Vat 9 Shiraz is sourced from the best parcels on the Tyrrell Estate ‘Ashmans’. These vines have a minimum age of 50 years and are grown in red clay soils over limestone. Weinkeller and the Short Flat make up the majority of the Vat 9 blend. The five-hectare Short Flat Vineyard is located directly north of the driveway of the Tyrrell’s Estate. The vineyard is a mosaic of vine ages with two distinctly named Shiraz blocks: the Mathews and Contours vineyards. Grapes from these vineyards, which were both planted in 1968 and are both situated at an elevation of about 115m, form an integral part of the blend in our flagship Vat 9 Shiraz.

The autumn and winter months of 2020 saw the worst drought in a generation be broken with substantial rainfall, we led into an outstanding growing season for the 2021 vintage. A cool summer then gave us even, stress-free ripening with some heat around Australia Day that was perfectly timed at the final stages of ripening.

With an early budburst and later than normal harvesting, the fruit had a longer than normal hang time, which meant that all of the fruit had wonderful flavours balanced by a high natural acidity. Handpicked and sorted in the vineyard in the second week of February, the blocks were all kept separate and fermented in the open top vats. The individual wines were then matured in mostly newer French oak casks (2700L) until the Vat 9 blend was assembled in November 2021. The blend was then matured for a further five months before bottling.

Vibrant purple in colour, a regal nose showing lifted spice, dark fruits and subtle hint of oak. The palate is medium-bodied showing great intensity and the velvety texture that is seen in the best wines from this vintage. The palate structure is effortless with no rough edges showing wonderful balance of fruit, acid, oak and tannin.