Flagstone Dark Horse Shiraz 2006

The nose is a complex combination of white pepper, cigar box, mint and a concentration of dark fruit supported by subtle spicy undertones.

Food Suggestion:
A full-bodied style of wine with enough stamina to happily partner even the most substantial food. It would take to spicy seasonings like a duck to water, and stands up to all those intensely-flavoured dishes which tend to overpower most other soft-centered red wines: roast venison, beef and lamb served with reduction, berry and chocolate-chilli sauces, rich casseroles such as oxtail or boeuf bourgignonne, and baked dishes incorporating beef, lamb, pork, various types of sausages, beans and lentils.

Winemaking:
Grapes were handpicked from the 10-23 February. Stored in a cold room overnight, destemmed and partly crushed after which all small parts of stems and leaves were removed by hand on a sorting table. In some lots up to 70% were left as whole berries. Fermentation takes place in the open top fermenters after a 2 week cold soak period with very soft daily punch downs every 4 hours. Fermentation takes place around 26ºC. The whole process is based around gravity flow.

Maturation: Wine was matured for 16 months in 100% American Oak barrels with 30% new wood and the rest second and third fills.