Winemakers
Adam Eggins
Technical Data
Acidity
6.82
Alcohol
14.5%
Sugar
0.63 g/L
Wakefield Wines
Wakefield Wines
St. Andrew’s Shiraz 2013
Background
Named after the historic property first established in 1892. A true reflection of the terroir, St. Andrews wines exemplify the very best of handcrafted Clare Valley winemaking. The first Wakefield St. Andrews wines were released in 1999 and have developed a reputation as benchmark examples of great Clare Valley wine. As our flagship, St Andrews is only released in the finest vintages.
Appellation
Clare Valley, Australia
Varietal Composition
100% Shiraz
Vintage Notes
In the Clare Valley, growing conditions leading up to vintage 2013 could best be described as benign, apart from a frost event of mid-October which impacted several blocks on our estate vineyards. There were very few significant rainfall events over the growing period with the season being described overall as dry. The first week of December saw an 30mm down pour which was most definitely a season changer. Without the rain event, the overall yields from 2013 would have been very low. Harvest conditions were excellent with the first white varieties picked in early February. The winemakers report that quality is outstanding across all varieties, with excellent acid balance and flavor development displayed in the resultant wines.
Winemaking
Once harvested, the grapes for this wine were taken the short distance to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed to protect the vibrant fruit characters and minimize any maceration and extraction of harsh tannins. The fruit was then transferred to headless barrels and inoculated with a special Shiraz yeast strain for fermentation. The fermenting must was then hand-plunged twice daily to aid gentle extraction and then the wine was left to soak on the skins for another 2 weeks. Once pressed, the wine was then transferred back to the same oak barrels to complete its secondary malolactic fermentation, the wine was racked off lees prior to final blending. The blended wine was then transferred to high quality water-bent American oak barrels and matured for 20 months prior to filtering and bottling.
Tasting Notes
Complex and enticing bouquet of dark berry fruit along with juicy black plum, spice, cedar and hints of chocolate and roasted coffee. Rich and complex with layers of dark berry fruits layered with lashings of coffee, chocolate and spice from high quality oak. The palate builds further with well-balanced, elegant tannins delivering a very generous and complete wine with textural complexity and long, persistent flavors.
