TASTING NOTES
This deep, dark Mourvèdre is packed with black fruit aromas, sweet spice, liquorice and a touch of chocolate. In the mouth it is rich and intense, with dark plums and cherry flavours and a long, rounded finish.
PRODUCER
The first vineyard was established at Chapel Hill in 1973, although it was not until 1979 that the estate was named after the 1865 ironstone chapel that now serves as the winery’s tasting room. The name has long stood for elegant expressions of McLaren Vale fruit, but since the arrival of winemaker Michael Fragos a few years ago, the quality has risen a further notch or two. Fragos has twice been named “Winemaker of the Year”: by Winestate in 2003 and by the International Wine & Spirit Competition in 2007.
VINEYARD
Mourvèdre is well suited to McLaren Vale’s Mediterranean climate. The grapes come from a twenty-year-old single vineyard located at the bottom of the Sellicks Hill.
WINERY
Parcels were fermented separately in open fermenters for twelve days to facilitate a long, slow and gentle extraction. Free run and basket-pressed fractions were combined together. The wine was racked into two, three and four year old French oak barrels, and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
PRESS
“Deep garnet-purple colored, the 2010 Mourvedre offers fragrant aromas of peppered black raspberries and warm blackberries with hints of forest floor, dusty earth and potpourri. Very full bodied, rich and densely packed with peppered berry and earthy flavors, it has a good backbone of medium to firm level grainy tannins and refreshing acidity, finishing long.” – 90 points, The Wine Advocate, February 2012