Two Hands Shiraz Clare Valley Samantha's Garden 2005

Winemaker's Notes:

COLOUR Deep red to the core with a soft ruby red hue. AROMA Beautiful bright aromas of red cherry, rhubarb and soft spice characters. PALATE Samantha’s Garden is the most understated of the Garden Series with its fine elegant tannin structure and lean vibrant red fruits. Although medium bodied this wine displays power and a solid core of intense complex fruit, backed by the subtle lift of seasoned French oak. A long and persistent finish. WINEMAKING Crushed and fermented in 5 – 10 tonne open top fermenters with regular pump overs; three daily during peak fermentation to extract colour and tannin. Following 7 to 14 days of maceration the dry free run is drained to tank. The skins are then pressed and the pressings transferred to the same tank, the wine is then racked to barrel. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrel. Minimal fining and non filtered. MATURATION 16 months in seasoned French oak hogsheads. 60% 1 year old the balance in 2 and 3 year old. ANALYSIS Alc 14.5%, pH 3.42, Acidity 7.40 CELLAR POTENTIAL 8 to 10 years REGION Clare Valley South Australia. The vineyard is situated towards the northern end of Watervale. The Clare Valley has a moderate continental climate. VINTAGE COMMENTS High levels of soil moisture and well spaced spring and early summer rainfalls, encouraged the growth of healthy canopies. Apart from a small hail storm in early February, that caused minor damage across the Valleys, Clare experienced a mild dry summer which then ran into a lovely Indian summer that most of the state also experienced. Flavour in our Watervale Riesling seemed to appear overnight and was harvested at a moderate sugar level with relatively high natural acidity. 2005 is lending itself to be a great Riesling year. As a result of the good weather through summer and autumn, the shiraz was picked earlier than expected and is now looking excellent; full of spice, chocolate and plum characters.