Grosset Rockwood Clare Valley Wild Shiraz 2022
Notes of delicate mulberry, black cherry and bramble fill the nose. Further black and dark fruits abound on the palate which is supple, with a fleshy texture, smooth mid-palate and fine yet firm tannins. The finish is long and balanced, with lingering spice.
Rockwood Vineyard was planted between 2001 and 2018. The vineyard is an A-Grade Certified Organic and Biodynamic (ACO) vineyard and is planted at an elevation of 460 to 485 metres, slightly higher than the region's average. Situated in the north-eastern corner of the Watervale subregion, Rockwood's low fertility soils are composed of a mixture of gradational loam over hard red rock, with deep friable gradational clay loam. The vines have to work harder than those at Springvale, producing more concentration in the berries.
Made without crushing the shiraz berries or the addition of yeast, the grapes were allowed to commence fermentation spontaneously. Bottled without fining or time in oak, this is a truly wild ferment wine made with minimal intervention.
| RRP | £33.99 |
| Bottle size | 75cl |
| Vintage | 2022 |
| Alcoholic strength | 13.8% |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | South Australia |
| Subregion | Clare Valley |
| Grapes | Shiraz 100% |
| Vegetarian | Yes |
| Vegan | Yes |
| Organic | Yes |
| Biodynamic | Yes |
| Closure | Screwcap |
| Winemaker | Jeffrey Grosset |
For the last forty years the Grosset ‘Springvale’ and ‘Polish Hill’ Rieslings have shown a consistent style and quality that have earned Jeffrey Grosset an unrivalled reputation. Through meticulous vineyard management and decades of experience, Jeffrey’s wines keep getting better. In the words of Campbell Mattinson in the Halliday Wine Companion, "Grosset has been a star producer for all the time I’ve been in wine, but right now its wines are as good or better than they’ve ever been".
Jeffrey’s love of Riesling began at 15 when his father came home with a bottle to share with the family. This bottle was enough to inspire a young Jeffrey to enrol in the local agricultural college and complete qualifications in both Agriculture and Oenology by the age of 21. After honing his craft in Australia and Germany, he bought an old milk depot in the Clare Valley town of Auburn, founding his eponymous winery in 1981. Since then, this old milk depot has been transformed into one of Australia’s finest wineries.
Grosset vineyards are located in the high country of the Clare Valley. Between 460-560 metres above sea level, they are the coolest sites in the region. The ‘hard rock’ blue slate of the eight-hectare Polish Hill site results in wines that are steely and magnificently age-worthy, while the red loam of the five-hectare Springvale vineyard gives more open and accessible, though no less complex, wines. Such is Jeffrey’s attention to detail that he noted a small strip (22 metres wide by 300 metres long) in his Rockwood vineyard that produced more generously flavoured wines due to a different soil. As a result, he decided to produce a separate wine from this site, ‘Alea’. Also from the Rockwood vineyard is the ‘G110’ Riesling, made in tiny quantities from a single clone (110). The G110 is a pure expression of variety and site, subtly perfumed with a lingering finish that is tight, ultra-dry and pure.
As the story of ‘Alea’ illustrates, Jeffrey is fanatical about the quality of his vineyards. Hand-tended and certified organic and biodynamic, the Grosset vineyards are farmed sustainably. In the winery, each process is gentle and uncomplicated. No fining agents are used, and sulphur is the only addition. By combining a disciplined approach in the vineyard and a delicate touch in the winery, Grosset consistently achieves the purest expression of variety and place. Indeed, his pure and precise Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reflect the single sites in the ultra-cool Piccadilly Valley, from where Jeffrey has sourced these grapes for the past 25 years.
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