Red wines.....

2006 Swinging Bridge Shiraz
CODE: SBESHZ06

• Silver Medal 2007 Wine Wise Awards
• Bronze Medal 2007 Melbourne Wine Show
• Bronze Medal 2007 Cowra National Wine Show
• Bronze Medal 2007 Cowra Regional Wine Show

A return to the low yielding vintages although quality was again a highlight and the fruit looked good.

We practiced Reduced Deficit Irrigation again on the shiraz and it allowed us to control the size of the berries which results in more intense flavours and colours if done in the right way. This was the case and the fruit was picked on the 6th March, 2006. The fruit was displaying some intense blackcurrant and spice characters on the vine and it developed even further during the winemaking process. 

Colour: Deep Red to Purple

Nose: It has lifted aromas of spice and blackberries.

Palate: Good fruit weight on the front of the palate showing some spicy, earthy and blackberry characters. It has an extremely long back palate and drinks well now and will also do will with further cellaring.

2005 Swinging Bridge Shiraz
CODE: SBESHZ05

• Tony Gray Award (Best Local Wine) 2006 Cowra National Show
• Silver Medal 2006 Cowra National Wine Show
• Bronze Medal 2006 NSW Small Winemakers Show
• Bronze Medal 2007 Cowra Regional Wine Show

The coming of age of Swinging Bridge Shiraz, with the first red victory for the Tony Gray Award at the Cowra National Wine Show.

After the frost affected vintage of the previous the vines produced a fairly big crop. This was thinned to the correct levels so that we were able to maintain a good balance between crop load and canopy. The grapes were harvested on the 10th March at a Baume of 13.9Be.

Colour: Deep red to purple

Nose: It has an intense earthy leathery nose. It is also showing some darker fruit characters of blackberries and plums.

Palate: Intense aromas of blackberries and chocolate dominate the front palate. It is also showing some earthiness and forest floor which carries through onto the back palate. The wine is already showing some great integration with the oak with a vannillan and toasty characters. It is a wine that will reward if cellared however it is also a great wine to consume now.

2004 Swinging Bridge Shiraz

• Bronze Medal 2005 Cowra National Wine Show
• Bronze Medal 2005 NSW Southern Region Wine Show
• Bronze Medal 2005 Australian Small Winemakers Show
• Bronze Medal 2007 Cowra Regional Wine Show

The first wine with Chris at the helm and Tom assisting and it is a wine that marked a change in style for the Shiraz. The wines colours show a greater purples in the early stage and on the palate are more fruit forward at earlier stages. We have seen the wines also with more pronounced tannins which comes not only from the oak that is used, but also the winemaking and equipment.

The grapes from this vintage were down a lot on yield because of the affect of frost on October 9, 2003. We were lucky in one sense in the frost either decimated a shoot or left it behind. This meant that we did not have any trouble with uneven ripening or green bunches at harvest. As the fruit was hand harvested we were able to remove green bunches or those that were light in colour.

Colour: Deep Red still showing some slight purple hues.

Nose: Lots of primary fruit dominate the nose. There is some dark fruits as well as some earthy characters. There is a touch of eucalypt and spice.

Palate: The wine opens up with some dark berries as well as some savory characters. On the back palate it is showing some nice vanillan oak as well as some coffee and savory characters. The tannins are extremely subtle and the wine will benefit from either drinking or further cellaring.

2003 Swinging Bridge Shiraz

This was the last wine to be made by Murray Smith. The grapes were picked on the 5th March 2003. The grapes were picked from Block 5 & 11 which gave us a mixture of the two clones (PT23 & BVRC 12) The fruit from the vines has ripened very well and we were starting to see the benefits of fruit from the older vines. The colour of the fruit at picking was almost an inky black and it was the most intense that we had seen on the vines. We left this wine in oak for 2 years. It is a wine that has evolved beautifully since it was bottled

Colour: Deep red to brick red hue.

Nose: Beautiful perfumed nose showing some spice, forest floor and chocolate characters.

Palate: On the front palate it is showing some nice blackberries, spice and chocolate. It is a wine that opens up the more that you leave it sitting in the glass. It has an extremely long back palate and it will continue to evolve with medium to long term cellaring.