NZ-Wide 
NZ-Wide
Free Shipping
Buy OnlineWinery notes (2018 Vintage)
"The ¾ tonne Wirra Wirra bell that sits proudly atop our cellars is rung to announce the start and finish of each vintage in McLaren Vale and for other suitable celebrations. For generations it rung out thrice daily from the Jesuit Church at Norwood, South Australia at 6am, midday and 6pm, calling the faithful to joyful prayer. In honour of that tradition, the name ‘The Vintage Bell’ is reserved for only exceptional parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon which are selected and vinified at Wirra Wirra.
Bouquet of fragrant red and black currants and plums with briary and leaf characters, along with cedar and a hint of choc-mint. On the palate, perfectly ripened cassis frames a structure of powdery tannins and fine-grained French oak. The depth of red fruit richness gives luxurious concentration while retaining great clarity and expression. Remains poised and elegant throughout.
Wirra Wirra sources fruit from a combination of owned vineyards and premium McLaren Vale growers. This 2018 vintage of Vintage Bell was sourced from a single vineyard, Yan Yarrah in the Onkaparinga Hills for McLaren Vale. The vines are grown on slatey clay loam over ancient rocks, typically low in vigour, producing modest yields of intense fruit.
Wine from each vineyard/block was individually assessed for barrel selection and matured for an average of eighteen to twenty months in French Bordeaux barriques prior to blending. New oak consisted of 30% of the blend, balance being a combination of seasoned barriques up to four years of age."
96/100 Ned Goodwin, James Halliday's Wine Companion, September 2021 (2018 Vintage)
"Matured 18/24 months in oak. Fresher, fleet of foot and more detailed than not too long ago. Kudos! A herbal and mineral confluence of sage, graphite and bay leaf laces the tannins, lithe, attenuated and refined. Tapenade and currant, too. The oak is impeccably integrated. Long and seamless. A refined classic, sacrificing neither richness nor the inimitable nori-salinity that stamps its regional pedigree. Cellarworthy."
17+/20 Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com, November 2023 (2018 Vintage)
"Not just fruit: I like the dried-brush sort of complexity here. Stippled tannins that go down very easily. Rich but not bloated. If anything, this is less typically varietal than you might expect, which is surely the whole point, that it expresses place as much as grape. And there's no question that this is classic McLaren Vale in its silky intensity."
