Kaesler Avignon

Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre

Barossa Valley

2002

Notes from the Producer

The “Avignon” blend is a style that we have been tinkering with since 1997 and the 2002 is the second year we have decided to bottle this blend. It is a blend of Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro (Mourvedre) and Viognier.  The Grenache and Mataro planted in the 1930’s and Shiraz planted in 1961. The Viognier is first crop.  The Avignon is generally blended as a medium bodied wine for early consumption to medium term cellaring. The 2002 however will definitely need 12 months for its components to marry and should cellar well for up to 10 years.  The wine was fermented hot (26-30 Degrees centigrade) in stainless steel and transferred to old oak, after alcoholic fermentation, where it completed its malolactic fermentation. It was racked post MLF with no acid adjustment, then returned to barrel, where it stayed until May 2003.  The components where matured as individual vineyard parcels then blended. The criteria for a wine being selected for Avignon is its display of texture with great harmony between flavour, tannin and acid.  The wine was bottled with no fining or filtration.

Colour

Crimson with a youthful edge. Nose: Fragrant mulberry and strawberry. Some floral and earthy characters complexing.

Palate

Firm and tight up front palate which gives way to sweet mulberry fruit flavours and viscous texture. The length of the palate is excellent, finishing with drying savoury tanni.

Notes

This wine style is designed for food. It is a blend of Grenache(58%), Shiraz(31%) and Mouvedre(9%)and Viognier(2%). This wine will age over the next 10 years or so but the idea is to drink it young.

Tasting Notes

“A serious offering, the 2002 Avignon (58% Grenache, 31% Shiraz, and 11% Mourvedre) was scheduled to be bottled, without filtration, one week after I tasted it. More elegant than the Stonehorse cuvee, it possesses sweet leathery notes intermingled with blackberry, cherry, and currant fruit. Although closed, it is long and persistent in the mouth with outstanding purity as well as promise. Give it 1-2 years of cellaring, and consume it over the following 10-14 years.”

–RobertParker.com