Terre à Terre Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2020

This cuvée from Terre à Terre comes from the Crayères Vineyard, in Wrattonbully, in the south-east of South Australia. Xavier Bizot, born in Champagne, and Lucy Croser found chalk caves there that inspired the vineyard's name, in tribute to Champagne. The vines are rooted in red clay soils over limestone, under a temperate climate that favours structured, long wines.

The blend brings together 81% Cabernet Sauvignon and 19% Shiraz. At the end of malolactic fermentation, the wines are racked and then aged for twelve months in old French oak barrels. After fining with egg white, they go into the blending tank before being bottled unfiltered, to preserve all their texture.

This wine reveals notes of blackberry, blackcurrant, cherry, cocoa, dried herbs, spices, chestnut, leather and tobacco. The palate, deeply classical, rests on an exemplary tannic structure, with excellent length and fine persistence of tannins and flavours.

Australia began producing wine more than two centuries ago. This has resulted in a country rich in old vines, multigenerational winemaking families, and a deep-rooted knowledge and respect for craftsmanship. Add to this a thirst for exploration and innovation, a fearless attitude, and a diverse portfolio of 65 wine regions across a wide range of climates, and you have the makings of an extraordinary wine nation. Australia burst onto the export scene in the 1980s and has since been offering the world vibrant, fruity, and exceptionally good-value wines. Until the late 1990s and early 2000s, the history of Australian wine was dominated by examples of Shiraz, Grenache, and overly concentrated red blends. Between these two extremes lies the diverse range of high-quality Australian wines and regional wines that has always existed. Australian viticulture is concentrated primarily along the southern coastline where conditions are cooler. There are four main wine regions, each centered around major cities: Western Australia around Perth, South Australia around Adelaide, Victoria around Melbourne, and New South Wales around Sydney. The country is one of the world's largest wine producers and was the fourth-largest exporter in 2011. This recent development has made Australia one of the most prominent countries for the quality of its wines. You can taste Australian wines throughout the country. Each Australian region has its own grape varieties. Australian wines are defined by their grape variety, unlike French wines, which are defined by their terroir.