Tasting Notes:

The 2016 vintage offers a clarity of vision that will allow 2016 Heartland One to grow and prosper for many years to come.  The intensity of this wine provides all the impetus required for long term cellaring, while the deft handling of oak and the finely tuned acidity will ensure that it stays on track to be a balanced and generous wine.  Dark fruit dominates the palate at this stage, while the structure is discernable and ready to support the wine.

Vinification:

The best grapes from the finest vineyards in Langhorne Creek are recruited to create Heartland One.  The fruit was harvested at night and then crushed to small open top stainless steel fermenters.  After 24 hours of skin contact, fermentation was commenced with Rhone isolate yeast.  Following 8 days of cool fermentation on skins and hand-plunging three times daily, the wine was transferred to new oak hogsheads (both French and American) for malolactic transformation, racking and a further 4 months of maturation.

Vintage:

Ben reckons this might be the finest vintage he has ever seen from Langhorne Creek.  Only time will tell.  Harvest was more generous than the previous few years, with above average quantity and quality.  Total degree days were up from the last three years, with wonderful ripeness levels recorded leading to amazing fruit intensity.  This may supersede the 2012 vintage for overall quality and has led to a very happy winemaker.