‘Puritan’ Shiraz {no added preservative} 2018
Tasting Notes
When we say Puritan is a bright young thing, it almost precisely describes the style. It is full of dark and red fruits and plums and blackberries, too. Some bramble and violet too. Puritan has a great, vibrant dark purple colour, too which lets you know just how young it is. The palate is soft but with structure.
Vegan Friendly
Vintage
We had above average winter rainfall and although we had a dry June, we recorded decent falls in July and August. Below average rainfall was recorded in spring, and we experienced some warm spring nights. Summer rain tally was also below average despite a wet December. McLaren Vale experienced warm a warm Autumn ripening period with low rainfall. Overall vintage in McLaren Vale produced wine of excellent quality and while total tonnages were down for the season, compared to a wet and fertile 2017, the reports from winemakers on wine quality has been almost universally positive.
Winemaking
Puritan is our bright young thing; picked when the grapes are just ripe and full of red and black berry fruit flavour, cool fermented and then bottled once this process has finished. We don’t use any oak barrels when making Puritan as we want the Shiraz flavours to shine through. We also call Puritan a ‘Joven’ style wine – stealing the Spanish term for youthful or young. Describes the wine perfectly.
Reviews
Halliday Wine Companion
The moniker 'Puritan' implies not only organic viticulture as is the estate's wont, but a nakedness of both oak and preservatives (read, SO2). The result is a bright, luminescent crimson upon pouring. The aromas, a staggering semblance to some of my favourite northern Rhone expressions: wood-smoke, lilac, charcuterie, seaweed and blueberry. Scrumptious, firecracker aromatics! The Vale's inherent generosity flows across the palate, embedded with a warmth of mouthfeel, aniseed and Christmas cake spice. A delicious wine of considerable swagger, best enjoyed with a chill.
93 Points
Ned Goodwin MW
Published 01 August 2019
Other Vintages
Technical Details
Vineyards: Denton's, Edgehill, Cox's and The Hill Shiraz (in front of cellar door)
Picking Date: Between 22nd Feb to the 21st March 2018
Bottling Date: 6th June 2018
Alc/Vol: 14.5%