CRFT 2018 Pinot Noir - Whisson Lake Vineyard

The Wine                                

A stunning Pinot with dark cherries, violet and eucalyptus notes. Shows smoky oak with a confectionary redskin lift. Beautiful concentrated fruit palate, silky smooth with great intensity. Flavours of charred oak, sweet smoked paprika and dark fruits linger.

Will develop more complexity with bottle age. Benefits from a little time to open in bottle.

Ready to drink at release or cellar for 5-7 years.

Suggested serving temperature 16-17C.

Alcohol: 14.5% alc/vol
Sugar/GF: Dry
RRP: $39
Release: July 2020

The Winemaking 

Hand-made by Candice and Frewin at their winery in Carey Gully.

Harvested 17th March 2018, 100% Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir grapes, hand-picked.

Cold soaked prior to wild fermentation in an open-top tank, 25% whole bunch, gentle hand plunge only, then pressed to barrel once dry for malolactic fermentation and maturation.

Matured for 9 months in 100% French oak, 25% new oak.

Vegan Friendly. Bottled December 2018. 97 dozen produced.

The Vineyard

The Whisson Lake Vineyard is owned and organically farmed (uncertified) by Mark & Andrie Whisson. 

Elevation:     610 meters
Aspect:        North East facing
Planted:       1985
Clones:        D5V12, 777, 114,115, MV6
Map:           -34.967153, 138.751102

Soil: Clay with schist and Gneiss.

CRFT 2018 Pinot Noir – The Broderick Vineyard

The Wine                                

Initially showing whole-bunch characters with mint, charred-grilled capsicum and a fresh herb edge, then opens to show blackcurrant and blackberry jam with tobacco notes. Warm spice of cinnamon with fresh coconut, licorice and a caramel lift. The palate is smooth with charred smoky oak and finishes with tight tannins and red fruit.
Will develop more complexity with bottle age. Benefits from a little time to open in bottle.

Ready to drink at release or cellar for 5-7 years.

Suggested serving temperature 16-17C.

Alcohol: 13.5% alc/vol
Sugar/GF: Dry
RRP: $39
Release: July 2020

The Winemaking 

Harvested 3rd March 2018, 800kg.

Hand-made by Candice and Frewin at their winery in Carey Gully.

100% Basket Range Pinot Noir grapes, hand-picked.

Cold soaked prior to wild fermentation in an open-top tank, 25% whole bunch, gentle hand plunge only, then pressed to barrel once dry for malolactic fermentation and maturation.

Matured for 9 months in 100% French oak, 40% new oak.

Vegan friendly. Bottled December 2018. 58.5 dozen produced.

The Vineyard

The Broderick Vineyard is owned and organically farmed (uncertified) by the Broderick family – Phil & Mary, with their sons Louis & Sholto.

Elevation:  440 meters
Aspect: East facing
Planted: 2000
Clones: 50% MV6, 50% 777
Map: -34.930604, 138.778963

Soil: Rocky with sandstone and quartz through clay.

CRFT 2018 Pinot Noir – The Arranmore Vineyard

Wine                        

Charry, smoky and savoury as always, broody and a little shy at first. Lovely lift of dried herbs and forest notes, with light red berries, cherry and cassis. Smooth palate with pepper, cumin and tobacco flavours. More on the savoury spectrum while first drinking, opens with lovely sweet fruit. 2018 vintage shows an elegant and lighter style Piccadilly Valley Pinot.

Will develop more complexity with bottle age.

Drinking well at release, a young Pinot at heart. It will benefit from air and time to open in bottle.

Ready to drink at release or cellar for 5-7 years.

Suggested serving temperature 16-17C

Alcohol: 13.5% alc/vol.
Sugar/GF: Dry
RRP: $39
Release: July 2020

Winemaking

Hand-made by Candice and Frewin at their winery in Carey Gully.

Harvested 14th March 2018. 100% Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir grapes, hand-picked.

Cold soaked prior to wild fermentation in an open-top tank, 25% whole bunch, gentle hand plunge only, then pressed to barrel once dry for malolactic fermentation and maturation.

Matured for 9 months in 100% French oak, 20% new oak.

Vegan Friendly. Bottled December 2018. 155 dozen produced.

