2015 Michael Hall Sang de Pigeon Shiraz, Barossa Valley, South Australia
About this WINE
Michael Hall
Englishman Michael Hall’s first career was as a jewellery valuation expert to the top auction houses, but his passion for all his adult life has been wine. After graduating with top honours in Wine Science from Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga, and after stints learning the ropes at various top wine estates in Australia and Europe, Michael recently set up his own winery in the Barossa Valley.
His sole objective is to make wines which reflect their individual terroir, and to this end he sources fruit from carefully chosen plots throughout the best wine-producing regions of South Australia to produce small-volume, highly individual wines which are very expressive of their origins. Michael’s stated aim is to make wines which will be “loved by some rather than liked by all”.
The response and critical acclaim has been remarkable. James Halliday and Nick Stock, Australia’s foremost wine critics, have consistently awarded marks in the high 90s.
Moreover, it’s clear that Michael Hall's wines are outstanding representations of the trend, rapidly gathering pace in Australia, and much in favour with us, to champion specific sub-districts and terroirs which are capable of producing wines of exceptional personality, a welcome antidote to the bland , mass-produced offerings which dominate our supermarket shelves.
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
Sang de Pigeon (pigeon’s blood) is a nod to winemaker Michael Hall’s former life as a jewellery valuation expert. It’s the trade term for the finest rubies, invariably from the Mogok stone tract in Myanmar. Matured in French oak barrels for 20 months and, slightly unusually, blended with 15 percent Eden Valley Shiraz, for an extra element of freshness, the wine is bottled without fining or filtration. Bright-fruited, The nose is vibrant with plenty of ripe fruit and a hint of savoury spice. On the palate, red plums, cherry stone and more warming characters such as mocha, cinnamon and tobacco balance the ripe tannins and fresh acidity. The wine is given an extra dimension by a chalky mineral core. Drink now to 2025.
Katherine Dart MW, Wine Buyer
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