2018 Punt Road Gamay

Punt Road

Australia / Yarra Valley / Punt Road

100% Gamay grown on block 8 of the Napoleone Vineyard. Similar winemaking approach to 2017, with a very different result. The finished wine is 50% whole bunch, but this is made up of 1 x 100% whole bunch ferment, 1 x 50% whole bunch ferment, and an array of goon bags for the cab mac approach. Pressed to old puncheons, sat on lees (unsulphured) for 9 months, racked to tank for two months. No finings, minimally filtered.
The 2018 is a brighter wine, less structured and brooding than the 2017 (and less serious, but arguably more delicious). In terms of the vintage, it’s the same story as the 2018 Yarra pinots – a vintage of fruit purity and crunch. Tasting the wine (right) now, it is more generous and friendly despite having just been bottled. Lots of cherry and raspberry with a nice bite from the bunch. - Tim Shand, Punt Road

November, 2019

Huon Hooke

The Age

92 points

This soft-textured, light-bodied red was made using whole-berry and whole-bunch fermentations, to improve texture and enhance perfume. Aged only in old oak to preserve fruit. Peppery, spicy and vegetal aromas, soft and mild. Its savoury flavours transcend simple grapiness. Screw-cap; 13 per cent alcohol.

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About Punt Road

Tim Shand heads a dynamic, progressive young winemaking team at this James Halliday five star-rated winery. Punt Road is a standard-bearer for wines of character, drinkability and a clear, proud Yarra Valley stamp. It has history on its side and cards stacked in its favour for a very bright future. The property was founded on site of the St. Huberts Vineyard planted in the 1860s by Paul and Hubert de Castella - some of the first vines in the Yarra Valley and one of the cornerstones of Australian fine-wine tradition. Punt Road owners the Napoleone family took advantage of a tremendous head start when they planted vineyards here in the 1980s. All these years later, Tim and the team bring restless perfectionism to this intimately understood site and its mature vines. The Punt Road wines have never been better.

About

Tim came to the Yarra Valley with vintages under his belt at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy and Château Margaux in Bordeaux, as well as stints in Chianti, Oregon and Chile. Since then he had a hand in some of the region’s headline-grabbing wines of recent times during his tenure at Giant Steps before taking the helm at Punt Road in 2014. Tim and the team are making most of the freedom to push boundaries while making the most of the excellent fruit the Yarra Valley gives rise to.