1891 Ancestor Vine Shiraz 2014

100% of the fruit for this wine comes from a few of my favourite rows in the 1891 Ancestor Vines, which my great-great grandfather planted. I’ve been making small amounts of hand crafted wine from these vines for over two decades, and we still have a vertical library stretching back twenty-three years. This unique library of Ox Hardy 1891 Ancestor Vine Shiraz is a stunning showcase of the quality of the vineyard, the age-worthiness of the wines, and the priceless value of our ancestor vines.

The fruit was destemmed and crushed before spontaneous fermentation took place in a small open fermenter for 18 days with hand plunging three times per day. After fermentation was complete, the wine remained on skins for two weeks before being basket pressed and transferred to second fill French oak barriques. The Ancestor Vines Shiraz spent nearly two years in barrel before being fined, filtered and bottled in February 2016.