HUGH HAMILTON JEKYLL & HYDE SHIRAZ VIOGNIER 2021

Appearance: Vibrant purplish red

Nose: Fragrant orange blossom, jasmine, and violets. Pulpy dark fruits, plums, dark cherries, and cedar

Palate: The palate rolls with toasty oak, peach notes, more plums, and firm French oak. The resonant, lingering palate manages to be both structured and soft textured
– like a favourite pair of jeans

Food Pairing: Classic Coq au Van served with heavily buttered mashed potatoes 

About the wine: If you are a wine geek, you know of ‘co-fermentation’; a process in which two varieties (in this case, red Shiraz and white Viognier) are picked on the same day and blended at the crusher.  This produces a result quite different to blending ‘finished’ red and white wines. The tannin and fragrance of the small amount of Viognier are amplified by the process, and the resultant wine is more fragrant and shows greater depth and even-ness of tannin structure than we’d otherwise see. (Hugh won’t mind admitting he swiped the idea from the French).

Winemakers notes: There aren’t many times I can think of when adding a lighter colour leads to a darker one but the Jekyll is just that kind of paradox. By co-fermenting the varieties the Viognier skins help the colour molecules to form more stable complexes, and thereby create a darker colour.

Country: McLaren Vale, Australia

Grape Variety: 96% Shiraz, 4% Viognier

ABV: 14.5%