Bethany East Grounds Shiraz 2016

In 2016 Mother Nature showed the gifts she can bestow on Bethany from time to time. Sufficient rainfall and ample warm, but not hot, weather ensured a long and successful ripening period. 

Sourced from the Homestead vineyard planted along the foothills above Schlenkes Gully, this is the highest altitude Estate vineyard and receives the full force of the cooling breezes that work so well to maintain elegance and finesse along the Eastern Ridge of the Barossa. 

A cooler vintage in the Eden Valley with a long ripening period, this led to Shiraz having an long and balanced maturation period leading to fully ripe fruit flavours with an underlying balance and elegance.

Vintage 2016 was preceded by an extremely dry growing season with Winter, Spring and December 2015 all being well below average rainfall. Relatively cool conditions and a nice drop of rain in January lead to a perfect ripening scenario despite this early dryness. Vintage was early but yielded great colour, flavour and phenolic development. 

The fruit is carefully monitored and picked at optimum ripeness. It’s then gently de-stemmed, crushed and placed in small fermenters to carry out a balanced fermentation with manual pump overs to allow full extraction of flavour and tannins. Parcels are pressed and stored in 25% new French oak hogsheads and 75% seasoned oak to ensure a balanced fruit and oak integration. The resulting wine is then carefully blended to yield the finest expression of this wonderful variety from the higher reaches of the Barossa Valley. 

The results can be seen in the glass with this wine showing a dark, inky purple hue and a nose redolent with spicy dark cherries, mulberries and blackberries. The wine is taut and lush with velvet tannins spreading the length of the palate, amply supporting the black fruits and sweet spices and leading through to a very long, elegant finish.

Alcohol Level : 13.5%

Awards

Gold Medal, James Halliday Wine Companion 2021 - 97 Points