2019 The Moonlight Run
2019 The Moonlight Run
Grape Variety: Mataro 49%, Grenache 28%, Shiraz 23%
The Moonlight Run was our midnight drive back to the Barossa after working vintage in the Clare Valley in 1999. We would crave a soft slurpy wine to wash down a hard night’s work, so we decided to make our own. We take inspiration from Southern Rhone wines and this is our take on them.
Sub Regions: Southern Moppa, Light Pass, Greenock, Angaston Foothills, Tanunda
Winemaking: Mataro from dry grown vines on the rose quartz soils of our Dadd’s Block is fermented with 30% whole cluster inclusion and blended with other parcels of Mataro from Light Pass and Greenock. We then add some old bush vine Grenache from the Barossa foothills where the sandy soils are shallow on calcrete and limestone. This complex Grenache fruit adds spiciness and intensity. Add to that some Greenock and Tanunda Shiraz and we have a wine that has a mouthful of everything superb about a Southern Rhone styled blend. Daily pump overs early in ferment, followed by punching down as the ferment finished, ensure gentle and controlled extraction. Aged in tank and barrel, each parcel is selected to add as much interest as possible.
The Wine: Mataro gives roasted cumin, cinnamon, peppercorn and savoury profile that is complimented by dark cherry and kirsch nuances from the Grenache. Some raspberry sweetness from the Tanunda Shiraz complete a truly complex and intriguing blended wine. A true reflection of the heralded 2018 vintage, where volume and weight is there on show, but it lets all the complexities of these aromatic varieties take centre stage. The usual firm tannin line suggests potential for time in the cellar.
Cellaring: Up to ten years
2017
95 Points Gold
Stacked full of luscious red and purple fruits, yet not heavy. A particularly good mataro.
Halliday Wine Companion Magazine May 2019
92 Points
Mataro, grenache and shiraz. Natural ferment, old oak, no fining or filtration is the motif of winemaking, and the fruit comes from a collection of vineyards. I like the lighter-ish expressions of Massena, and the use of whole bunch (evident here, as seasoning). Here’s a great, early drinking Barossa wine.
Slippery but finishes with a light, dusty chomp of tannin. Perfumed, but not overtly sweet, with dark forest berry fruitiness tempered with green-brambly spice notes. The glossy texture upfront gives the wine some lovely glide, the darker fruit sweetness ebbs on peppery, earthy spice. It touches many pleasure buttons and tosses in ease of drinking. No brainer if you’re spending up to the price and looking for hearty but vibrant Barossa goodness.
Mike Bennie, winefront.com.au