d'Arenberg Shiraz Viognier, the Laughing Magpie, McLaren Vale 750 Ml

Established 1912. Estd 1912. Foot trod basket pressed. Australia's first family of wines. Since 1912 the Osborn family have tended vineyards in McLaren Vale, South Australia. Today fourth generation family member Chester makes distinctive wines using traditional methods both in the vineyard and the winery. Walking vineyard rows and tasting grapes, Chester determines the ideal picking time for each individual vineyard. Small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to open fermenters, where the Viognier and Shiraz are co-fermented. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation, the wine is basket pressed and transferred to old French oak to complete fermentation and mature for up to 10 months. The Kookaburra is a native Australian bird famous for its distinctive laughing call, Chester's young daughters named them Laughing Magpies. The Magpie plumage is black with a stripe of white feathers, representing McLaren Vale's first ever blend combining the (black) Shiraz and its white partner, Viognier.