Gemtree Wines

About The Wine

2021 Dragon's Blood Cabernet Shiraz

Gemtree have been gifted the opportunity to work a unique patch of the earth in South Australia’s McLaren Vale. By respecting and nurturing this land they have harvest high quality, flavourful grapes each and every vintage from vineyards farmed with care.

Vintage 

The 2021 ripening season was met with average rainfall for the first time in at least 3 vintages. Not only did McLaren Vale experience a wet winter, but also a luscious spring and a significantly cooler summer. This created magnificent ripening conditions from fruit set and flowering through version to final ripening. Yields were back up compared with the previous few vintages, coupled with arguably the best quality vintage so far this century. While vintage was long and drawn out, it created a relaxed picking environment and enabled superb balance of natural acidity, texture and tannin in the resulting wines.  

Tasting 

Colour  - Deep red with purple hues
Bouquet - Macadamia, poached rhubarb, liquorice and a touch of clove. 

Palate - Generous and complex. Fine powdery tannins build structure while scaffolding the rush of fruit filling out the middle palate. 

About The Winery

Biodynamic farming is not magic, nor is it a mystical belief that relies more upon hope than science. Biodynamics is simply a way of farming that enhances the soil and the environment around it through natural improvers rather than chemical sprays.Instead of spraying weeds we will recruit flocks of sheep to eat them for us or use our dodge plough to pull them out.

Instead of spraying synthetic fertilisers we fill cow horns with fresh manure, bury them and dig them up months later when the manure has transformed into a rich, concentrated fertiliser. Rather than hoping our vineyards are not infected by a fungal outbreak, we spray prepared natural ground quartz over our vines to strengthen the cell walls. This makes them fungus resistant while also enhancing the effects of natural sunlight and promoting stronger growth.

If a problem occurs in the vineyard, we use a natural preparation spray to solve it, rather than a chemical. And then there is the moon. Just as the moon causes the tides in the Gulf of St. Vincent, only a few short kilometres to the west of us, it also affects the way our plants grow and produce fruit. We plant, graft and harvest according to the phases of the moon. We do this because we will always endeavour to do everything we can to enhance the quality of our grapes.

Beyond farming biodynamically and organically, we use recycled water in our vineyards and have solar panels to power our irrigation pumps, winery and cellar door. We do all of this for the improvement of our land, so we can pass its custodianship to the next generation in a better condition than we received it. We are biodynamic farmers because we know it is better for our soil, vineyards, employees and the flavour of our fruit. Biodynamics is not magic, but since we have changed the way we farm it has produced some magical results.