Glaetzer Anaperenna Shiraz Cabernet 2007

NOTES

The name Anaperenna has been inspired by Anna Perenna, the Roman goddess of the New Year. Anna Perenna symbolises the year's cycle and her name translates as "enduring year". Romans honoured Anna Perenna with a festival in March (the first month in the Roman calendar). On March 15th, which was the first full moon of the year, they would ask Anna Perenna to grant them longevity, praying that Anna would grant them a healthy year for each glass of wine they drank on that day. The symbol on the label is the Egyptian Ankh (pronounced: onk). Historically the ankh symbolised sunrise, regeneration, regrowth and renewal.

The 2007 vintage in the Barossa was a difficult year with both drought and frost resulting in below average yields - only 1/2 Ton - 1 Ton per acre across our range. The greatest challenge at Glaetzer has been to harness the intensity and concentration of fruit to keep the trademark elegance and balance across our portfolio of wines. Three years of low rainfall and the resultant dry sub-soil, meant less radiant heat around the vines and therefore greater risk of frost. The frost struck at bud burst and we lost 30% of this original crop. Due to this early damage, secondary bud burst was delayed and ripening was later than usual by about 3 weeks. The weather remained mild throughout the growing season but our crop was the smallest in many years.

THE WINE
Anaperenna is a seamless fusion of two varieties: (75% dry grown) Shiraz and (25% dry grown) Cabernet Sauvignon. An intriguing nose of chocolate, crushed herbs, cedar, blackberries and smoke leads into a tightly-focused palate with fine-grained tannin and incredible density. As with the 2006 vintage we have used 25% Cabernet Sauvignon in the blend. This is to maintain the style over two vintages but also in 2007 the very low cropping Cabernet Sauvignon gave us intense fruit flavours and a low extraction rate (smaller berries, large seeds, greater skin to flesh ratio).

This low extraction rate of the Cabernet Sauvignon has been extremely important for the savoury texture of the 07 Anaperenna. Due to the slightly angular tannins of the Cabernet Sauvignon in 2007 we used more French oak which will soften the tannin. Overall, the tight, savoury Cabernet Sauvignon combines with the more generous Shiraz to give this blend great texture, structure and restraint.