Small Batch Sangiovese 2022

Due to limited production this wine is only available to Solstice Wine Club members.

Winemaker: Erinn Klein

Grape(s): Sangiovese

GI: Adelaide Hills (Mount Lofty Ranges, South Australia)

Site(s): Ngeringa Rufus Vineyard

Vintage notes: Vintage 2022 was set up by a milder spring and summer with no severe heat spikes or extended hotter periods. Spring and early summer were wetter than usual resulting it good soil moisture and thus requiring only minimal irrigation just before picking. Flowering and set were good, if we don’t compare them to the dream conditions we had for the 2021 vintage! We had a few disease challenges with warm, wet weather, particularly one event where the vines had wet leaves for three days around the 10th of January. Our vine health was good and therefore resilient to these challenging few days. Finally, a long and slow ripening with cool conditions over harvest produced great delicate wines across all varieties.

Vineyard notes: The grapes are grown on a steep westerly facing slope of the Rufus Vineyard at about 360m above sea level, on rocky red ironstone and schist over clay. Quite a challenging vineyard site – facing west, it receives the belting summer sun and often is exposed to characteristic winds of the Adelaide Hills. From the top of this vineyard in the distance, however, one can see Lake Alexandrina and the mouth of the Murray River, consequently receiving cooling evening breezes, which do much to preserve fruit acids and flavours through the critical weeks of ripening. Only 750 vines planted, Brunello and Chianti clones. For the first time we have included a smaller amount of Sangiovese Clones Mat 6 and 7 from our Iluma vineyard that was planted in 2008.

Winemaking: A small batch of Sangiovese made from all our clones. Fully destemmed, gentle extraction by hand, wild yeast fermentation, extended maceration for 6 weeks, and 11 months maturation in one new barrique (228L) and older French oak barriques.

No fining. Estate bottled with small amounts of sulphites added before bottling.

Tasting note: Full of dark cherries, plush plums and black currant, intertwined with forest leaves and earthy notes. A medium-bodied Sangiovese with well formed, well integrated tannins, great fruit concentration and good length.

Closure: Stelvin Screw Cap

ABV: 13.5%

Production size: 80 dozen

Reviews:

Young Gun of Wines Sangiovese Deep Dive - June 2024

Baker placed this in her top-two wines of the tasting, with Meikle-Briggs also giving it a top six berth. “Garnet coloured, this wine shows lovely balance of darker brooding fruit flavours, masculine meatiness and spice,” wrote Baker, “Lots of darker cherry and forest berry fruit aromas with a touch of animal, think ferrous iron like beef backed up with oak spices like sandalwood, cloves and some dried oregano – made me want steak! It has a grainy dusty, dry earth mouthfeel and finishes with more plummy fruit and hints of eucalypt.” Meikle-Briggs: “This wine had lovely herbaceous qualities, with dried oregano, rosemary and thyme really in the foreground alongside that classic blood orange. Other flavours included macerated strawberries, cranberries, as well as a slight essence of cinnamon. Would pair well with a spiced boar ragu or, a roasted chicken rubbed in some rosemary butter. Would also go well with a nice Cacio e Pepe pasta.”