Saboteur Red

Beef, Lamb, Game (deer, venison), Mushrooms

Some people describe Luddite Shiraz as Niels Verburg contained in a glass; Niels is six foot four and when he smiles appears to be beaming an embrace in your direction. As a young winemaker traveling the world Niels confirmed his love for Shiraz when working a harvest in Australia but it was a winery in Chile that inspired his wine-making method ‘It was as if I’d gone back 20 years it was ramshackle chaotic but they had great fruit and passion and I’d never seen that quality of wine.’

A later than normal vintage due to cooler weather and good rains, has given us good acidity and freshness this year.

This vintage was in barrel for 12 months with 10% new French Oak.

The Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache Noir and Mourvèdre were all fermented in small batches in open bins. We continued experimenting with stalks in the open bins to add freshness and to balance the dark fruit. The Shiraz portion was fermented in stainless steel tanks as usual with regular pump overs. All the components were pressed directly into barrel and aged separately. Some of the batches did malolactic fermentation in barrel which gives a fuller mouth feel and structure.