7 Tips on Cellaring & Storing Somerled Vintages

There is an old saying that goes, "let the wine breathe for as many hours as the bottle is old". So, by that measure, when opening a Somerled 2015 Shiraz, the wine should be allowed to breathe for 9 hours.

Well theprecise oppositeis true.

The older the wine is. the more potentially fragile it will be. Giving it tie to breathe and therefore access to air will only compromise it. Gently decant old wines just before serving. Younger wines under screw cap can be given time to breathe, as their characters may still be stifled.

A quick guide to cellaring Somerled varities:

DRINK WITHIN A YEAR OF PURCHASE:Our Sauvignon Blanc, Rose, LDR

DOES NOT BENEFIT HUGELY FROM CELLARING BUT STILL FINE TO DO:Our Sparkling Pinot, Pinot Noir dry red, Tempranillo-Graciano

BENEFITS GREATLY FROM CELLARING:Our Chardonnay, Fume Blanc, Shiraz, Sparkling Shiraz, Lagrein

We were so thrilled to find that our inaugural vintages of the Fume Blanc and Chardonnay, in 2009 (!), cellared absolutely perfectly.

This is somewhat surprising, given that not all chardonnays do stand up with cellaring, and especially with regards to the Fume Blanc being made from 100% sauvignon blanc fruit.

What we find year upon year is incredibly heady aromas, ones that you could dive into, in both varities, starting at about the 4-years of age mark. These continue right through to the palate, bringing on words in our structured tastings like 'umami', 'truffle' and 'butter' - all the while retaining that mouthwatering acid from when they were youngsters, to make these the most sophisticated of cellared whites.

Rob has developed the Somerled Shiraz in the same way that he did when he was hands on with Penfolds Grange, St Henri, Bin 389 - and the rest!

Take dark, ultrapremium, rich, flavoursome small berries. After crushing leave on skins for up to ten days to extract all of that incredible colour, flavour and tannin. Barrel-age for 2 years to get full maturation, integration of fruit and oak, settling of tannins and complex secondary aromas.

That sets you up for a full-bodied, mouthfilling red at the 3-6 year mark - and an increasingly refined, complex and soft shiraz up to the 10-15 year mark. It's right up there alongside Grange. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Sparkling Shiraz goes through this same ageing process and is equally incedible.

Pour this one towards the beginning of the dinner or luncheon, as the older it is the more subtle its characters will be. Younger reds can follow after.

Stand the bottle up 12-24 hours prior to serving, so that any sediment sails down to the base of the bottle.

Decant into preferred vessel, gently holding the bottle still at a 90deg angle, therefore not tipping the sediment towards the neck. Once almost all wine has been decanted you'll notice, probably but not necessarily, elements of sediment and that's when you can stop pouring. You may 'waste' a half or full inch of wine, but it will be worth it. Rob likes to then rinse the bottle of sediment using filtered water, and decant the wine back i (double decanting) so that he can serve from the bottle itself, but that's a personal preference!

Do I really need one?

If you don't have a lovely, cool, dark place in your house that stays at consistently low temperatures - the answer is yes!

It's not the end of the world of course, but fluctuating temps, or consistently high temps, will cause the wine to 'cook' (okay - it's a series of chemical reactions that speed up under extreme heat) which might leave you with a drinkable wine - if you're lucky - but not the one you paid for.

Lots of work arounds here are places towards the centre of the house, that don't see or feel as much heat, and of course home built cellars!

Cellar temperature is below our normal nfoor living temperature.

You may have had your rich shiraz or elegant pinot on the counter for the past day or two in preparation for pouring - but that makes it 'room' temperature.

Rob literally pops it into the fridge door for half an hour before pouring, bringing it down to a beautiful cellar temperature for reds. So much more of the aroma and palate is available to you at this temperature, and it means tasting the wine at its most exquisite!

On that note - almost the opposite is true for whites! Many of you may keep your chardonnay out of the refrigerator for half an hour prior to serving, and that's exacty what Rob does much of the time! When it's not cracking cold, some heady and beautiful aromas and flavours come to the fore!