The key to Helen’s Hill ‘Hill Top’ Syrah is hand picking. By hand picking they can ensure that their Syrah is at the optimal ripeness and flavour profile at harvest time and therefore allow this variety to show its renowned and universally enjoyed full ripe flavours.
After picking the fruit is de-stemmed and crushed into their open top fermenters to undergo primary fermentation. (approximately 6-8 days) The fruit then spends up to 6 weeks in the fermenters going through post ferment maceration to extract maximum colour and tannins from the skins whilst adding texture and weight to the juice.
After fermentation is complete, the skins are pressed off and the juice settled in tank for 48 hours. The juice is then “racked” off to French Oak barrels (45% New, 55% Old) for full malolactic fermentation which takes approximately 4 months. After malolactic fermentation is complete the wine is “racked” to tank, the barrels are cleaned, and the wine is returned to the same barrels for final barrel maturation.
95 points
“Deep, verging on inky, colour; an intense wine in every respect, taking no prisoners and a nigh-on perfect example of how much power cool-grown shiraz can generate with its moderate alcohol. And while tannins are certainly present, it’s the bright blue and black fruits and attendant acidity that provide the horse power, not oak or tannin extract. The journey will be a long one, but very rewarding. 13.7% alc.” – James Halliday, Halliday magazine, Dec2015/Jan2016
This month’s WBM Magazine is out now featuring 100 of the Best Wines. Mike Bennie awarded 93 points to a new release from Helen’s Hill Estate, the 2012 Yarra Valley Hill Top Syrah: “The wine speaks of cooler climate Shiraz clearly, a touch of herbal complexity, a medium bodied, perky acidity, and in all that feels very drinkable, almost refreshing, but still gives a good hit of spicy red fruit. Trim and supple. Like this. 13.2%. Mike Bennie.”
Helen’s Hill Syrah is hand picked. By hand picking you can ensure that this Syrah is at the optimal ripeness and flavour profile at harvest time and therefore allow this variety to show its renowned and universally enjoyed full ripe flavours.
The Helen’s Hill wine range holds the spirit of those who have gone before us. It celebrates passion, persistence and the genuine connection between people and land. Each wine is hand crafted and under goes an arduous selection process before it makes it into a Helen’s Hill bottle. As we know, great wine is made in the vineyard and as such only small select parcels of fruit from certain rows of our single vineyard site are hand picked at harvest. Each wine is fermented in select French oak barrels under the watchful eye of winemaker Scott McCarthy. Prior to bottling each barrel is tasted and ranked with only the best barrels selected for the Helen’s Hill range of wines.
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