Chapel Hill McLaren Vale Shiraz 2014

Chapel Hill Winery in McLaren Vale was built on the site of the Seaview Chapel and school house. The 1865 ironstone Chapel still stands today and is an integral feature of the popular tasting room. The winery founder, Thomas Nelson hand planted the vineyard on the estate commencing in 1972 and the first vintage was in 1975. Perched on the edge of the spectacular Onkaparinga Gorge in the elevated northern end of McLaren Vale.

Shallow rocky soils are a feature of the site with some of the geological formations dating back 600 million years. McLaren Vale’s maritime climate, influenced by the nearby Gulf St Vincent, provides excellent ripening conditions and minimal disease pressure. Under the guidance of winemakers Michael Fragos and Bryn Richards, Chapel Hill strives to hand craft wines with purity and balance. To pursue this belief, all of our grapes and wines are handled gently in small batches with a restrained winemaking philosophy. As a result there are no additions of any fining.

Showcasing McLaren Vale’s brooding savoury side, which when enhanced with the regions plush dark fruits transports Shiraz to a deliciously ethereal level. The best of both worlds.

The grapes were sourced from vines (all grown on their own roots) aged between twelve and thirty six years. The various vineyard parcels were harvested and open fermented separately to ensure that each parcel articulates the unique character of each vineyard site. All ferments were maintained on skins for a minimum of 8 days and then gently basked pressed, following which the free run and pressing fractions were combined.
During the subsequent eighteen month barrel maturation in fine grained French oak barrels each individual batch of barrels was racked and returned periodically to seamlessly integrate the tannins into the structure of the wine. To preserve varietal and site purity, the wine is unfined, doesn’t have any tannin additions and is bottled unfiltered.

Average winter rainfall meant the vines enjoyed a healthy start to the season. A couple of heatwaves tested the vines but some mid February rain meant the vines were fully revived. The proceeding warm days and cool nights saw the grapes reach optimal ripeness in early-mid March.