Origin

McLaren Vale is one of Australia's premier wine regions. It has a Mediterranean climate making it ideal for growing grapes. The pristine coastline of SA is just minutes from our vineyards and the maritime influences of cool evening breezes and ancient limestone deposits in the soil are instrumental to the quality of fruit that we grow. Gemtree's vineyards are farmed 100% biodynamically and certified organic.

Winemaking

Vineyard, site and parcel selection is critical with all of our wines. For Bloodstone we selected the sites that display varietal expression, concentration and finesse. In 2014 we selected several Shiraz parcels from a range of soil profiles to add complexity. Fermentation occurred naturally in open fermenters, pressing off skins once the fermentation was completed, which in this case took 12 days. Ageing occurred in French oak barrels ranging in size from puncheons (500L) to barriques (225L) for 12 months. No racking of the wines occurred in this time, so the wine aged on its lees, allowed sulphur additions to be kept to a minimum and the true character of the wine to blossom.

Vintage Notes

The 2013 to 2014 growing season presented us with some challenges. Adequate winter rains, a dry spring, then some unseasonal warmth and wind. The summer was warm and dry with early February looking like the harvest was going to take off. On the 14th February we were blessed with 60mm of rain. This had the positive effect of delaying sugar ripeness allowing flavours to develop naturally. This is what I classify as the "deck chair" vintage. The resulting wines from vintage 2014 are integrated, balanced and show purity of fruit.