2019 Shadowfax Macedon Pinot Noir

Shadowfax

Australia / Werribee / Shadowfax

Good spring rains set the season up in the Macedon Ranges. Soil moisture continued through to harvest even though there was no rain in January, February and March. The growing season was settled and full foliage had to be carefully managed, with crop thinning required. The dry summer allowed fruit to be harvested on phenolic and flavour ripeness alone, a rare treat in the Macedon Ranges. Fruit was handpicked in pristine condition.
Hand harvested fruit from the Little Hampton, Midhill, Straws Lane and Big Shed vineyards was carefully sorted and destemmed with 100% whole berries into small open fermenters. Natural fermentation occurred with daily hand pump overs and limited plunging to extract fine tannins and flavour. After two weeks on skins the wine was pressed then racked into new (28%) and used French hogsheads, where it rested and grew. The wine was then blended and filtered prior to bottling. Alcohol 13.6%; pH 3.57; TA 5.8g/l. - Al Timms, Shadowfax

June, 2020

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front

94 points

Dark cherry, baking spice, toasted hazelnut, a flicker of mint and rose. It’s mid-weight, flavoursome, a subtle cranberry juiciness, lovely shale-y sort of tannin, maybe boysenberry, quiet succulence, and a fine long finish. You’re having it large here, at a very fair price.

Standard Bottle In Stock

About Shadowfax

Shadowfax has taken tremendous strides in recent times, with the team refining the range and proving their prowess with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Their single-vineyard Chardonnays have taken out Best Chardonnay at the Macedon Ranges Wine Exhibition no fewer than five times. Especially noteworthy have been the Little Hampton Vineyard in Macedon's high-altitude plantings of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, in the chilliest region of Australia’s mainland. These are the vibrant future of Australia’s cool-climate wine scene. The counterpoint to this is the dynamic Minnow project, based around the Werribee vineyard’s southern French varieties. This is the source of bright, spicy, textured rosé and reds, with the micro-make Mondeuse immediately becoming a delicious cult hit. With long-serving vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Alister Timms taking the helm in October 2017, these are hugely exciting times for Shadowfax.

About

Shortly after completing this second degree, Alister started working at Shadowfax as Assistant Winemaker, a position he held for three years before moving back home to run his family’s winery, Kilgour Estate. In 2008, Alister returned to Shadowfax to manage the winery’s various vineyards and establish the Little Hampton property in the Macedon Ranges, whilst working as Assistant Winemaker to Matt Harrop. When Matt decided to leave Shadowfax in October 2017, after almost 20 years as winemaker, Alister was the obvious choice as his replacement. “I look forward to building on the foundation that we’ve created over the years and seeing our vineyards reach their full potential, and to follow that through in the winery.”