyard on the edge of the Moorabool Valley near Bannockburn.
*Lagrein is a rare grape variety from the Alto Aldige region in the far northeast of Italy (near the Austrian border) where it is grown in one small area near the city of Bolzano. The vine is ferociously vigorous and juice has high acidity and high levels of tannin (even in the free-run juice), so the vines and the wines take some taming. According to the Vinodiversity website there are currently 15 vineyards growing Lagrein in Australia although most are at the trial-block stage. Only 4 of these 15 Australian producers appear to have commercial releases of Lagrein or Lagrein blends:
Amietta (Shiraz-Lagrein) in the Moorabool Valley, Geelong, Victoria
Cobaw Ridge (Lagrein) in the Macedon Ranges, Victoria
Domain Day (Lagrein) in the Barossa Valley, South Australia
Heartland Wines (Dolcetto-Lagrein) at Langhorne Creek, South Australia.
We believe Amietta is the only commercial producer of a Shiraz-Lagrein blend in the world. For more information on Lagrein, see Wikipedia/Lagrein
Cost: $35 per bottle. Buy Wine
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