The Laughing Magpie is a blend and style that has its roots once again in the Rh?Valley in a'Cote R?a', where Viognier is grown alongside the Shiraz in the vineyards and hence picked and vinified together to create a highly perfumed red wine. d'Arenberg has taken this idea and produced its own variation on this marriage of red and white grapes and with a uniquely McLaren Vale twist, has produced a wine with a fragrance of flowers combined with ripe, spicy Shiraz characters. As with all d'Arenberg wines, gentle and traditional winemaking processes are employed. Ripe bunches of Shiraz and Viognier were gently crushed by the a'Demoisya' open a€¡°mouthed, rubber toothed crusher, before fermentation together in the headed down open fermenters. The still fermenting juice was then transferred using the peristaltic action of our must pump to be basket pressed by our a'Coqa' and a'Bromley and Tregoninga' presses, followed by 12 months maturation in American and French oak barriques, before bottling on site.
