EXPERT REVIEWS

89 points Ray Jordan in the west australian’s top 100 red wines july 2016
No added preservatives in the wet-behind-the-ears Shiraz from the 2016 vintage – yep, it’s from this year. Fruity and delicious with soft plum ans slightly earthy fruit flavours.

2016 VINTAGE

We had a very dry spring leading up to vintage 2016 and it was windy, too. We expect these kinds of windy conditions in Willunga, but this was pretty intense. October and December were both pretty warm, whereas November was mild. Very healthy crops were recorded across all varieties in McLaren Vale. We had a huge downpour at the end of January a few days before the whites were due to be picked; this kind of weather event tends to give Joch a sense of tightening around the left chest area, neck and sometimes down the arm. However this 50mm downpour succeeded in refreshing the vines, giving us a few more days before picking and bringing the lawns back from the brink. February was mild with cool nights and March provided pretty good picking conditions, give or take a few warm days.

WINEMAKING

We have modelled the Puritan on the young Tempranillos that come out of Rioja in Spain. Puritan spends no time in oak and is bottled as soon as it has gone through malolactic fermentation, which occurs after the sugar to alcohol primary fermentation. We have shamelessly copied this model, except with ‘Puritan’ we bottle the wine without any added preservatives, so it’s as fresh as a daisy, with nothing added. It is also made from Shiraz, too.

TASTING NOTES

The 2016 Puritan is bursting with life, as it should be, given it has barely time to turn around from being picked, fermented and then put immediately to bottle. There are soft plums on the nose and the palate is utterly delicious with black and red fruits, soft tannins and a wonderful finish. Drink alone and enjoy Puritan’s ‘joi de vivre’ or have with a juicy steak.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

(SKU: 1431)