About this WINE
Craiglee Vineyard
Craiglee Vineyard is located near Sunbury which is about 40km northwest of Melbourne on the edge of the urban sprawl. It is owned and operated by the Carmody family.
Pat Carmody farms sheep and cattle as well as grapes on his property which was a successful 19th century vineyard site. He is about as far removed from the typical new world winemaker as you could imagine, and has a healthy contempt for a fair number of his competitors in the industry.
Pat planted vines on the site of the original vineyard in 1976 and processed the first wine in 1979. The first commercial quantity was released in 1982 with the 1980 shiraz. Pat continues to make wine from the fruit grown at Craiglee, and is assisted by his wife Dianne and sons David and Tom.
All Craiglee wines are made from estate grown fruit, hand picked from vines that are hand pruned and carefully tended here on our family farm.Craiglee has an enviable reputation as a producer of fine table wines made to reflect local conditions and show vintage variation. Varieties produced include Shiraz, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc.
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
Craiglee is owned and operated by the Carmody family; Pat Carmody farms sheep and cattle as well as grapes on his property which was a successful 19th century vineyard site. He is about as far removed from the typical New World winemaker as you could imagine, and has a healthy contempt for a fair number of his competitors in the industry. Pat planted vines on the site of the original vineyard in 1976 and processed the first wine in 1979. Today he continues to make wine from estate-grown fruit, hand-picked and pruned by himself, his wife Dianne and sons David and Tom.
The 2012 Shiraz offers an intense nose of red cherry, cinnamon, overlaid by hints of spice and cigar box. Medium-bodied with a firm structure and grainy tannins, it delivers plush fruit and a lingering, pepper-laden finish.
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