Nick Haselgrove has won every top trophy and award an Australian winemaker can achieve: from the Bushing King Trophy to the top award at the Sydney International Wine Show to Winestate’s Australian Winemaker of the Year.
He makes this rare Grenache, named for a shrub native to the McLaren Vale which looks a bit like his ancient Grenache vines here, only in top vintages. So far, only 2013, 2016 and 2019.
Haslegrove says:
As a legacy of the once gone (almost!) fortified wine era, our region is blessed with plantings of vineyards that are now very old and in unique ‘terroirs’. Old bush vines, this wine from a single vineyard (over 100 years old), with tiny crops and berries are harvested by hand then crafted with minimal intervention to preserve the characters.
After open fermentation with a small influence of whole bunches, the wine is matured old larger format seasoned French oak puncheons (500L) until final assemblage from selected barrels. Time in barrels was around 24 months with a rest in tank to preserve freshness.
