Powder monkeys were rookies during the great age of sail, their job in times of ship to ship combat was to fill the ancient open muzzle cannons with gun powder and shot. A perilous internship aboard the decks on a man of war, in reference to Frank Potts term of seamanship in the Royal Navy. Potts established vines along the banks of Bremer River in the 1850s, he named his first block Powder Monkey, it remains the source of Langhorne Creek's most eminent Shiraz, a stately wine of splendid concentration and remarkable seamlessness.
Bleasdale are one of Australia's most enduring family enterprises, their historic limestone cellars are National Trust and National Heritage listed. The ancient wineworks house a massive red gum lever press, which fifth generation Michael Potts employs every year to make a small batch, limited release wine. Behind the Bleasdale cellars is a single block of vine which is called upon at vintage, to release precious parcels of hand picked Shiraz. Grapes are destemmed into open fermenters, pumped over four times daily throughout vinification, drained and pressed for an extended maceration on skins, before racking to a high proportion of new French oak puncheons and hogsheads for a year's maturation.
Deep crimson colour. An intense fruit nose, the accent is on dense blackberry, licorice and bitter chocolate notes. Tapenade and black olive flavours, ripe plum and milled tricolour pepper characters, supported by a veneer of splendid French oak and fine, savoury tannins running through the length of palate. A match to the finest gourmandise, suckling pig and pink lamb.
