1998 Leasingham Classic Clare Shiraz

Notes sourced from BRL Hardy.

Established in 1893 Leasingham Wines has been an integral part of the Clare Valley for over 100 years. Today, Leasingham’s 300 hectares of vineyards located to the north and south of Clare provide the premium fruit, which along with the winemaking commitment and expertise, enable Leasingham to produce outstanding, award winning regional wines.
The Classic Clare range depicts the pinnacle of excellence and the 1998 vintage is no exception. Richly concentrated, this shiraz shows the true essence of the Clare Valley; complexity and elegance. High quality fruit was sourced from Leasingham’s 30 year old, dry land Schobers vineyard, situated at the southern end of the valley, and from the 20 year old Provis vineyard, 5 kilometres north east of Clare.
1998 provided superb ripening conditions. Bright mild sun-filled days and cool evenings were harnessed through rigorous attention to cropping levels and careful viticulture management, to produce one of their highest yielding and highest quality crops – a winemaker’s dream! 1998 was the first year of Leasingham’s new vintage cellar. Fruit was harvested between 13.5-14.2 and fermented on skins in small batch open fermenters with in place cooling for 10 days. The wine was then matured in a blend of new French and American oak barriques for approximately 18 months.
Tasting Notes: Deep red colour with crimson hues. The nose displays intense plum and fresh berry fruit with a cracked pepper lift. On the palate there are concentrated sweet fresh berry flavours of creamy, raspberry coulis with a blueberry richness. Ground spice and peppery lift integrated with cedar oak and liquorice tones. Rounded tannins provide a spectrum of initial silkiness, which develop through as fine and grainy yet leathery finish. 13.8% alcohol volume.
SHOW RESULTS: 1 Trophy, 6 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze