The Strapper GSM

The GSM blend is a stalwart of the Barossa. The three red varieties have been planted in the region for nearly 170 years, and in the past were commonly blended to make fortified ‘tawny port’ style wines. After World War II the same blend started to become popular in table wines. ‘Grenache Shiraz Mataro’ is a bit of a mouthful - hence the birth of the colloquial ‘GSM’.

About the Vineyard
A wet winter led into a dry spring, resulting in smaller berries, bunches and crop levels. The reduced berry and crop size has produced grapes with great aromatics and flavour. It was a long and mild summer with very few heat spikes and wonderfully cool nights. The long ripening of the three varieties resulted in a wine of great aroma and flavour.

Wine Production
The three GSM varieties are picked separately for this wine and wild fermented in small batches – some in oak and some in stainless steel. The subsequent wines are aged in a mixture of large and small oak vats, puncheons and smaller oak barrels to allow the wines to develop without the influence of too much oak flavour and to increase textures and complexity. Matured for 12 months in new French oak hogsheads and puncheons (12%), balance in older French, Hungarian and American oak hogsheads,French oak puncheons and barriques.