Clairault

Clairault

Clairault winery is named after Cape Clairault peninsular situated along the coastine of Margaret River's wine region. 3 hours south of Perth, Western Australia. Since its inception, Clairault has been recognised as a serious player in Margaret River. The winery was the 6th property to plant grapes in the Wilyabrup sub-region of Margaret River. Situated less than 4 kilometres inland from the Indian Ocean and 120 metres above sea level, the property is 230 hectares ( 570 acres ) in size, with an average of 300 sunshine days per year.

Now the winery was owned by the Martin Family, a new era has begun. Bill and Ena along with their 3 sons, Shane, Conor and Brian, bought the property in 1999. They immediately set about turning the winery into a "no compromise" operation.

No winery would be complete without a star winemaker. Will Shields joined Clairault as Chief Winemaker from Vasse Felix in 2003 and sole focus in the Clairault Estate and Clairault Range.

Clairault Estate Range

The Clairault Estate wines are handcrafted and specially selected from the oldest vines, now in their 30th years of production. They are matured in individual batches using 100% French oak. Will's strict guidelines ensure that only select barrels are used in the final blend. Yields can be as low as 2 tonnes per acre from bunch thinning by hand and spur pruning. The Clairault Estate Cabernet Sauvignon and Clairault Estate Canernet Merlot spend 24 months in oak prior to bottling. The Clairault Estate Chardonnay spends a total of 12 months in French oak with partial malolactic fermentation.

Clairault Range

The Clairault Range is also Estate grown fruit. The average age of the vines is 15 years and yields are as low as 2 tonnes per acre. The Clairault Sauvignon Blanc is un-oaked, the Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is 95% un-oaked and the Clairault Chardonnay is 70% un-oaked. On the whole, the winemaking is kept simple for this wine range allowing the fruit quality to speck for itself. The focus is on crisp, clean and crunchy flavours giving the wines their drink now appeal.

The Clairault Cabernet Sauvignon spends 18 months maturing in French oak and is a true reflection of elegant and balanced Margaret River wine. The Clairault Cabernet Merlot is matured in 1 to 4 years old French oak barriques for 18 months before blending developing a rich and dense palate with ripe tannins and a firm acidity. The fruit for their Clairault Shiraz is sourced from a grower in Wilyabrup who has been supplying Clairault for over 5 years. Pepper and savoury notes make their wine food friendly.

In 2004, Clairault Reserve Cabernet and Clairault Chardonnay won Gold at the London International Wine Challenge. In 2005, the Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2002 was awarded one of the TOP 100 WINES for 2005 at the Sydney International Wine Show and one of the TOP 5 Cabernet Sauvignon's produced in Australia in 2005 by Winestate. Following the success of the Canernet Sauvignon, the Clairault Chardonnay 2004 received the BEST in CLASS at the 2005 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London.

Thanks

Wingcent
wingcent@singnet.com.sg
http://mysignaturewines.blogspot.com
Singapore