The Navigator

The grapes were harvested over a 10 day period starting with a small batch of Shiraz, Grenache and Viognier that was co-fermented in an open top fermenter with daily punch downs, The Mourvedre and some more Shiraz was fermented in stainless steel with daily pump over. A total of 21 days skin contact was allowed before pressing.

The winter of 2021 just kept on going right into November. This created the "conditions" that we are sp famous for with wet windy and cold weather all the way into the flowering season, the result of a small but healthy crop. Even our neighbouring wheat farmers was still harvesting wheat right up to Christmas. The rest of the growing season was modest with cool dry January and February. The late winter conditions caused that we only started the harvest on 15 February, a full 2 weeks later than normal. The Grenache, Shiraz and Viognier grapes was picked 11th of March and the Mourvedre 10 days later.

The final blend was matured in 300L French oak barrels for 20 months with 30% new and the rest 2nd and 3rd fill barrels.