Coriole Sparta Shiraz 2016 is a classic McLaren Vale Shiraz sourced from a single vineyard named the Galaxidia vineyard planted on the Coriole estate in 1998.
Winemaking at Coriole is a very traditional process, though they do like to experiment and try different techniques to see the influence on wine style. Red wines are mainly open fermented in stainless steel or old wax lined concrete tanks. Ferments are hand plunged. A portion of new oak is used for many of our estate reds but many wines such as Sangiovese and Redstone Shiraz are specifically matured in older oak to gain maturity with minimum contribution of oak flavour and extract in the wine.
Search for Coriole at Dan Murphy's
It is an old maxim that good wine is made in the vineyard. Fortunately Coriole owns or manages most of the vineyards where their grapes are sourced. One of the features of the winemaking is that each block or part of a block is processed separately to maximise the potential of the fruit. This also allows the wine quality to be linked to the vineyard management of each block.
The winemaking team at Coriole is led by Senior Winemaker Duncan Lloyd assited by  General Manager and past winemaker Mark Lloyd, and sales manager Peter Lloyd.
One of the great challenges (and pleasures) of wine making is to understand the complexity of all the vineyards and ensure that they are brought to full potential for each vintage. Every year can be a new experience with the new puzzles and solutions. Many of our vineyards are farmed organically. This program should extend to all Coriole vineyards before 2020.
The soils on the Estate vineyard are predominently terra rossa soils. These soils are shallow with red-brown earth over hard capped limestone. The underlying geology is known as the Tapley Hill Foundation which is reputably over 700 million years old. This foundation tends to produce deeply coloured red wines with good structure and backbone that show great capacity for ageing.
Coriole Sparta Shiraz 2016
2016
From Coriole's Galaxidia vineyard in McLaren Vale, planted in 1998, and surrounded by olive trees.
Shiraz
Savoury nose of burnished leather, ground anise, polished mahogany and blackberry bramble. The palate offers a bounty of forest fruits and mellow oak. Coriole Sparta Shiraz 2016 is a fruit driven and rich style of Shiraz made to enjoy in its youth. The tannins are soft and approachable and the wine had great fruit length.
Coriole Sparta Shiraz 2016 is a fruit driven Shiraz made to enjoy in its youth though will cellar well.
The Sparta Vineyard is the only Coriole vineyard to face due north and produces a vibrant red fruited and rich style of Shiraz. It is largely planted with a very old Shiraz clone called "Bob Hardy". Coriole Sparta Shiraz 2016 is made to highlight the fruit and floral notes of McLaren Vale Shiraz with good density and medium structure.
