Product Description
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Clandestine Vineyards, Hearts & Minds, Grenache, 2021, McLaren Vale, Western Australia
Producer Profile
Nick and Trudy Stacy are backed by decades of industry experience and time-earned wisdom, sourcing fruit from some of the most exceptional yet impossible to access vineyards.
Pairing these rare harvests with the perfect winemaker, each hand-picked with the same discretion as the fruit itself. Tied to no one location, GI, or house style, they create extraordinary wines from unplundered fruits that lay beyond the reach of most. These are the Clandestine Vineyards.
With each wine that they craft, every piece of the winemaking puzzle has been carefully considered and deftly executed. However, knowing who, what, where and when is not enough.
With over thirty years in the wine industry, Nick & Trudy have established long term relationships with growers & vignerons within the key regions of Margaret River, Mount Barker, Adelaide Hills and McLaren Vale. The secret to making these wines lies within relationships that take time and trust to forge, something that simply can’t be bought. The key to these crucial relationships is held by their founders, Nick and Trudy.
They are the mind, the heart and the soul of Clandestine Vineyards. They understand great wine and they know how to unlock it—with a vision for every vintage that runs all the way from vine to glass.
Viticulture
Clandestine are thrilled to announce the release of their new super-premium Clandestine Vineyards Hearts & Minds Grenache, sourced from a single bush vineyard in Blewitt Springs planted in 1950; a vinous collaboration between Jericho Vineyards, master winemaker Ben Riggs & vintners Trudy and Nick Stacy.
Blewitt Springs is fast becoming the preferred location for premium Shiraz and Grenache with Maslin Sand soil composition dating to the Eocene Period (50 million years ago) in McLaren Vale. A slightly elevated site provides a cooler microclimate and therefore extended ripening season allows for great concentration and colour extraction. A north facing block and pesticide and herbicide free vineyard practices ensures outstanding fruit quality.
Winemaking
Handpicked, open fermented and 10 days on-skins, hand plunged and pressed to 15% new French Oak barriques, 70% older French oak for malolactic fermentation ten months maturation in the same oak. No filtration of fining, bottled on the 6th December 2021 and held in bottle for release on the 1st February 2022. Vegan.
Tasting Note
Bright purple/plum skin in colour, spectacular lifted spice and floral aromatics, this Grenache presents fresh cherry and strawberry on the front, but quickly gathers momentum with fleshy plum mid-palate, weight and texture that then morphs into a black olive intensity – oak tannins provided structure while crunchy acidity balances fruit the sweetness.
Goes well with
Pair with South American barbecue, tacos, slow-roasted pulled lamb, chargrilled vegetables et al.
Cellaring
Enjoy its youth, but cellar for eight to ten years to realise the full potential of this unique vineyard site.
Features
Varieties: Grenache 100%
Colour: Red
ABV: 14.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Style: Still Wine
Case Size: 6 x 75cl
Country: Australia
Region: McLaren Vale
Vintage: 2021
