2023 Saxonvale Mourvèdre

2023 Saxonvale Mourvedre

This is from 50-year-old vines on our Saxonvale Vineyard. Usually, we co ferment Mourvedre with Shiraz but the exceptional 2023 vintage allowed us to make a single variety wine, which is unique to the Hunter. The juice is fermented in open vats with wild yeasts & matured in French oak puncheons for 12 months. The wine is concentrated with bright red fruits, dusty tannins & a long, savoury finish.

About

PROFILE

Similar to blues and jazz, Mourvedre’s signature is its ‘blue note’. More literal, of course, as it is a blueberry, satsuma plum character, overlayed with exotic spice that make this wine so compelling.

VINEYARD

Saxonvale Vineyard, planted in the 1960's
Broke, Fordwich

WINE MAKING

Mourvedre has very thick skins and so it takes a long time to ripen the tannins. When they are able to fully develop, the resultant wine is a kaleidoscope of aroma and flavour. We ferment the whole berries in a single, small open vat with wild yeast and only use pumpovers to incorporate air. After two weeks in contact with skins we press the grapes to 500L puncheons for maturation. The grapes are destemmed and fermented in small, open fermenters for maximum aromatic extraction.
The wine is matured in a combination of second and third use French oak barrels for nine months
prior to bottling.

VINTAGE

The 2023 harvest was one of our best on record, albeit a challenging growing season with cool, wet weather persisting throughout spring and early summer. The soil moisture ensured we had strong canopy growth that ultimately held us in great shape for getting the fruit ripe but also challenged us viticulturally to keep it disease free and healthy.

More Wines

2023 Saxonvale Shiraz Mourvèdre

Learn more

Broke Fordwich,
Hunter Valley

29 hectares on the Fordwich Sill's western slope. Established in the 1960's and home to the original Saxonvale winery.