The Black Shiraz Metal Label

Producer Note

Established by Bob and Cherie Berton in May 1996, Berton Vineyard is one of Hallgarten's most important partners. The estate covers 30 hectares of land located on gently rolling hills at 450 metres above sea level, in a subregion of Eden Valley in South Australia. The superb Reserve Shiraz and Reserve Chardonnay wines are still sourced from this plot. In 2007, Bob purchased the Yenda winery in the heart of the Riverina. This state-of- the-art facility has the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes and enables Berton Vineyard to produce value for money wines which sit alongside their premium single vineyard offerings.

Vineyard

The vines are trained on a trellis system, which is generally a single wire cordon and all vines have been spur pruned. The vine age is varied. Planting is approximately 1.8m apart with 3.6m between the rows, in order to allow machinery access. The grapes were sourced from premium areas across South Eastern Australia and machine harvested during the night. Only the darkest and most flavoursome fruit was selected.

Winemaking

The parcels were fermented in stainless steel vertical fermenters for five to seven days, at temperatures of between 25°C and 29°C. The wine was then bag pressed at 1 Baumé and left to ferment until dry. The wine was racked into French oak for malolactic fermentation and clarified via centrifuge. Several different blends were carefully considered over numerous days, culminating in this amazing blend.

Tasting Note

The Black Shiraz is a bold example of this Australian Shiraz with deep colour and aromas of blackberry and plum over toasty vanilla and spicy oak. The palate is full flavoured and intense with rich plum, blueberry and mocha notes. The tannins are ripe and dense giving great structure and length to the palate.

Serving Suggestion

The perfect choice for rich, spicy and especially peppery dishes, such as steak au poivre, full flavoured game casseroles, chilli con carne or beef sausages.

Grape

Shiraz 91%, Durif 9%