Vintus

G.A.M. Shiraz, McLaren Vale

G.A.M. represents the first initial of each of the Mitolo children's first names - Gemma, Alex and Marco. The G.A.M. Shiraz comes from the Chinese Block within the Lopresti Vineyard, located all the way at the southern tip of McLaren Vale and on the coast. The vineyard soil types are heavy grey loam over sandstone soils, with black cracking Biscay clays intermixed. These soils have excellent water-holding capacity and require minimal irrigation. Being so close to the coast the vines experience warm summer days that contribute to fruit intensity and excellent tannin ripeness, and cooling afternoon sea breezes and nights maintain good acid levels in the grapes, allowing extended maturation on the vine and resulting in complexity of the flavor profile.  Yields are typically around 2.3 tons an acre (40 hl/ha) from vines with an average age of 25 years old.

• 2009 Vintage

  The growing season began with a wet August followed by a dry spring resulting in an earlier start than normal and strong canopy growth. At Mitolo’s Lopestri vineyard, this strong growth along with sound management techniques and an inherent understanding of the vines allowed the fruit to survive a long spike of heat at the end of January virtually unscathed. Conditions around this heat were actually quite mild; ideal for grape ripening. Shiraz displayed excellent varietal character with naturally balanced acidity.

  Each parcel of fruit for G.A.M. is fermented on its skins for approximately ten days.  Parecels are fermented at cooler temperatures, which helps preserve the bright fruit characters without extracting hard or bitter tannins.  After ten days the wines are gently pressed and rund down to oak barrels, and are ored in oak for approximately eighteen months.  Each barrel is then considered for the final G.A.M. blend.

  The wine is a deep, crimson red, and has lifted pure aromatics of darker berry fruits and spice: blackberries, plums, mocha, toasty vanilla oak.  The palate is powerful and extremely focused, with great depth of fruit character that is well framed by fine tannin, and drawn together to a long finish by naturally balanced acidity.

  • "Deep, dark purple.  Pungent aromas of boysenberry and blackberry are complemented by dried flowers, smoky oak and black tea. Sappy, concentrated dark fruit flavors show a velvety texture and assertive spiciness, with no rough edges and a late peppery note. Finishes with very good precision and resonating vanilla and blue fruit notes.  This benefits from decanting. " 91+ Points International Wine Cellar

• 2007 Vintage

  Vintage 2007 was dominated by very low rainfall- approximately half the average of the previous recorded growing seasons. The extreme growing conditions resulted in a harvest that saw crop loads 45-50% below the average due to lighter bunches, resulting from drought conditions.   Harvest was the earliest on record with some varieties being picked mid to late January due to accelerated ripening as a result of small, low weight bunches. All red varieties were down substantially in yield due to smaller berry size, however quality across the board at Mitolo was very good to exceptional.

  The wine has a dark plum color, and powerful, brooding nose of nutmeg, white-pepper, black cherry and licorice. It is full bodied, with hints of plum and pepper on the palate, multilayered supple, ripe tannins, and finishes with hints of dark chocolate. This wine is elegant, with a robust palate, and shows typical Mitolo softness and richness.

  • "Dense garnet hue with a glint of purple. Powerful scents of blackberry, blueberry and rum cake with hints of menthol and mocha. Ultra-plush tannins and juicy flavors of raspberry and Bing cherry. Vibrant acidity and layers of blueberry, leather and sweet tobacco in the lingering close.” 94 Points Wine News

  •  “Purple-colored, it offers an alluring bouquet of spice box, black cherry, blueberry, and a hint of chocolate. This leads to a concentrated, ripe, layered wine with excellent depth and length. Already complex, it will continue to evolve with another several years of cellaring.” 91 Points Wine Advocate, February 2009

  •  “Inky violet color. Seductively perfumed scents of blackberry, mulberry, candied plum and smoky Indian spices. Ripe, fleshy and gently sweet, offering assertive dark berry and anise flavors and slow-building tannins. Repeats the anise and mulberry notes on the long, sappy, alluringly spicy, peppery finish. This wine is already showing very good complexity.” 91 Points International Wine Cellar, September/October 2009

• 2006 Vintage

  In 2006, a dry winter, followed by heavy rains, in spring, resulted in vines with healthy, balanced canopies on moist soils. A mild, early summer leading to a warmer period during veraison stopped vegetative growth, allowing vines to channel energy into the fruit. Hot weather conditions caused some stress in late summer, with balanced vines showing great resilience and high potential.  Winemakers and growers did  however  observe crops to be 20-30% lower than the 2005 vintage. Reds were very fragrant with good acidity and length. Shiraz showed excellent quality.

  Each parcel of fruit for G.A.M. was fermented on skins for 10 days at cool and warm temperatures. The cool temperature assists in making the finished wine more approachable and the warm temperature gives more structure. G.A.M. uses a blend of the two. The wine was then pressed and underwent partial barrel fermentation followed by natural malolactic fermentation before racking.

  Keeping well within the tradition of the GAM style, the nose displays masses of ripe plums, spicy aromatic herbs and lifted freshness. The palate is slightly tighter than the previous vintages, reflective of the slow and evening growing season. The 2006 GAM has provided one of our most cellarworthy wines thus far.

  • “Opaque purple in color, it has an aromatic array of roasted coffee, violets, lavender, pepper, Asian spices, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. In the mouth it is velvety-textured, deep, concentrated, opulent, and altogether hedonistic. It will evolve for 5-7 years and drink well through 2026.” 95 Points Wine Advocate, October 2007