Mother Nature is a fickle beast, which makes winemaking a challenging art.
The 2018 Vintage once again proved that timing is everything. With minimal winter rain we braced ourselves for a potentially difficult year but then spring arrived with bountiful water. The dry and hot summer restricted yield but amplified the quality of the harvest. The downside of the lower yields is there is no release of Three Brian’s Grenache this year, but the upshot is the fruit that we did pick was blended into the 2018 Maurice.
Mother nature has once again played a dab hand in delicately shaping our wines, which have incredible purity and energy.
The Wines
2018 Izway Maurice Grenache
Hailing from the western ridge of the Barossa, where Grenache vines thrive in the clay soil, our 2018 Maurice Grenache is particularly intriguing. With the addition of fruit from our 118-year-old vines the wine is darker and more concentrated than previous releases. The wine has layers of plum, cherry and five spice skirting a core of plush and luxurious Grenache goodness. It is still a vibrant and aromatic style, but certainly is a bit more age worthy than its predecessors.
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2018 Izway Angelo Aglianico
From ancient Greece to southern Italy to the Barossa, Aglianico is a little-known variety with a very long history. I think we have really found something special with this vineyard, and it is fast becoming one of our preferred dinner table wines. This release has the earth and spice of previous vintages, but it is more classic and purer than the 2017. Angelo will certainly please lovers of Italian varieties. With the 2018 Mates Aglianico now sold out don’t miss out on our latest wine made from this fabulous grape variety.
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Another classic Barossa harvest for both the cellar and dining table. Don’t let the good ones get away.
Cheers,
Craig & Kathryn Isbel