Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard 2019 Cabernet Shiraz

The Cabernet Sauvignon from the Whalebone Vineyard and the Shiraz grapes from the Crayères Vineyard in Wrattonbully were hand-harvested and delivered at night to the Tapanappa Winery in the Piccadilly Valley.

The grapes were destemmed, lightly roller crushed and chilled to 2°C on the way to 0.85 tonne fermenting tubs. The crushed must was cold soaked on skins for two days before the fermentation was initiated. After fermentation began, the tubs were hand plunged daily, fully immersing the skins in the fermenting juice. The fermentation lasted for 11 days and reached a maximum temperature of 33°C. At the end of fermentation, the wine was left on skins for a seven-day maceration under inert gas cover.

The Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz wines, still separate, were gently pressed away from the skins and immediately gravitated to French oak barriques, 50% new and 50% single use, to undergo malolactic fermentation. At the end of malolactic fermentation, the wines were racked off gross lees and returned to barrique for a further 17 months of maturation.

In November 2020, the wines were clear racked from the barriques and blended, 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Shiraz. The finished wine was bottled in December 2020. Only 670 dozen of the 2019 Tapanappa Cabernet-Shiraz was made.