2012 Water Wheel Shiraz

Water Wheel Vineyards, located in the Bendigo district, were established in 1972, however, it wasn’t until 1989 when the Cumming family purchased the winery and 20 acres of vineyard that it began to establish a market presence. With a philosophy of producing rich ripe flavour filled wines that delivered value way beyond their miserly price point, Water Wheel vineyards quickly established a very loyal following during the early 1990’s to the point where in the later part of the decade their Shiraz was in such high demand that they sold out within months of release.

The same philosophy remains at Water Wheel today, it’s just that things are done on a much larger scale with the group now having total plantings that exceeds 300 acres. Yields are capped at 3 tonnes per acre, which explains the concentration of flavour found in these wines. The winemaking is straightforward with fermentation taking place in open stainless steel fermenters. The finished wine is then matured in a combination of new and 1-2 year old American oak hogsheads for 9-12 months.

Totally opaque black purple colour with deep dark purple black tinged hue. The nose offers up scents of freshly crushed ripe blackberries, dark plums and liquorice followed by some vanillin oak and pepper. Full bodied the palate boasts a joosy rich flavour profile of youthful fresh blackberries and plums followed by some liquorice, vanillin oak and a blackpepper component that persists right through to the finish. Very fine grained yet solid tannin structure with long blackberry, liquorice, vanillin oak and blackpepper aftertaste.
Cellar 5-6 years (2019-2020).
Alc 14.0%