The 2019 season in the Yarra Valley can broadly be characterised as a vintage of two very distinct halves. Nine One Six was picked in the first half, ahead of the heat spike that largely defined the course of the 2019 vintage. 

The decision to harvest on the earlier side of the ripeness spectrum revealed an entirely fresh perspective to the property, with intense, highly perfumed fruit delicately wrapped in a light-to-medium body. This release presents an elegance that reflects the moment in time; the harvest decisions, the definite winemaking responses, and the general movement towards a style that is both contemporary and classic at once… ultimately transmitting 2019’s inimitable vitality.

The South block delivers its red fruit and wild herb characters true to form, while the West provides structure, a darker and deeper fruit quality, as well as waves of floral nuance. And…these fragrant wild herbs are such a signature of the Nine One Six property, and such a feature of the 2019 release. 

West and South-West Winemaking: Whole bunches were placed in open-top fermenters and sealed. Fermentation began naturally after 6-7 days; a combination of carbonic maceration and alcoholic fermentation taking place. Once fermentation peaked and temperatures increased beyond 32 degrees, ferments were foot-stomped once per day to softly burst open the berries and encourage gentle extraction. Foot-stomping took place over a period of four days, after which the ferment was left to soak for a few days to build structure, and then pressed to barrel to complete fermentation. 

South Winemaking: Fruit was placed in a stainless steel open-top fermenter with the lid sealed for a 7-day period of carbonic maceration to express the full aromatic range of the fruit.  The parcel was then de-stemmed to complete alcoholic fermentation on skins, with a further 3 weeks post-fermentation maceration on skins to build layers and structure, before pressing to tank. After a few days of settling, the wine was racked to 228 litre barrique barrels, ranging from 2-5 years old.

Maturation of all parcels took place in neutral barrique barrels on gross-lees for a period of 12 months before racking to tank for a further 2 months. Blending and bottling took place in July 2020, under very minimal levels of sulphur.