‘Somewhere’

McLaren Vale continues to produce Shiraz in so many different ways.  Over the nearly 200 year viticultural history the ebbs and flows of style are dramatic.  Even amongst the ‘next gen’ producers, this one really stands out as a unique, in the best of ways, Syrah.  Judging by the bottle shape, color and the wine color you know you are in for an exciting ride and this is more tame than the packaging would lead you to believe. The name comes from the fact that when Uffe started making wine it was in an underground bunker which was not approved by the wine council, so he couldn’t tell people where his wines were made. When people asked, he would just say,”Somewhere…” and always thought it would make for a good name. Thankfully, today, all is official and he can tell people that the wine is made in their Adelaide Hills cellar. The fruit for the 2021 vintage comes from the Paeroa Vineyard in the Whites Valley of McLaren Vale. The Mediterranean climate could bring this Syrah to a bold, powerful expression, but Uffe picks early and does whole-bunch pressing to render it much lighter.

The fruit was hand-picked in the latter part of February. It was fermented entirely whole-cluster in one-ton picking bins with regular foot stomping occurring over 12 days.  Once dry, the wine was pressed to neutral oak for 14 months of maturation.  The wine was subsequently bottled without fining or filtration and with just a very small addition of sulfur.