WINES

Rx Blend

This wine represents a change of direction from our previous portfolio of red wines. Or more correctly, a change that brings us back to our very beginnings in the wine business.

In recent years we had woo'd the domestic market with our Shiraz and our Cabernet Sauvignon. It is a crowded market. We have chosen, rather than dividing our energies by touting sizeable quantities of two wines, to concentrate our efforts in one red wine. Small volumes of varietal Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz will continue to be available to the domestic market, and those two varietals will continue to be our thrust with our export markets.

Another factor in our decision to change was the fact that there is considerable variation in red wine quality from one year to the next. By producing a blend we can achieve a more consistent product. The initial (2003) wine was a shiraz - cabernet blend. Proportions of subsequent blends will change and provide us with the option of including merlot and cabernet franc to the blend. A final factor in favour of this varietal blend is that it affords economies that allow us to price it more favourably.

Back in 1975, our very first label was for a red blend, and featured an illustration of a Clare passenger train just south of Clare (at the Quarry Road bridge), a location convenient to our vineyard. The steam locomotive of that train was the Rx class, that for about 70 years was ubiquitous on the broad-gauge railways of South Australia.

Tasting Notes

2004 Rx Blend

Colour: Deep red in colour.
Nose: Full bodied wine with aromas of eucalypt and ripe berries. Complexing French and American oak providing cloves and nutmeg to the fruit focused mix.
Palate: Firm, grippy tannins providing great structure over a chocolate layered base.