Grape Variety: Grenache 36%, Mataro 34%, Shiraz 30%

The Moonlight Run was our midnight drive back to the Barossa after working vintage in the Clare Valley in 1999. We would crave a soft slurpy wine to wash down a hard night’s work, so we decided to make our own. We take inspiration from Southern Rhone wines and this is our take on them.

Sub Regions: Southern Moppa, Light Pass, Greenock, Angaston Foothills, Tanunda

Winemaking: Mataro from dry grown vines on the rose quartz soils of our Dadd’s Block is fermented with 30% whole cluster inclusion and blended with other parcels of Mataro from Light Pass and Greenock. We then add some old bush vine Grenache from the Barossa foothills where the sandy soils are shallow on calcrete and limestone. This complex Grenache fruit adds spiciness and intensity. Add to that some Greenock and Tanunda Shiraz and we have a wine that has a mouthful of everything superb about a Southern Rhone styled blend. Daily pump overs early in ferment, followed by punching down as the ferment finished, ensure gentle and controlled extraction. Aged in tank and barrel, each parcel is selected to add as much interest as possible.

The Wine: Mataro gives roasted cumin, cinnamon, peppercorn and savoury profile that is complimented by dark cherry and kirsch nuances from the Grenache. Some raspberry sweetness from the Tanunda Shiraz complete a truly complex and intriguing blended wine. A true reflection of the heralded 2018 vintage, where volume and weight is there on show, but it lets all the complexities of these aromatic varieties take centre stage. The usual firm tannin line suggests potential for time in the cellar.

Cellaring: Up to ten years

Awards: 92 Points The Real Review | 93 Pints Sam Kim Wine Orbit