Ange: All right, so we’ve got our wine tip and we’re going to be tasting some 2006 Shiraz here from the big barrel.
Craig McDonald: From the big barrel yeah we’re going to lift off what we call the “bang” and expose the wine, and put a pocket.
Ange: So how long has the wine within the barrel?
Craig McDonald: Well, this guy is 2006 Vintage and it’s been in since around end of November 2006. We believe in not ranking a wine if we don’t have too just because it’s been in for a while doesn’t mean we have to pull it out, and clean up and bash it around unnecessarily. So it pretty much sat in this barrel since November 2006 and has remained unchanged. So patience and leave it all up to the barrel on the wine and we just do our thing and it does it thing.
Ange: So what type of oak is this?
Craig McDonald: This is French oak from Redou in France.
Ange: It’s French.
Craig McDonald: As I mentioned it’s very, very thick state, so very gentle extraction very big format barrel, so with Shiraz we’re looking to be very —and I believe in aging, the wines a little bit longer in the right kind of barrels rather than aging them shorter in smaller barrel.
Ange: Right.
Craig McDonald: So we’re trying to be very, very subtle around the wine and as you recall the five broken press which is DO6 we try to enhance those aromatics, so not dominate them and all the shadow in the oak.
Ange: So what’s the percentage of the vignette that’s in this?
Craig McDonald: We roughly go between 5 and 7% we never really know because we bucket it in from the press kind of do about feel more than anything else.
Ange: As it should be?
Craig McDonald: Yeah, exactly.
Ange: It’s like cooking, you know, you throw in what you feel like it should work as a wine maker that’s how it basically come out right?
Craig McDonald: Yes, exactly like old good chefs they kind of feel a little bit of this or a bit of that. You don’t often see the good chefs with the recipe book open on the counter. They’re doing it all and they had all by feel. So we do the same way, making wine is the same way. Around about a bucket and half. How about that? That’s a bit of how much we put in.
Ange: It’s got a malt on it. You can tell.
Craig McDonald: Yup.
Ange: So what happens when you take the wine out of the barrel and you end up bottling it, the 00:02:20 some juice a little more. We’ were just talking, this was a little more floral that happens overtime with the wine, correct?
Craig McDonald: Right, now that’s interesting. You’re absolute right, this is a brand new oak, so this is nearly 18 months and brand new oak, but the art of blending is about adding other barrels to it that perhaps don’t have that that amount of oaky note. So you might have 10 barrels half of those might be brand new and half they of them might be old. So the final cuvet would have less oak than what this barrel is showing right now. But it does show a little bit but it does lift up a spice some of the pepper in the nose.
Ange; It does.
Craig McDonald: As well on that, it also helps with color and it also help with finish. You get a nice, smooth spicy finish on the back end.
Ange: This has some very nice color to it, with body too.
Craig McDonald: Yup, very spicy 2006 is slightly colder yet in ‘05, but we’re looking at elegance this year rather than body and texture.
Ange: You can taste that a lot in this one.
Craig McDonald: Very rustic and the way we make this wine by taking the head off some cementing on the barrel, and also using French oak. It tends to build a structure of a building a body and texture where American oak sort of compressed the flavor and make it bigger. We find that French oak tends to lean things out and add elegance and finesse to the wine. So yeah I think this you know—by the time we bottled this wine and I know it sit for a while, not a year they’ll be drinking much better, much more voluptuous anyway.
Ange: Yes, I think it’s a fabulous one and I think we’re looking for some great things from the bottling of O6 and O8 year old sign and with the O7 somnial blanc I think we have fantastic line of things that that we should be excited about the next up coming years.
Craig McDonald: I would say that anybody not only from Creekside or Mike Quer or Gretzy but anybody who wants to come down on Iagra have a look for the 07 if you can find them. The whites should be coming out now, but it was kind of the drink Vintage for one where really if you get it right from the vineyard it’s such an easy job to do in the winery. You just simply guide it through and not even manipulate the wine. 07 was dreamy, the quality is exceptional, the flavor is fantastic you know and everybody has got them. It looks great at this point too, so I cant wait.
Ange: That’s great. Well, thanks for taking the time.
Craig McDonald: Yes.
Ange: And giving some wine for me.
Craig McDonald: No problem anytime Ange, thanks a lot today.
Ange: Cheers, thanks.
And come back again for another interview with another special wine maker. Cheers.
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