Sanguine Estate Inception Shiraz 750ml

2021 Great Australian Shiraz Challenge - Best Victorian Shiraz.

A cracking wine from a cracking estate. 5 star rated for 10 years running, the wines from Sanguine are consistently excellent. Not a surprise that this little beauty won the trophy for Best Victorian Shiraz.

Here's what they have to say:

When we introduced the Progeny shiraz and D’Orsa shiraz to our range, it was always our intention to add a “stage” name to the “Estate” shiraz however it has taken some time to agree on that perfect name. So from the 2012 vintage, the “Estate” Shiraz was called “Inception” meaning the beginning of something or the establishment or starting point of our family business. A very fitting name considering the Estate shiraz is our flagship wine.

Very dense purple hue, strong aromas of black fruits spice and dried herbs with an alluring smoky oak in the background. A mouthwatering array of rich blackberry fruit balanced with a distinct spice and pepper in the fore. A dense and intense vintage of inception that will definitely reward the patient.

Our boutique vineyard and winery is a family enterprise intent on making concentrated, sophisticated and complex wines inspired by our unique Heathcote terroir, a fault line of ancient Cambrian red rock pulverised over 510 million years into soil. We have utilised the vertical shoot positioning trellis system to open up the canopy, reduce the risk of disease and expose bunches to direct sun light for ripening. The vines are cane pruned to a single fruiting wire with a maximum 20 buds per vine. Crop levels are naturally low and irrigation kept to a minimum with some blocks unirrigated. To conserve the natural balance within the soils and hence the overall health of the vines, we aim to minimise the use of chemicals. It is our practice to utilise organic principles in the first instance such as organic fertilisers and mulching to control weed growth and then if absolutely necessary, use small amounts of chemicals to target specific parts of the vineyard.

We utilize traditional winemaking practices such as small fermentation tanks, natural fermentation (i.e. no yeast additions) and gravity feeding. Whilst this can be quite labour intensive, we believe it ensures the preservation of natural fruit flavours and the Heathcote terrior character. As with all varieties produced at Sanguine Estate, the grapes were destemmed, lightly crushed and then naturally fermented with wild indigenous yeasts in small open fermenters. The wine is then transferred via gravity (to avoid pump shock) to predominantly French oak barriques (approximately 10% new) and left to mature for approximately 18 months.