Blue Boy - Pumped up shiraz
Appassimento (apparently!)
Why Blue Boy?
Blue Boy is named in honour of our forgetful winemaker, famous for his blue denim shirts and grumpy demeanour. Pumped up Shiraz is a creation of his folly.
One harvest a mysterious batch of concentrated, intense Shiraz grapes turned up at the winery. Our cheeky winemaker Blue Boy boldly claimed that he had deliberately left the grapes to over-ripen following the famous Italian technique of ‘Appassimento’. In reality he had simply forgotten to pick them!
Either way, the results were magnificent and Blue Boy’s Pumped Up Shiraz was born. Intense flavours of plum, chocolate and sweet spices over rich, velvety tannins make this a winning wine. Sometimes a little forgetfulness can go a long way!
Appassimento – What it IS…
Appassimento is an old Italian wine making technique almost entrirely, but not exclusively unique to the Valpolicella region. It refers to the process of drying out grapes after harvest on flat wooden shelves for a period of anywhere between 2 to 6 months. As the grapes dry out in the cool air the sweetness and aromas are concentrated making for wines with great richness and texture.
Appassimento – What it IS NOT…
Regardless of how good the results may be, Appassimento is most certainly NOT the process of completely forgetting to pick a particular plot of grapes and then claiming that it was calibrated winemaking decision to try and emulate the famous Italian technique.