The fine wine world is finally getting it. The Gimblett Gravels is a world class fine wine appellation.
Craggy range is fortunate to have 100 hectares of this 850 hectare place and it forms the warm heart of our annual offering; Bordeaux style reds, Syrah, Chardonnay and Viognier.

In 2008 we were blessed with another warm and relatively dry ripening season. In the reds, this has manifested as highly focused, pure fruit characters combined with taut, structural tannin. The Bordeaux style reds are not show offs. Rather their power is understated which builds and surprises on the palate, in the glass and inevitably with time in the bottle. Syrah; well we couldn’t restrain the aromatic intensity if we wanted to; florally distinctive, structurally focused and layered.

The Gimblett Gravels white wines of 2009 could be the wines that we are most proud to present in this release. Inclemency threatened yield and quality at the eleventh hour of ripening. A combination of extreme selection and winemaking sensitivity means Chardonnay tells the story of the vintage in a Chablis like guise – medium weight, minerally fresh and beguiling. Whereas Viognier’s resilient nature and ubiquitous power brushed off Mother Nature’s attempts to curtail another powerful wine being produced – varietally pungent and seductively rich. 

All of this is easy to obliterate in the cellar if we intervene too much. Our philosophy is to expose the character of our place via purity and focus. Hands off – yes, but allowed to decay to corrupt (faulty) levels – no way. Equally, altering the fruit or wine via the additives and treatments available to conventional winemakers is just not our thing. Single Vineyard wine making only resonates in the bottle if this purist, singular mindset prevails in the cellar. That’s just who we are.

Rod Easthope
Chief Winemaker

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