We had a very dry spring leading up to vintage 2016 and it was windy, too. We expect these kinds of conditions in Willunga, but this was pretty intense. October and December were both pretty warm, whereas November was mild. Very healthy crops were recorded across all varieties in McLaren Vale. We had a huge downpour at the end of January a few days before the whites were due to be picked; this kind of weather event tends to give Joch a sense of tightening around the left chest area, neck and sometimes down the arm. However this 50mm downpour succeeded in refreshing the vines, giving us a few more days before picking and bringing the lawns back from the brink. February was mild with cool nights and March provided pretty good picking conditions, give or take a few warm days.

When the Cabernet and Shiraz grapes are flavour and sugar ripe we cut the cordon which attaches the grapes to the vine and roots (instead of picking them,). This stops the grapes getting any more nutrients from the vine, and makes the leave die and fall off. It looks horrible, but the magic is that as the grapes dry on the vine their flavours concentrate, as does the natural acidity. After a very long and slow fermentation in older oak barrels we are left with a rich, soft and very flavoursome red wine. We nod our heads in the general direction of Amarone for the style influence, but this is an intensely Australian production.

• Halliday Wine Companion

  This wine builds with a wave of plush cherries and plums, prunes and coffee grounds with sweet cedary oak and warm earth. Full-bodied with appealing plump tannins and importantly, a freshness that keeps this buoyant.

  92 Points

  Published 01 August 2020, tasted by Jane Faulkner

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