"Powerfully graceful, this delicious shiraz shows black/blueberry, plum jam, mixed spice, cedar and cocoa characters on the nose with a touch of dried herb complexity. The palate is wonderfully weighted and fleshy, delivering excellent depth and richness, backed by loads of silky tannins. At its best: now to 2028" Sam Kim, Wine Orbit, Mar 2019

"Ripe and juicy, with a currant-like presence of cassis, blackberries, blood plums and cedar/vanilla oak backed by nuances of spice and a hint of sarsaparilla and dried herbs. It’s medium to fullish in weight, with a lingering core of juicy sweet fruit supported by fine, loose-knit tannin" Jeremy Oliver, 2019

Dense, deep ruby with bright purple highlights. Fragrant with ripe pure fruited aromas of blood plum and blackberry. There are subtler notes of brambles, freshly turned earth, smokey cloves and liquorice. Full bodied and dense, the palate provides layers of ripe black fruits that open up endlessly. Firm, ripe tannis amply support the rich and opulent black fruit characters with the earthy background notes contributing furthur complexity. It is an ample and very classic expression of McLaren Vale Shiraz.

The G.A.M. Shiraz comes from the Lopresti vineyard, and more specifically the Chinese Block, which is located at the southern end of McLaren Vale about 3km east of the coastal town of Port Willunga. The soil here is heavy grey loam mixed with black Biscay clay and sits above ancient Gnaltinga formation clay. This combination provides ideal conditions for growing fruit of intensity and balance. The climate here is Maritime, with dry, warm, sunny days in the growing season and a fresh sea breeze that cools the air overnight.

The 2016 vintage delivered high quality wines with great colour, and bright, pure fruit flavours. Each parcel of fruit for G.A.M. is fermented on skins for approximately ten days. Parcels are fermented quite cool which helps to preserve the bright fruit characters without extracting any hard or bitter tannins from the skins and seeds. After ten days the wines are gently pressed and run down to oak barrels, of which approximately 30% are new. The wines are stored in the oak for close to fifteen months after which each barrel is considered for the final G.A.M. blend.

At Mitolo they aim to produce wines that express their place and  heritage. Their location at the southern end of McLaren Vale gives Shiraz fruit with powerful, pure flavours and elegant structure. The grapes are picked on flavour ripeness, which provides the mature tannins and vibrant fruit which are key characteristics of all Mitolo wines. G.A.M. is opulent and robust, with a winemaking focus on creating balance as well as multilayered complexity. This wine, so reflective of the place it’s grown, is an ideal match for the rustic foods of our heritage.

Food Pairing: Baked Veal and Sage meatballs with soft Polenta.