Good winter and early spring rains were followed by a generally dry and mild growing season. After the leaner vintages of 2019 and 2020 it was nice to see a return to long term average crop levels. We had a slow and steady ripening period without any excessive heat spikes which has resulted in super varietal fruit intensity and balanced natural acidity.

A Mary Poppins kind of vintage; practically perfect! Joch is always loathe to comment favourably about vintage quality, for fear of jinxing things – he can be superstitious like that, but by the end of harvest, the word ‘exceptional’ was heard to come out of his mouth.

We pick and ferment the 3 varieties separately so they can develop their own varietal characters before they get blended prior to a little bit of oak maturation and bottling.

Grapes were all picked ripe, but not overripe – the name of the game for Heretic is a balanced mid weight wine. The blend is: Graciano (50%) Touriga Nacional (40%) Shiraz (10%)

• James Suckling jamessuckling.com

   

  Inviting aromas of strawberries, raspberries, paprika and ground clove. Medium-bodied with gentle tannins. Fresh and fruity on the palate with a hint of white pepper at the finish.

  90 pts

• 2023
• 2021
• 2020
• 2018
• 2017