A & C Ainsworth Syrah 2024

From Andy and Clare – We are based in Daylesford and operate a little wine bar called Bar Merenda in addition to producing the wines on offer today. Both of the wines are made with grapes farmed by the very intuitive Corey Hope in the Victorian Pyrenees. The vineyard is owned by the large French wine company M. Chapoutier and is NASAA certified organic. The vines are set amongst significant rolling hills of native Australian bushland and scrub which certainly has a dry “outback” feel to it, warm days and very cool nights are typical. Under foot is a complex mix of mudstone & shale generously dotted with chunky white quartz. For me, the quartz allows for the wines to feel taught and detailed whilst the mudstone and shale add the fleshy, opulent texture.

The wines were made, aged and bottled in the cold cellars at Alan and Nelly Cooper’s Cobaw Ridge, in the austere granite high country of the northern Macedon Ranges. The naturally (very!) cold conditions at Cobaw Ridge allow for gentle, slow fermentations (both primary and malolactic), calm, elongated rest over winter and provide a very hostile environment for any untoward microbial activity that could inhibit a wines purity. A more than ideal location for making the sort of wines that we love to drink.