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Spinning A Yabby's Tale»
There's a vineyard at Moorooduc in upper Mornington, planted to a splendid north facing slope which captures the maximum warmth of sunshine each day. Refreshed after nightfall by the invigorating maritime winds off Bass Strait and Port Phillip Bay, it's a place of exceptional winegrowing. Populated by ten unique Burgundy clones, this very special block of vine grew the only Pinot Noir ever to claim our nation's highest accolade for great red wines, the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy. The property continues to yield limited releases of outstanding vintages, it's a place of exacting viticulture and uncompromising pursuit of excellence, cherished by cognoscenti and.. The burgundy clones of mornington»
Might & Magic Of Merrill»
A living legend and bespoke savant of the Australian wine industry, Geoff Merrill began his career in 1973 at Seppelt & Son, before completing tours of duty at Thomas Hardy and Chateau Reynella. Geoff acquired the historic Reynella wineworks in 1985 and has continued to craft many of McLaren Vale's most memorable vintages ever since. Mr Merrill has claimed countless industry accolades and many of our nation's most prestigious awards, including the hotly contested VISY Great Shiraz Challenge and the illustrious Jimmy Watson Trophy. Merrill offers a range of artisanal, limited release wines, of timely age, extravagant oak and sound value... The advanced age & luxury oak of mclaren vale's quiet achiever»
Right On Red Hill»
Lindsay McCall's enthusiasm for great wine began in the 1970s, he established his first Mornington plantings in 1985 on the site of a derelict orchard at Red Hill along Paringa Road. From day one, McCall focused on exactingly managing the soils and the vines, after completing his day job as local school teacher. His affinity for the land and astonishing feel for winemaking produced monumental vintages of Pinot Noir, which propelled the exquisite range of Paringa Estate wines to international renown. McCall works closely with Mornington's finest vignerons to nurture better standards of viticulture and deliver finer vintages with each harvest. Limited yields of.. Exquisite editions by the master of mornington»
Drinks Around The Derwent»
There are fewer than twenty hectares of Stefano Lubiana vines, overlooking the spectacular tidal estuary of Derwent River. Chosen for its felicitious winegrowing aspects, it is a place of scrupulously clean soils, free of any pesticides or manufactured treatments. Insects are welcome here, they are mother nature's endorsement of a holistically biodynamic viticulture. Lubiana is a fifth generation winemaker, one of the apple isle's leading vignerons, he works to an arcane system of seasonal chronometers, governed by cosmic rhythms, the turning of leaves and angle of the moon. His wines are given full indulgence to make themselves. Ferments lie undisturbed and.. Celestial wines from southern climes»

Pepper Tree Merlot CONFIRM VINTAGE

Merlot Wrattonbully South Australia
Wrattonbully makes Merlot of exceptional character and flavour, arguably the finest and most consistent annual yields in Australia. The wines are distinctive for their blueberry, plum and mint character, sound structure and velvet tannins. Pepper Tree's Merlot vines are fortuitously planted to heavier clay soils at the toe of the main Wrattonbully dune, as heavy clays have proved to be the best soils for Merlot in its traditional home of Bordeaux. A soft and rich, profoundly fruit driven Merlot wine with more power and weight of varietal flavour than most.
Available by the dozen
Case of 12
$275.00
The prominent viticultural feature of Wrattonbully is a series of ancient beach ridges and dunes which run north/ south, made of soft crumbly limestone which weather to produce the red and brown Terra rossa clay loam soils that are so highly prized for growing outstanding quality wine grapes. The higher elevation brings the advantage cold air drainage which reduces the risk of frost throughout the colder months of the growing season. Harvests of Merlot from choice Wrattonbully vineyards are treated to a fortnight on skins in static fermenters, pressed off skins and racked to a selection of fine French oak barrels for eighteen months before assembling into the final wine.
Deep purple red colour. An aromatic Merlot nose of black and red fruits with spicy lift and subtle oak. A fully ripe, classically medium bodied palate, packed with sweet berry fruits and spice, balanced by subtle French oak and fine, long velvet tannins, before a lingering complex finish. Enjoy with polpette e papardelle or coq au vin.
Pepper Tree
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Pepper Tree
Although Pepper Tree winery is sited in the Hunter Valley and founded as a Hunter Valley winery, the winemakers believe that grapes grown in other regions exhibited characters that should be explored

