Winemaking at Coriole is a very traditional process but we also like to experiment and try different techniques to see the influence on wine style. Red wines are mainly open fermented in stainless steel or old wax lined concrete tanks. Ferments are hand plunged. A portion of new oak is used for many of our estate reds but many wines such as Sangiovese and Redstone Shiraz are specifically matured in older oak to gain maturity with minimum contribution of oak flavour and extract in the wine.
It is an old maxim that good wine is made in the vineyard. Fortunately Coriole owns or manages most of the vineyards where our grapes are sourced. One of the features of the winemaking is that each block or part of a block is processed separately to maximise the potential of the fruit. This also allows the wine quality to be linked to the vineyard management of each block.
Download our vineyard map here.
The winemaking team at Coriole is led by Senior Winemaker Duncan Lloyd, working with Assistant Winemaker Andy Zolotarev and Cellar Hand Max McHenry.
One of the great challenges (and pleasures) of wine making is to understand the complexity of all the vineyards and ensure that they are brought to full potential for each vintage. Every year can be a new experience with the new puzzles and solutions. Our vineyards are farmed organically without the use of synthetic inputs (certification pending).
The soils on the Estate vineyard are predominantly terra rossa soils. These soils are shallow with red-brown earth over hard capped limestone. The underlying geology is known as the Tapley Hill Foundation which is reputably over 700 million years old. This foundation tends to produce deeply coloured red wines with good structure and backbone that show great capacity for ageing.
The Estate vineyards are largely planted with shiraz vines, dating back to 1919. The variety balance grown at Coriole is roughly 65% shiraz, 10% sangiovese, 5% chenin blanc, 5% cabernet sauvignon and 5% nero d'Avola. The remaining 10% is made up of fiano, grenache, mourvedre and montepulciano amongst others. There are in total 25 different vineyards ranging from 90 to 3 years old. Coriole also manages small vineyards in the sub-regions of Blewitt Springs, Willunga and McLaren Flat giving us a range of different terroir to work with.
Coriole wines have been vegan friendly since 2012.