The Vineyard

The Arranmore Vineyard has been farmed organically since Frewin & Candice took ownership in Jan 2016 and is now NASAA Certified Organic (since February 2019).

The 2018 vintage Pinot Noir is organically grown but not certified.

Elevation:  545 meters
Aspect: East facing
Planted: 1998
Clones:  115
Map: -34.969091, 138.760670

Soil: Rich dark loam with clay and gravel mix, small pieces of quartz and ironstone sprinkled throughout.

Sold out - CRFT 2019 Mencia – The Schmidt Vineyard

The Wine 

Lifted and aromatic the nose shows blackcurrant, pomegranate and blackberry jam, with secondary characters of beetroot, chocolate bullets and leather polish. Tea leaf and dried prune add to the complexity. Super juicy palate bursting with plush concentrated red fruit and smooth supple tannins.

A beautiful wine to drink right now or watch it age and develop over the coming few years.

Ready to drink at release or cellar for up to 5 years (possibly beyond!).

Suggested serving temperature 16-17C

Alcohol - 13.5% alc/vol

Sugar/GF - Dry

RRP - $31

Released - April 2020

The Winemaking     

Harvested 5th March 2019, 1.5 Tonnes.

Hand-made by Candice and Frewin at their winery in Carey Gully.

100% Barossa Valley Mencía grapes, hand-picked.

Wild fermented in an open-top tank, gentle hand plunge only, 10 days on skins, then pressed to barrel for malolactic fermentation and maturation.

Matured for 9 months in 100% French oak, 25% 1yo old, 75% older oak.

Bottled December 2019, 104 dozen produced. Vegan friendly.

The Vineyard

The Schmidt family own and farm the Mencía vines at Vine Vale in the Barossa Valley.

Organically farmed (uncertified) from 2018/2019 growing season.

Planted - 2012 (half grafted, half planted on own roots)

Soil - Deep sandy loam topsoil, over deep red clay subsoil.

Map -34.495745, 139.010397

Mencía – About the variety

Mencía (pronounced MEN-cee-ah or MEN-thee-ah) is a Spanish native grown mostly in the northwestern corner of Spain and if you enjoy Pinot Noir you should definitely give this a go!

The variety often shows lifted aromatics of red fruit, floral notes and earthy tones. It can be medium to full bodied and suits savoury red meat dishes, poultry or wild game, and vegetarian dishes such as mushroom risotto.

In Australia, there’s just a tiny handful of plantings and producers, with the variety found in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley as well as the Pyrenees Wine Region in Victoria and Orange in New South Wales. Australian Mencía will be an exciting variety to watch over the coming decades as our vines age and as we learn how to grow Mencía in our climate.

In 2019 our second planting of Mencía was established at the Rohrlach Vineyard in the Barossa Valley and we look forward to producing our second single vineyard Mencía in the future.

CRFT 2017 Shiraz – The Fechner Vineyard

Wine                                

As always, the Fechner Vineyard Shiraz displays a full spectrum of flavours from blackberries and figs, cracked pepper and caraway, to Rye bread and cured meat. The palate shows dense fruit and tight tannins and rewards with time to air. Super elegant with lingering star anise and dark chocolate.

Drinking beautifully at release & will continue to develop with age - cellar to 2030.

Suggested serving temperature 16-18C

Alcohol – 14.5% alc/vol

Sugar/GF – Dry

RRP - $45

Released – April 2020

Winemaking                                  

Harvested 23rd March 2017, 1.5 Tonne.

100% Eden Valley Shiraz, hand-picked.

Grapes destemmed to an open-top tank for wild fermentation, gentle hand plunge two to three times daily.

Pressed to oak with 3 weeks barrel fermentation followed by 10 months maturation.

100% French oak, 25% new oak.

Vegan.

Bottled February 2018

109 dozen produced

 Vineyard

Grown by Graeme and Michael Fechner near Moculta at the northern end of the Eden Valley wine region.

Elevation - 345m

Aspect - East facing

Planted - 1999

Clone - 1654

Rows - 35 to 37

Map - -34.475005,139.071367

Soil - Sitting on the edge of a marble seam, the ancient earth is a mixture of broken grey schist, integrated with shallow limestone and red clay. Packed with minerality.