Fruit selected from premium McLaren Vale vineyards was cold soaked for two days, followed by inoculation with yeast at a low rate to ensure an even fermentation. A small percentage of Viognier was included during the fermentation to add brightness to the fruit and enhance tannin length. The juice was cool fermented on skins for eight days then pressed into stainless steel. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation and was then racked into a mixture of large and small format fine grained barrels for the remainder of maturation.