Mount Bullet

Serve with rare roast beef and a rich red wine jus.

At Shannon Vineyards our focus on viticulture principles reflects our commitment to winemaking as an expression of terroir. Making fine wines is our ongoing aspiration and to that end we have assembled a talented team who share our passion. Our grapes come from exceptional mountain hillside vineyards above the banks of the Peninsula Dam in the Elgin Valley. These unique vineyard sites combined with the highly experienced viticultural team of Kevin Watt and James Downes and a winemaking philosophy of minimal intervention followed by the winemakers Gordon Johnson and Nadia Cilliers produce wines with distinctive personalities. Each wine has a sense of place. They are seductive and memorable for their complexity structure and elegance.

The grapes are picked from a small 3 hectare vineyard. The vineyard is divided up into 5 different parcels each with its own respective clone. The soil, trellising and canopy management is constant through out the vineyard so it is the actual clonal characteristics that determine the different dates of harvest. Over the years we have learnt that there is as much as 11 - 14 days difference between picking the first clone to picking the last clone.

100% matured in barriques (225L) for approximately 20 months using a blend of 3 Bordeaux cooperages. The oak used is of a tighter grain and medium toasted.

The bunches are chilled to 3°C before being sorted on a conveyor and destemmed. Berries are then hand sorted, before cold maceration ensues for 3 to 6 days at 8°C. We try to naturally ferment 100% of the different parcels of grapes making up the Mount Bullet. Fermentation temperatures vary between 26 - 30°C. After pressing, the wine is racked and left to complete its malolactic fermentation and maturation in oak barriques.