Sons of Eden Autumnus Single Vineyard Eden Valley Shiraz 2016

Deep crimson in colour the wine displays an attractive complex aroma of spice and white pepper, lavender fragrances and an infused blueberry liquorice lift. The palate is concentrated and complex in both flavour and intrigue, displaying layers of fruit and savoury spice, finishing with a chewy, textured tannin. With careful cellaring this wine will mature for many years to come.

Hand harvested, destemmed and crushed with 25% whole cluster inclusion, in a small 1.5 tonne open topped fermenter. The fruit was chilled for 6 days before being allowed to naturally warm up to start fermentation. Hand plunged daily and fermented at 24C ensured a slow gentle and controlled extraction. Post-pressing, the wine was transferred to a combination of new and seasoned French oak hogsheads. Matured for 24 months in oak without racking, the wine was then naturally clarified and bottled without filtration. The bottled wine was then further matured for 3-years before release.

The Eden Valley climate throughout the late Summer and Autumn months is typified by warm days and cool evenings. The cool tempered early Autumn climate moderates ripening patterns, retains acidity and brings a calm to the harvest. The harvest in Eden Valley is not just about the climate, it’s also about the colours, smells and sounds of Autumn which makes this time of year very special. In only exemplary harvests we select the very best from our Single Vineyard Eden Valley Shiraz wines for bottling under the Autumnus label.

Eden Valley—sub-region Keyneton | Altitude: 425m above sea level | Aspect: gentle northerly aspect on low-lying site | Soil: leached sandy loam over bedrock | Vine Age: 26-year-old own roots | Row Orientation: north-south | Pruning: single wire cane pruned.

99 Points Sam Kim, The Wine Orbit

"A compelling rendition offering richness with grace and poise. The immensely satisfying bouquet shows blackberry, tapenade, game, floral and spicy oak aromas, followed by a multi-layered palate exhibiting magnificent power and structure. Substantial and hedonistic, this is seamless, symphonic and immensely gratifying."

97 Points James Suckling

"This parcel delivers an intensely spicy edge, with pepper and meaty elements, as well as flowers and blueberries. The palate holds plush tannins and a ripe dark-berry core. Sarsaparilla and cola-like flavors to close. Drink over the next fifteen years." Nick Stock

97 Points Dave Brookes, James Halliday

"A prodigious flagship shiraz from the March family vineyard in between Eden Valley and Keyneton. 25% whole clusters, aged for 24 months in old and new French oak hogsheads, maturing a further 2 years in bottle before release. An epic display of fruit concentration here. Black plum, cherry and berry fruits are layered with spice and hints of dark chocolate, tamari, cedar, pipe tobacco, cola, choc-mint, black-olive tapenade and oodles of oak spice. That spicy, cedar oak flares on the palate but it just melts into the hedonistic, concentrated fruit beautifully. Super-plush, with ripe long-chain tannins. The wine finishes with substantial fruit horsepower and sarsaparilla-like spice. Impressive and heady drinking."

98 Points Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate

"If you were to assess a wine based solely on its length of flavor, then this 2016 Autumnus Shiraz would do nothing but stun you. The rivulets of velvety, plush fruit rolls across the palate and undulate through the long, lingering finish. What a wine! Wow. As to the flavors, there’s Christmas cake spice, black cherries, aniseed and licorice, dark chocolate, raspberries, mulberries, a few damsons, blood plums, beetroot, pastrami and pink peppercorns. A symphonic display. But, for me, more than the flavor and more than the length (both formidable elements in their own rights), the texture is the real highlight. The tannins are so smooth, so shapely and so streamlined that it barely beggars belief. This is what I will remember about this wine in the future: the tannins. Awesome."