Our Lioness of McLaren Vale is sourced from the foothills of McLaren Vale. Here mature Shiraz vines ‘populate or perish’ in the ironstone pebble-laden clay loam, over ancient Kurrajong Formation geology, a silica-cemented conglomerate most suited to grow Shiraz. After hand picking whole bunches of our Lioness of McLaren Vale in the first week of March our winemaker Elena Brooks let the whole bunches ferment together in open top fermenters with ambient yeasts and hand plunging for 12 days, before basket pressing into some new but predominately older French Oak barriques, to mature for a further 18 months in the same oak, before bottling without fining or filtration to capture the essence of the vineyard. Although ready to drink the Lioness of McLaren Vale will also reward cellaring and decanting.