Shut the Gate


— Portfolio —

ESTATE RIESLING 2022
Bottle Shot

Planted in 1970, this vineyard is directly next to the cellar door The Riesling section is dry grown, east facing and protected from the hot NW winds on well drained soils with SA sandstone and quartz rich parent material. Made from free run only juice, after a quick settling and racking the wine is cool fermented. No acid additions needed, 2022 is an outstanding vintage from a cooler year, the first after the hot vintages between 2018 and 2021.

Freshly squeezed lemon and lime, hints of mandarin and peach blossoms with the familiar underlying mineral and sherbet like acidity typical in the Clare. A good in-between the Watervale and Polish Hill styles, it has the generosity and the racy acid to round out the citrus laden nose and palate.

 

POLISH HILL RIVER RIESLING 2022
Bottle Shot

Sourced from Michael Smith’s block on the classic slate soils of Polish Hill. Farmed organically the 2022 has the saline and slatey minerality the Polish Hill is lauded for. Full of makrut lime, lemon, green herbs and a little lanolin. Cool fermented in stainless steel tank.

 

ROSIE’S PATCH RIESLING 2022
Bottle Shot

Cool New Year temps slowed ripening and allowed great colour and flavour development. Watervale is the most well known of the 7 sub regions of the Clare Valley. Ranging in altitude from 390 mtrs to 460 mtrs with loam over limestone soils, cool summer nights and good water retention produces consistently clean fruit flavours. The Rosie’s patch site is one of the highest altitude sites which delivers great high natural acid. A clean, easy, fresh drinking Watervale Riesling with hints of orange blossom and white flowers. Citrus, lemon, lime fill the mid palate texture with crunchy acidity.

 

BLOSSOM 22G RS RIESLING 2018
Bottle Shot

Blossom 24 GRS is Shut the Gates off dry Riesling, sitting at 24 grams of natural residual fruit sugar that delivers luscious fruit salad flavours but finishes refreshingly clean and so very fresh. Designed to drink young with spicy dishes or as a lively aperitif given it sits at 10% abv as well as a result of stop ferment. Clare Valley Riesling is world class and traditionally produced as a dry style. This “off dry” is proving to be increasingly popular with both serious Riesling fans. Germanic Mosel region Rieslings are an international benchmark for this style. Produced from the same vineyard as the Rosie’s patch, the site is wonderful for this style as well.

 

WATERVALE RIESLING 2022
Bottle Shot

From a single vineyard, Gracie’s Block, in the Watervale subsection of the Clare, the winemaking is the same as the Estate, cool fermented in stainless steel tank. Full of lime cordial, floral notes and green herbs with racy mineral acidity.

 

RIPLLE IRON SANGIOVESES 2018
Bottle Shot

The Ripple Iron is Shut the Gates take on classic Italian Sangiovese. Soft and juicy with a touch of orange peel and a core of raspberry flavour. A completely integrated mid weight red wine that appears seamless finishing with chalky savory tannins. Sourced from the cool Polish Hill River Valley sub region of the Clare Valley. Cool nights off set the late afternoon heat of late February. This Sangiovese has fresh fruity flavours of olives and a little spiciness, but it readily takes on oaky, even tarry, flavours when aged in barrels.

The vineyard is relatively high with the highest point planted at 520 mtrs. Large temperature changes within 24 hours creates a unique climate that produces world class Rieslings, Shiraz, Cabernet and Malbec however southern European varieties such as Sangiovese are proving to be consistent quality alternatives.

 

FORAGER SHIRAZ 2018
Bottle Shot

The Foragers Shiraz is rich, spicy and a plummy example of Clare Valley Shiraz. 2018 turned out to be the ideal red ripening year with good soil moisture from the previous 2017 winter rains. Even though the peak ripening season was particularly hot with several heatwaves the vines kept their canopy and the red fruit had intense colours and flavours during ferment. Firm tannins cradling rich fruit resulted in exceptional dry reds across most varieties. dark forest berries with intense spice balanced by fine by firm tannins. Some mocha, dark chocolate and coffee cradled in firm savory tannins. Clare Valley Shiraz often sits in the shadow of the neighboring Barossa Valley however in many ways the Clare Shiraz offers elegance and approachability at amazing value. A single site wine, picked from a single block of Watervale Shiraz that has some pedigree of consistently flavoursome spicy Shiraz.

 

FOR THE LOVE TEMPRANILLO 2019
Bottle Shot

This Spanish take by Shut the Gate on a Wrattonbully single vineyard selection of 10 tonnes purchased from the Bird family vineyard. Wrattonbully lies between Padthaway and Coonawarra in the terra rossa-rich rolling hill country of South Australia’s Naracoorte Ranges. 2019 saw good spring rains Wrattonbully saw only 72% of its annual rainfall with no rain after Dec, but Jan and Feb were above average temperatures and March and April provided perfect ripening conditions for reds. Dried herbs, cooked spices with hints of plum cocoa with hints of dark bitter chocolate, supple tannins are a hallmark of the variety. The palate is spicy, with coffee bean and dark olive flavours with supple tannins. Hints of thyme and basil on the nose compliment its juicy palate and make this a delicious moreish food wine.

 

SINGLE SITE BARBERA 2019
Bottle Shot

An Italian take from Wrattonbully, the fruit for the Barbera was sourced from the Bold Vineyard in the Wrattonbully region, South Eastern South Australia. The vineyard features classic Terra Rossa soils and is a low cropping premium site. This wine offers up very intense aromas of fresh red and black berries with a distinctive regional dried herb scent. Aromas of fresh picked basil and rosemary and black cherries, sweet blueberry and hints of vanilla oak notes on the palate. Fine savory tannins and bright racy acid finishes the wine beautifully. Barbera is the third most planted variety in Italy and was planted here in the 1960s. Wrattonbully’s soil make up and terroir make for idyllic conditions for the variety.

 

SINGLE SITE SHIRAZ 2015
Bottle Shot

Handpicked from a historic Leasingham centurion vineyard where the vines are some of the oldest of the variety in the region and crop at less than 2 tonnes an acre. Small berries on low weight bunches harbor powerful flavours and high quality tannins. Cold soaked ore ferment. Small batch ferments in 2 and 4 tonne open bins over a 12 day period using natural yeast and hand plunging. The wine was left on skins for 15 days to enhance tannin complexity maximising flavour and length. Then pressed to tank and racked to oak after 4 days (25% new French oak; 75% seasoned oak) for a total of 2 years. 2018 was an outstanding red year in the Clare Valley. Warm to hot summer temperatures after the last wet winter for several years to come produced rich powerful reds of supreme weight and quality. Rich and layered, black briar fruits on a plush mid palate. Juicy and fruit driven, hints of liquorice and coffee bean. Some oak sheen, nuttiness and spice. A strong finish with quality long, fine and velvet tannins. A powerful yet elegant style, with sweet ripe plum with a touch of all spice on the palate.