About this WINE
McHenry Hohnen Vintners
David Hohnen is renowned throughout the world of wine as the founder, with his father John and brother Mark, of the family winery in Western Australia which became Cape Mentelle. Later, David was closely involved when Cape Mentelle set up Cloudy Bay Vineyards in 1985 and remained so until he left in 2003 ton return to the Margaret River.
Murray McHenry has a background in fine wine retailing, owning “Steve’s Hotel Wine Shop”, regarded as having the widest selection of Australian and imported wines in the whole of Australia. After branching out into wholesaling Murray planted his first vines in Margaret River in 1984 and today farms grapes at two sites in the region. The Margaret River viticultural zone is home to some of the more restrained styles of wine made in Australia, the result of cooling breezes which drift in from the Indian Ocean.
The vineyards which supply fruit to Hohnen McHenry are McHenry’s, Calgardup Brook, McLeod Creek and Rocky Road, all exceptional sites from which much of the harvest is still sold to Cape Mentelle, but from which the pick of the crop is retained for their own wines.
The aim is to make very natural wines which reflect their terroir and which receive minimal intervention from the winemaking team with new oak used only sparingly.
Syrah/Shiraz
A noble black grape variety grown particularly in the Northern Rhône where it produces the great red wines of Hermitage, Cote Rôtie and Cornas, and in Australia where it produces wines of startling depth and intensity. Reasonably low yields are a crucial factor for quality as is picking at optimum ripeness. Its heartland, Hermitage and Côte Rôtie, consists of 270 hectares of steeply terraced vineyards producing wines that brim with pepper, spices, tar and black treacle when young. After 5-10 years they become smooth and velvety with pronounced fruit characteristics of damsons, raspberries, blackcurrants and loganberries.
It is now grown extensively in the Southern Rhône where it is blended with Grenache and Mourvèdre to produce the great red wines of Châteauneuf du Pape and Gigondas amongst others. Its spiritual home in Australia is the Barossa Valley, where there are plantings dating as far back as 1860. Australian Shiraz tends to be sweeter than its Northern Rhône counterpart and the best examples are redolent of new leather, dark chocolate, liquorice, and prunes and display a blackcurrant lusciousness.
South African producers such as Eben Sadie are now producing world- class Shiraz wines that represent astonishing value for money.
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Description
Almost a halfway house between the traditional exotic, jammy fruit of South Australian Shiraz styles and the cooler, restrained character of the Northern Rhone. The nose shows blueberry and blackberry with a hint of black pepper; the palate is rich and full, with natural sweetness tempered by spicy, fresh acidity. A lovely pure example of Shiraz which would partner grilled lamb chops admirably.
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