Langi Shiraz

Wine Of Design 2009 brings together Nick Littlemore, whose Empire of the Sun sound has made an immediate imprint on the world music scene, with Dan Buckle, whose combination of old world techniques in new world but mature vineyards have delivered benchmark wines and reinvented Mount Langi Ghiran.

The wine featured is the 2006 Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, coming from the 43-year-old Langi vineyard in the Grampians region where the earth is granitic sand over red clay. Buckle, “In making the wine, a portion of whole bunches, stems and all, are fermented together with the grapes crushed under foot. This is a technique with a long history in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley that adds perfume and lift to the nose, and builds further tannic structure.”

Delicately perfumed, the wine is lifted and elegant with aromas of blueberry, blackberry and typical Langi spices. Dense, tight and structured on the palate, the wine is brooding and restrained with years to go before its peak.

Whilst Buckle draws on the old world for inspiration in winemaking, Littlemore explains his source of creativity: “Art and music are vital parts of my life, and I continue to study both. I hope that my label design expresses my passion.”

Nick Littlemore

An ARIA award winning artist, Nick Littlemore was born to create. His first success came at 14 when he entered and won the photographic section of the Sydney Royal Easter Show. He followed this success with a series of prizes and awards at the Panasonic Student Film Festivals for cinematography and for soundtracks.

Littlemore is the “so hot right now” export of Australian music. He is a member of bands including Pnau, Teenager (with NZ artist Ladyhawke) and Empire of the Sun. Littlemore recently worked with Elton John on Pnau’s latest album. The first single for Empire of The Sun, “Walking on a Dream”, has recorded impressive numbers in charts around the world and the BBC recently described it as the “hottest track in the world right now.”

Littlemore now resides in London, or on a plane flying somewhere, and is currently at work on several other exciting projects. He is continuing with his art through painting, drawing and etchings and never stops writing music and lyrics for his own bands and for others.

Mount Langi Ghiran

Mount Langi Ghiran has an unusual soil profile that is rarely found elsewhere in Victoria and indeed Australia. As Mount Langi is an isolated geographic feature, the rock has eroded over time providing a granite topsoil layer in the vineyard. This sits on top of red clay loams and provides further complexity.

The vineyards are situated at the base of the 540 metre cliff face of Mount Langi, at an elevation of 350m above sea level. Approximately 3km opposite is the equally majestic Mount Cole. The two mountains create a cooling effect as cold air tumbles down the mountains. During Autumn, the shadow thrown by the mountain shortens the effective sunshine hours, creating perfect conditions for an extended ripening period. In fact, due to the temperature, Mount Langi Ghiran is one of, if not the last vineyards to be picked in Australia.

The old block at Mount Langi Ghiran, home to the iconic Langi Shiraz was planted to the Swiss clone shiraz. The clone arrived in Australia with Swiss immigrants venturing to Western Victoria in search of gold. The amazing thing about this clone is that is unmodified and it predates phylloxera, a bug that devastated many vines and entire wine regions around the world.

Dan Buckle grew up amongst vines, working on his family’s pinot noir vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula. Completing a Bachelor of Applied Science (Wine) at Charles Sturt University, Buckle was awarded a Bursarship through the University to travel to Bordeaux, and worked with Chateau Carsin in the Premiere Côtes de Bordeaux, assisting in the making of semillon, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, as well as a small amount of Appellation Cadillac.

Buckle spent further time in France at Champagne Devaux, with the Yves Confuron at Domaine Confuron-Cotetidot in Vosne Romanee and at Domaine de Courcel in Pommard.

Buckle talks about his current direction, “Whilst we’ve all been aware of the pepper characters in cool climate shiraz, it’s more recently we have been looking beyond that. What makes the Langi site so special is the unique granite soils, our very cold growing seasons, the ongoing lack of rain, and the strong southerly winds. I want to go beyond conventional pepper characters, by bringing out the floral, perfumed, feline and savoury aspects that shiraz can show, especially when growing from old vines on a cold site, and applying old fashioned winemaking.”

Nick Littlemore's Design for the Langi Shiraz

Wine Of Design 2009 brings together Nick Littlemore, whose Empire of the Sun sound has made an immediate imprint on the world music scene, with Dan Buckle, whose combination of old world techniques in new world but mature vineyards have delivered benchmark wines and reinvented Mount Langi Ghiran.

The wine featured is the 2006 Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, coming from the 43-year-old Langi vineyard in the Grampians region where the earth is granitic sand over red clay. Buckle, “In making the wine, a portion of whole bunches, stems and all, are fermented together with the grapes crushed under foot. This is a technique with a long history in Burgundy and the Rhone Valley that adds perfume and lift to the nose, and builds fur Delicately perfumed, the wine is lifted and elegant with aromas of blueberry, blackberry and typical Langi spices. Dense, tight and structured on the palate, the wine is brooding and restrained with years to go before its peak.

Whilst Buckle draws on the old world for inspiration in winemaking, Littlemore explains his source of creativity: “Art and music are vital parts of my life, and I continue to study both. I hope that my label design expresses my passion.”ther tannic structure.”

Wine’s can be purchased online through Wine Salon with all profits going to make poverty history.

1st October, 2009
Isa Bal, head sommelier at Heston Blumenthal’s legendary Fat Duck, the UK’s top-rated restaurant, led a fascinating Shiraz / Syrah masterclass for us at Enotria’s New World Roadshow today in London at the Meat and Wine Co. Isa, who has an amazing list to call on at the restaurant, showed tasters an eclectic line up of expressions of Syrah and Shiraz which included Planeta from Sicily, Thelema from South Africa, Penfolds Grange from Australia, Trinity Hill from New Zealand as well as a ‘ringer’ from Cuilleron in Cote Rotie.

It was the Aussies who dominated the day’s play though, with the Mount Langi Ghiran Langi Shiraz, and Henschke’s Hill of Grace picking up the votes for the standout wines in the bracket.
Wines & Vintages involved in the masterclass:

• Henschke Hill of Grace 2004 Australia
• Penfolds Grange 2002  Australia
• Thelema Reserve Shiraz 2004 South Africa
• Trinity Hill Homage Syrah 2004 New Zealand
• Planeta IGT Syrah 2006 Sicily Italy
• Domaine Yves Cuilleron Cote Rotie Les Terres Sombres 2002 France
• Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 2004 Australia
• Mount Langi Ghiran Shiraz 2004 Australia

For the full report from Isa Bal please view the video.