'Midnight Dilemma' Shiraz 2021

It’s common in the wine industry to say that the quality of the wine comes from the vineyard and Midnight Dilemma is certainly an example of that. The fruit is grown by the family behind Kennedy Vintners in Heathcote, Victoria, and is just so clean and beautiful. The grower has a background in Geology and, as we walked down one of the rows, sheepishly explained to me the formation of the soils in the vineyard and the different ages and sources of the layers of rock thinking I would find it boring as hell - I ate it up. So much so that he even offered for me to take some of the rocks from the rich, red soil home - I did.

From there it was a matter of preserving the flavours already present in the fruit. I managed the ferment very gently with daily pump-overs, avoiding over-extraction of any heavy tannins. It was then put away to rest and do its thing in neutral French oak for 8 months. The resulting wine is a super delicate, medium-bodied, spicy, stewed red-fruited Shiraz/Syrah.

The oil-on-wood painting by Kate Lewis depicts the opposing directions a decision can take you, especially one made at midnight.