Over the years Pepper Tree have acquired vineyards in the Orange, Wrattonbully and Coonawarra growing areas to enable the winemaker production of varietal wines that either did not grow as well in the Hunter Valley, or are different expressions of a particular varietal that are of interest to connoisseurs of fine wines. The character and complexity reflected in the Appellation wines are an expression of diverse vineyard resources. A second is the balance and elegance in the Multi-Regional range of varietals. These are blends of a varietal wine made from grapes grown at two or more of vineyards that vary from year to year. All Pepper Tree wines are produced, aged and bottled at the winery.

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The Hunter Valley is one of Australia's best white wine areas and consistently wins a disproportionate number of awards in National Wine Shows. Pepper Tree's Hunter Valley vineyard is in the Mount View area of the Lower Hunter Valley in the sheltered foothills of the Brokenback Range and covers 38.5 ha of plantings made up of 16.5 ha Chardonnay, 2.5 ha Verdelho, 3.7 ha Semillon, 7.5 ha Shiraz, 1 ha Viognier, 1 ha Sauvignon blanc, 3 ha Merlot, 2.4 ha Cabernet, 0.5 ha Grenache and 0.5 ha Pinot Noir.

The Mount View area produces highly distinctive Chardonnay with flavours of melon, passionfruit and pineapple. Verdelho also performs well in the area with soft tropical fruit characters balanced by good natural acidity. Semillon has the usual lime-citrus characters with flavours being at the higher end for the variety. Shiraz from the area is typically soft, spicy and elegant with a perfumed bouquet.

The Orange region of New South Wales is one of Australia's newest premium regions being favoured for its high altitude cool climate. Situated approximately 270 km west of Sydney the topography and soils of the Orange region are dominated by the extinct volcano Mt Canobolas. Pepper Tree's Orange vineyard sits in a small subvalley protected on 3 sides with a sunny northerly aspect. Elevations vary from 740m to 800m and the site is capable of ripening all the main red varieties as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Cabernet, Merlot & Shiraz all produce wines with deep red colours and intense palate complexity.

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The wines from Pepper Tree's Orange vineyard typically have a lighter more elegant structure than those of warmer areas with light lifted fruit acids lengthening the palate. In addition to the main red varieties, small blocks of Pinot Noir (for sparkling base) & Zinfandel have been planted. Zinfandel produces rich spice and berry characters with crimson red colours. This variety seems well suited to the Orange region and the wines show great promise.

Coonawarra is Australia's top red wine area specialising in Cabernet Sauvignon of great complexity and elegance. Pepper Tree's Coonawarra vineyard comprises 8 ha of Cabernet and 4 ha of Merlot and is located midway between the town of Penola & Coonawarra. Soils consist of thin dark brown to dark grey clays interspersed with broken limestone fragments. The shallow soils restrict vigour and this, coupled with rigorous canopy management, allows the vignerons to control berry size and bunch numbers and thus eventual crop load. This control of crop level and berry size gives the winemakers the best possible starting material with which to create premium red wines.

Pepper Tree's Wrattonbully vineyard covers 100ha of plantings, mainly Cabernet (48 ha) Merlot (23 ha) and Shiraz (20 ha). Cabernet is planted on the highest dune areas where Terra Rossa soils overlie shallow limestone. Individual blocks are given separate canopy management, cropping structure and moisture control according to soil depth which can vary from a few centimetres to over 1 metre.

Flavour maps constructed for the vineyard have shown considerable variability for both Cabernet and Shiraz, and have allowed the winemakers to isolate individual sections of the vineyard to produce parcels of outstanding quality. Merlot is planted on heavier clay soils at the toe of the main dune as heavy clays have proved best for Merlot in its traditional homeland.

Pepper Tree