Berton Vineyard Winemakers Reserve Durif, Riverina

Description

Berton Vineyard Winemakers Reserve Durif is a red wine produced from grapes grown in the Riverina wine-growing sub-region of South East Australia. Durif is a red grape primarily grown in Australia, France, Israel and California. It is often known as Petit Syrah / Petit Sirah. It is produced from a cross between Syrah and little known variety called Peloursin.

Berton Vineyards was established by Bob & Cherie Berton in May 1996 with 75 acres of land at 450m above sea level on gently rolling hills in a sub-region of Eden Valley in South Australia. In 2005 the decision was made to purchase a winery to process the 100 odd tonnes that was produced at the High Eden Vineyard. In 2005 when the former Southcorp winery in Yenda became available, Bob and Cherie joined with Jamie Bennett, Paul Bartholomaeus and James Ceccato to form Berton Vineyards the company. The winery was purchased and the guys moved to their new home in November 2005. This state-of-the-art facility has the capacity to process 20,000 tonnes, and allows Berton Vineyards to produce value for money wines which sit alongside his premium single vineyard offerings.

Berton Vineyard Winemakers Reserve Durif is made from grapes sourced from a single vineyard, the ‘Foleys Corner Vineyard’, which overlooks Griffith in the Riverina, New South Wales. Durif is well suited to the climate of the Riverina region, which is hot and dry. The vineyard is on a slope with a westerly aspect and the soil is sandy loam. The vineyard rows face east to west. The vines are on a single-wire trellis, spur pruned and drip irrigated.

The grapes are machine-harvested once they have reached the optimum maturity level. After harvesting the fruit was destemmed, crushed and fermented in static fermenters for five days to optimise colour stability and tannin structure. The wine was drained, pressed and stored in stainless steel tanks until malolactic fermentation was complete. It was then filtered onto French oak and matured for approximately four months, giving a subtle and delicate oak influence.

The 2018 Berton Vineyard Winemakers Reserve Durif is 98% Durif and 2% Shiraz.