YANGARRA ESTATE ROUSSANNE

Tasting notes:

This is seriously distinguished McLaren Vale white, restrained yet vibrant with savory aromatics and stone fruit flavours. This does huge justice to McLaren Vale’s under-recognised complexities and diversity of soils. It displays how the right terroir being chosen with insight and understanding results in a wonderfully impressive wine. The sheer attractiveness and alluring fruit on offer here, matched with the cleverly judged structure and shape, makes it a standout wine.

About the wine:

12 year old Roussanne vines are planted over two blocks totalling 2.5 hectares in soils of weathered sands mixed with ironstone gravels. Yangarra shoot and bunch thin in February just before the berries begin accumulating sugar, and follow up with some leaf plucking, as the extra sunlight allows for the tannins to be tamed and ripeness to occur at lower sugar levels resulting in a more balanced and restrained style. The grapes were hand-picked and carefully basket­pressed with only 60% of the extractable juice to eliminate any potential broadness. No sulphites were added, and the juice was transferred to barrel without any settling or fining, where it underwent wild yeast fermentation. The wine was matured for 7 months, the lees retained and stirred monthly, with just filtration. It will live, mellow, burnish and bloom for many years in the cellar

About the producer:

The Med meets McClaren Vale at Yangarra where single-estate Mediterranean varieties planted as far back as 1946 are grown in a traditional bush-vine style. The Blewitt Springs sub region of McLaren Vale, South Australia, is home to Yangarra Estate - 250 acres of vines in 35 individual blocks spread amongst 420 acres of creeks, native vegetation and nature corridors. It's here in their state-of-the-art winery that 'Australian Winemaker of the Year 2016', Pete Fraser, crafts his elegant wines full of concentration, complexity and texture.

Yangarra is an aboriginal word meaning ‘from the earth’ and Yangarra Estate is devoted to producing wines from the best grape varieties of the southern Rhone, and its combination of rare geologies, moderate altitude, abundant sunshine and cool evening breezes make it perfect for growing varieties that thrive in these moderate maritime environments. Customers and critics alike love these wines.

A Note on Sustainability

Yangarra’s 420 acre single-vineyard estate has been farmed organically since 2008, and the property was certified A grade organic and biodynamic in 2012. From the 2013 vintage onwards all the Yangarra wines are certified biodynamic. The goal in becoming biodynamic was primarily to improve soil health and vitality, so that the wines truly reflect the place in which they are grown. Farming in this way also allows it to create a healthy, natural environment for its vines, and one that will allow the fruit they produce to express the vitality of their surrounding environment. There are also additional benefits of biodynamic farming: creating positive environmental benefits and a healthier environment for staff and visitors, and sustaining the land for the longer term.Yangarra incorporates old farming techniques that existed before synthetic chemicals, and carries them out using the latest viticultural technology. Soil moisture monitoring, pest and disease forecasting, and disease modelling using petiole, soil and water analysis is used as required. Specialised machinery such as under-vine mowers, a Tournesol under-vine cultivator (mainly used for young vines), and a mechanical defoliator, all help to carry out old farming practices but on a larger and more efficient scale. Instead of applying quick fix chemical sprays, Yangarra focusses on a longer-term understanding of what’s happening in the vineyard. It plans ahead and thinks in the future: for example, nutritional inputs like compost will take up to 12-18 months before any significant changes are noticed in the soil and the vine.

Food match:

Good with light chicken and pork dishes, scallops and grilled turbot.

This wine is suitable for vegetarians and vegans.