HOMELESS GRAPES OFF TO BOTTLING

It's hard to believe that nearly a year has passed since McLaren Vale vigneron Jock Harvey donated a vineyard of Shiraz to Vinomofo in order to raise money for the Hutt Street Centre, a charity which assists feeding and clothing homeless people in Adelaide.

At very short notice, a great mob of volunteers rocked up at sunrise in the Willunga vineyard in McLaren Vale and the vines were picked within a couple of hours. 

The fruit then went to Yangarra Estate for winemaking. 

This process is now complete, so yesterday the final Homeless Grapes product was taken from barrels, blended and sent off to be bottled at Torresan.

DRINKSTER can happily guarantee that while this very fine fruit came from the other end of the McLaren Vale vignoble, the wine has that typical polished Yangarra touch, achieved principally by careful bunch and berry selection, fastidiously maintained  temperature controlled ferments, hand-plunging of the right amount of whole berries in the cap throughout ferment, gentle pressing, then a good long slumber in the barrels. 

The wine is lovely: intense, elegant Shiraz: all savoury black cherries and licorice at this still-juvenile stage. The barrels were taken from the stacks in Yangarra's climate-controlled oakhouse, spread on the winery apron for final tasting, then topped up with a sprinkle of dry ice to prevent oxidation as each barrel was pumped into steel tanks on the truck.

To see more photographs of the picking day, click here. To see the fruit going through the destemming and sorting process, click here. To learn about their ferment, click here. To see their final pressing ready for barrel, click here. Learn about the entire process!

That's Yamgarra winemaker Shelley Torresan with assistant Nick Hunt, having one final taste before the wine went off to Torresans (Shelley's in-law family) for bottling. Picking, transport, winemaking, barrels, bottles, labels, capsules, bottling and box packaging - the whole damn lot - were donated for this radical and highly successful project. 

Andre Eikmeyer and his scary crew at Vinomofo sold the then unmade wine to their internet customers in advance - before the grapes were even picked - so he could present a cheque for $36,000 to the Hutt Street Centre people before the bins left the vineyard.

22nd March, vintage 2015: Jock Harvey of Chalk Hill Wines, Yangarra GM and boss winemaker Peter Fraser, Hutt Street Centre's Danielle Bayard with her big cheque, and Andre Eikmeyer of Vinomofo. Done and dealt!

Those smart enough to have paid Vinomofo in advance may like to know their wine went to bottling at  3.53pH, 6.5g/l acidity and and a delightfully modest 13.5% alcohol. It's blue-black and inky, intense yet sublimely fresh and lithe. Watch your Vinomofo mail for delivery details once the bottled wine has had some serious resting time. Delivery details will be announced once the wine has settled. DRINKSTER promises it's delicious!

all photos©Philip White ... click images for bigger ... here's some wallpaper of the wine coming straight from the press, tripping out with the reflection of my blue bucket: