Lake Breeze Bullant Shiraz, Langhorne Creek

A cool climate style of Shiraz with vibrant flavours of black olives enhanced by black pepper on the finish.

Tasting Note

A stunning Shiraz with alluring aromas reminiscent of plums and chocolate enveloped in a touch of earthy complexity. Rich and full of dark fruits on the palate, leading to a long, satisfying finish.

Producer Note

Lake Breeze is located in Langhorne Creek, South Australia, where the Follett family has been farming grapes since the 1880s. The estate is situated on the banks of Lake Alexandrina and the vineyard benefits from the 'lake breeze'. Winemaker Greg Follett was brought up on the farm but left to study winemaking at Roseworthy before heading to make wine in California and France. He returned to his roots and in 1987 started making wine exclusively from the best 30 per cent of his old vine fruit. He rapidly built an enviable reputation for consistently producing outstanding wines and Lake Breeze is now one of the most awarded boutique wineries in Australia.

Vineyard

The Langhorne Creek is situated south-east of Adelaide and is a premium viticultural region with cooling lake and ocean breezes. The average age of the Lake Breeze vines is 25 years, with youngest plantings taking place 12 years ago and the oldest vines having been planted 35 years ago. All of the vines are cultivated on their own rootstocks in soils that are generally alluvial sandy loam, with some parts over a clay base. This dry region, situated at the bottom of the Murray River, is irrigated by a weir floodgate system. The vineyards are surrounded by striking, historically important gum trees that still bear the holes that were once dug out by the Aboriginal Australians to carve into canoes to sail up the river.

Winemaking

Fruit selection is paramount, only the best blocks are retained for the Bullant label and often it is only the fruit from the best rows of these blocks. The grapes were fermented on their skins for seven to eight days in small, open, static tanks. Maturation occurred in both oak and stainless steel, with a minimum of 15 months in older oak barriques (two to five years old) with the aim of softening the wine, while retaining primary fruit characters. The wine was not fined or filtered prior to bottling.

Serving Suggestion

A perfect match with a chargrilled fillet steak or a rich mushroom pie.

Grape 

Shiraz 100%