L.A.S Vino Pirate Blend 2023

Ray Jordan, W.A. Wine Review "I was fascinated to see what Peterkin would do with this blend of Portuguese varieties — touriga nacional, tinta cão, and sousão, from the 2023 vintage. To say I was not disappointed is an understatement. It is a brilliant wine loaded with rich, vibrant fruit, displaying slightly spicy plummy notes and dark chocolate richness. There’s energy and life coursing through it, and that silky-soft, satiny finish is quite exquisite. I don’t think I could keep my hands off this wine. It’s screaming out to be drunk now, but you could certainly leave it if you wished."

The Story
Pirates were the outlaws. The rule-breakers, fighters and adventurers who lusted after life with gusto. They drank with equal enthusiasm - liquor soothed the heat of the sun, made dark nights brighter and provided comfort during months spent at sea. The Pirate Blend is an ode to those salty sea dogs we have left behind and those still sailing today. To those willing to break the rules, challenge convention and live according to little more than passion and the pursuit of personal desire. It is also a fitting philosophy for the wine itself: three Portuguese varieties growing in Margaret River, blended without much concern for convention.

Vineyard & Vintage
The fruit comes from 40-year-old, dry-grown vines in Yallingup, planted on gravelly loam soils. The 2023 vintage provided excellent conditions, with warm, even weather allowing the fruit to ripen steadily and uniformly while retaining balance and freshness. Three Portuguese varieties form the blend, each bringing something quite different: Touriga Nacional (66.6%) provides the structure, depth and backbone; Tinta Cão (26.6%) contributes perfume, finesse and aromatic lift; while Sousão (6.9%), one of the darkest-skinned varieties imaginable, brings extraordinary colour, intensity and a final flourish of dark fruit.
And, as the pirates might have said: the darker the berry, the sweeter the fruit.

Winemaking
All fruit was hand-picked before undergoing both bunch and berry selection. Following fermentation, the wine spent 18 months maturing in barrique, allowing the individual components of the blend to soften, integrate and develop complexity. The finished wine was bottled under Diam and individually hand-waxed.
 

Variety: 66.6% Touriga Nacional 26.6% Tinta Cao 6.9% Souzao