This wine comes from an outstanding vintage and just after harvest, in May 2002, our daughter Indi was born. That was after, midway through harvest, Rae took a tumble off a vat and the vintage turned into a real team effort, with friends and family stepping in to help us bring in the crop and complete the cellar work. So, 2002 remains unforgettable to us for many reasons!
This bottle, now 23 years old, had an excellent cork and is showing beautifully – both in appearance and on the palate, it seems half its age.
To complement the wine, we slow-roasted a lamb shoulder (5 hours at 160°C in foil, with the final 30 minutes uncovered at 200°C to brown), and the result was well worth the effort. The wine’s notes of sweet berries, tar, smoke, and molasses paired beautifully with the tender lamb.
It’s a deeply flavored, well-balanced wine – mature, yet still brimming with vibrant fruit. While it’s drinking wonderfully now, it has the structure and depth to cellar gracefully for another decade. We’re really pleased with how good this wine is looking.