End of Harvest at Oakdene

Some things remain the same.....

Harvest for the 2020 vintage is finished!  What a relief for the team who work tirelessly all year to prepare our fruit.  This is Sal & KJ earlier in the year, training the vines. These days we all work a bit further apart!  

The last to come off was the Shiraz in our Lighthouse vineyard, which will become our 2020 Oakdene Bellarine Peninsula Shiraz.  The yield may be down a little, but the fruit quality is exceptional.

Our Single Vineyard William Shiraz also came off recently at our Wallington vineyard where we hand pick a percentage of the fruit for whole bunches.

Two completely different styles, both very much worth trying!

2018 Bellarine Penisula Shiraz 
Deep garnet in apparance with a bright lifted savoury bouquet of, dark plummy fruit and black olive.  Fine sauvory palate driven by red, purple and black fruits. White pepper and spice. Medium bodied, fine tannin and balanced acidity.  Shiraz was destemmed, and then fermented in small open vats. Pressed to barrel for malolactic fermentation and matured in French oak barriques (10% new) for 11 months, then bottled in February 2019. Drink now or over the next 2 to 8 years.

95 Points, James Halliday Top 100 2020
"Open-fermented in small pots, then matured in French oak for 11 months. A most attractive assemblage of bright, supple red and purple fruits, the oak hovering but not threatening the fruit, the tannins exemplary, the pinch of spice well selected".

2017 Oakdene Single Vineyard William Shiraz
Deep red purple with a highly perfumed nose of white pepper, spice and abundant black and red fruits leading to slightly sappy whole bunch notes.  Medium bodied palate, with savoury dark berry fruit characters, licorice, spice and white pepper notes. Ripe tannins and well-integrated French oak. Balanced acidity, and a long savoury finish.  Highly enjoyable now, or cellar over the next 5 to 15 years.

Gold Medal and Trophy for Best Shiraz Geelong Wine Show 2019

95 Points James Halliday Wine Companion 2020
"Hand-picked, wild yeast fermented in small open vats with 15% whole bunches, matured in French barriques (30% new) for 16 months. Oakdene has decided to go for it in this spectacular vintage, and has got off to a flying start with this sumptuous wine. Picked at a modest baume level, it has the power more commonly found in the Barossa or Eden Valley at 14.5%-15% alcohol. This also has fine-grained tannins in best cool climate style."