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Region: Australia - Southeastern Australia - Victoria
Grapes: 84% Shiraz, 8% Sauvignon Blanc, 8% Pinot Gris
Alcohol: 12%
Notes on the Wine
A sparkling of complexity and drinkability. With 3 hours of skin maceration, this wine has a bright salmon color. The nose is of pickled watermelon, orange oil, lemon myrtle, and acacia blossoms. On the palate, the effervescence is energetic but soft, with refreshing acidity and juicy fruit weight.
Hand-picked in early March and fermented with native yeast. Allowed to settle prior to racking, ahead of a temperature-controlled wild yeast ferment, all the way to dry. Once settled, the wine is charged with a fresh parcel of Mt Alexander Pinot Gris juice to reignite fermentation prior to bottling. No disgorging required.
Pyren’s estate vineyard is farmed organically (uncertified); its sedimentary soils rich with quartz formations. Red/brown clay loam feature across the property, with the most elevated vines growing in shallow soils over sandstone and schist formations. Alluvial clay silt is evident at lower elevation, albeit with consistent quartz stone laced throughout. Pyren is planted exclusively in an E/W orientation, providing invaluable shade to both fruit and earth in the warmest part of the day.
Notes on the Producer
Brothers Brian and Kevyn Joy planted Pyren Vineyard in 1999, surrounded by state forest and farmland in Western Victoria’s Pyrenees GI. Their site is in the Warrenmang Valley, offering rolling hills and a cooler-climate pocket, allowing for the successful planting of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, sauvignon blanc, cabernet franc, malbec, and petit verdot.
In 2003, Brian’s son Leighton worked his first vintage at the family vineyard—and he was hooked. Leighton attended viticulture school and worked harvest elsewhere, but knew that back at Pyren was where he wanted to end up. In 2012 he took the reins from his father and uncle, becoming Pyren’s general manager and chief winemaker. Graeme Miles joined the team soon after, as the viticulturist, and the pair have evolved Pyren Vineyard for the next generation.
The house style of Pyren “is to meld the expression of very high quality fruit with integrity and artistic freedom.” This philosophy has resulted in the development of several unique ranges. The Earthscape range seeks to express single grape varieties grown on quartz soils, in terroir-driven (though somewhat unexpected) ways – sauvignon blanc aged in old oak, carbonic cabernet franc, and near-dry sparkling shiraz.
Another range is called “Little Ra Ra”, and has allowed Leighton and Graeme to register more playful expressions of the Pyrenees (as well as other sites throughout Victoria)—think: chillable Heathcote nero d’avola, whole-bunch skin-contact sauvignon blanc, and a slightly turbid pét nat. Pyren also produces a Reserve range – the best fruit, traditionally handled, and destined for age-ability.
