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

Our Luna Roja vineyard is always harvested by hand on a fruit day as per our biodynamic philosophy. In 2014 we harvested on the 25th February at full flavour and tannin maturity and fermentation occurred on skins for 12 days with hand plunging only for soft tannin extraction. The wine was then pressed off skins and drained into old oak puncheons for aging in barrel on their original lees for extra texture. After 10 months in oak the wine was racked and bottled with no filtration or fining.

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.