Viticulture/Winemaking: In our vineyards in Wrattonbully we have learnt a great deal on how to grow the Merlot grapevine. The canes of Merlot have a tendency to roll over so we now trellis them with a catching wire. This gives the vine structure, stability and allows the grapes to receive dappled light rather than full sun. The art in Merlot winemaking is avoiding over extraction of the tannins from the fruit and seeds. We make our wines in static fermenters continually tasting the developing wine, pressing the skins when we have structure and weight without tannic hardness. In the pursuit of soft tannins, we are judicious in our oak selection and the wine is in barrel for a maximum of ten months.

Vintage Conditions: The 2008 winter at Wrattonbully was dry and our vineyard managers worked diligently to ensure the vines received sufficient water for the shoot growth essential for growing quality grapes. Heavy rain in December took the pressure off, adding much needed moisture to the soil and freshening the vines. The 2009 red wines from Wrattonbully show good deep colour expression, ripe varietal characters and balanced mature tannins.