I have always made blending decision that enable me to highlight the best of the best each vintage. This wine is taken from a single, exceptional barrique which showed incredible line and length and potential for greatness. The fine-grained oak seemed to add layers without adding weight and it added structure without affecting tannin. A moment in time, a coming together of vineyard, vintage and let's say lucky winemaking, that was worth capturing.

 👁 Medium purple, with ruby hue
👃 Cocoa, olive, blackberry, plum, black pepper
👄 A real balancing act of fruit and savoury notes, oak lengthens and broadens the palate, plenty of poise and grace on show.

Heathcote Shiraz is probably the first variety + region combo ever lodged in my wine brain. I have a soft spot for this keen expression of terroir, of variety matched to soil, that emerged in the mid 90’s - my dad was an avid fan of the early Hanging Rock wines and I remember the joy it brought him to share this local product with his friends and family. Vino Athlético needs to represent variety and regionality, and the best expression of each so whilst I wanted to remain true to the red earth and powerful fruit signature of Heathcote I also wanted to bring a bit more elegance and freshness, picking earlier and not working the ferment too hard in order to retain vibrancy and vitality.