1998 Rosemount Estate Shiraz

WINEMAKER: Philip Shaw

ORIGIN: Shiraz is the most widely planted red grape variety in Australia. It is known for producing outstanding rich reds with a classic spicy finish. Shiraz has long been recognised for growing particularly well in the warmer and drier regions such as those of South Australia and Mudgee in New South Wales. In these environments, it achieves a richness of varietal character and depth of concentration that best suits our Diamond Label style.

VITICULTURAL NOTES: The fruit for this wine was sourced predominantly from our vineyards in McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek in South Australia, and Mudgee in New South Wales. Here, the long generous Summers are tempered by cooling breezes from the Gulf of St. Vincent and Lake Alexandrina in South Australia, and night time cool of the Blue Mountains in Mudgee. These cool periods enable the colour pigments and natural acidity within the fruit to stabilise, thus allowing flavour to fully ripen whilst retaining overall structural balance. In 1998, these vineyard areas enjoyed late winter showers, which helped facilitate an even budburst, flowering and fruit set. The summer months experienced fewer periods of extreme heat than the previous vintage. Subsequently the harvest started a week later than expected, with the fruit displaying intense rich colour, concentrated fruit flavours and superb quality.

WINEMAKING NOTESThe wine was fermented in several parcels, some in old traditional open vats and headed down, producing a more forward, softer, plummy style, others being vinified in red wine fermenters with regular pumping over to extract colour, structure and flavour. A proportion of the wines had final fermentation in American oak barriques and all the wines were aged in American oak for 9 months prior to bottling.The 1998 Shiraz has a dark ruby, almost black, appearance with a deep purple edge. The aroma is vibrant and lively with an excellent varietal definition of warm spices, brambles and dark plums. The palate is dominated by well defined, ripe fruit, a soft, generous mid-palate and a long, rich finish. This is supported by fine-grained tannins and a delicious underlay of toasty American oak. The wine drinks well now and will reward 6 to 8 years of further bottle maturation.