Varietal	100% Pinot Noir
Closure	Screw Cap	Size	750ml
Alc/Vol	13%	Enjoy	Now - 2011
A warm low yielding vintage provided tiny Pinot Noir berries with intense concentration, evident in the glass. The nose has lifted aromatics; bursting with violets, cherries and rose petals, hallmarks of Pinot Noir grown in the Upper Yarra Valley and Lusatia Park Vineyard in particular. The fruit is supported by smoky spicy French oak. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied with pure dark cherries, extra spice, restrained oak and a lovely velveteen texture. The fruit for this wine is sourced from Lusatia Park Vineyard near Woori Yallock, in the cool, elevated, south western corner of the Yarra Valley. The Pinot Noir reserved for this wine is mostly grown on north facing slopes from mature MV-6 clones planted in 1985, at spacing of 3000 vines per ha. Vintage 2007 was the sixth consecutive extremely low yielding vintage, at approximately 1.5 tonnes per acre, affording remarkable fruit intensity and persistence. After careful hand harvesting in mid March, the fruit was destemmed but not crushed to preserve intact berries. It then underwent a pre-fermentation cold soak for three days before being beginning fermentation with indigenous yeasts. The fermentation took place in small, open vessels at warm temperatures with the ferment very rarely manipulated to preserve fruit integrity as much as possible. Once fermentation neared completion the skins were gently plunged to ensure adequate flavour and colour extraction. After 2 weeks, the wine was pressed to a range of new and old French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation followed by 10 months maturation.
What the critics think
2007 – “Very good hue; remarkable depth to the cherry and plum fruit given (deliberately) low alcohol; touches of spice and oak, and good acidity; overall elegance.” Rating: 94/100 James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion - 2009
2007 – “Smells of dark cherries, strawberry & brown spices (like cloves & cinnamon) with some peaty smokiness and a little floral lift. On the palate it is only just medium bodied, light in touch, yet concentrated in flavour with dark cherry, peat moss, mineral and spice. It has fresh but gentle acidity, a spread of velveteen saturating tannins and excellent length of flavour, closing with an earthy dark cherry aftertaste .I think there is a bit of a Central Otago flavour profile going on here, but without any intrusive alcohol. I like this a great deal. It’s fine, balanced and really good to drink. Quite possibly the best Shelmerdine Pinot to date and certainly the most interesting.” Drink: 2008-2012. 92 points. Gary Walsh – Winorama – March 2008
2007 –“I let this sit in the decanter for a couple of hours to see how it would evolve, but it basically didn't budge. It smells and tastes of smoke, rubber, dark cherries and blackberries, and while it looks light and promising it comes with a fairly hefty mid-palate. It drinks well, and the tannins have been well massaged, but it's all too smoky for me.” Drink 2008-2009. 85 points. Campbell Mattinson – The Wine Front – March 2008