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BACKGROUND

Nashwauk is a new brand created by Kaesler Wines from its recently acquired McLaren Vale vineyard.

Kaesler’s first wine made outside its Barossa Valley home maintains its winemakers’ criteria using estate grown fruit of predominantly old vine plantings.

The search to find the right vineyard took some time before a 20ha property on Neill Road in McLaren Vale, Seaview sub region was bought in 2005. The 2006 vintage release is Nashwauk’s market debut. Nashwauk wines are made in small quantities (volumes outlined on wine labels) and the brand will probably peak at about 5000 dozen a year.

Creating a name for the McLaren Vale brand took time. After months of deliberation, inspiration was drawn from the undulating hills and magnificent view down the Fleurieu Peninsula where the cool waters of the Gulf of St Vincent wash the white sandy beaches. Nashwauk is the name of a cargo and migrant ship, built in Nova Scotia, which met an early grave in the waters off the Fleurieu, near Moana Beach, in 1855. She had set sail from Liverpool with 300 Irish immigrants on board who had the good fortune to survive the wreck. Ships in St Vincent’s Gulf often used lights from houses in the Mount Lofty ranges to navigate by, said winemaker Reid Bosward. “On the corner of the property there’s an old stone ruin which was once used as a shipping landmark. They used the lights they could see on shore and this house was used as a marker, he said.
"The only problem with Nashwauk is that the captain thought he was in Semaphore not Moana where he ran aground."

The label design for Nashwauk, from Canada’s Algonquin indigenous language meaning "land between", draws on the contours and valleys of the actual property, taken from satellite photos which formed as the inspiration for Adelaide designer Lesley High’s lino-cut artwork.

 

The Nashwauk Vineyards:

Seaview Sub Region:

The Nashwauk vineyard shares the terroir with neighboring vineyards for Kays, Chapel Hill and Coriole. The Seaview sub region is uniquely positioned between the coast and ranges at a higher altitude than other vineyards in the McLaren Vale region. Hill tops experience cooling sea breezes and the valleys benefit from the cool air streams returning towards the sea at night. Some of McLaren Vale’s oldest established vineyards are situated here. Fruit from the Nashwauk hilltops generally ripens earlier and produces peppery spicy, full bodied wines while the slower-ripening valley fruit can provide darker, bolder fruit characters such as plums and blackberry.

Seaview soils vary from red earth clay on limestone to sand on limestone and grey loam on clay. All of which can be found on the Nashwauk property.

"Our vineyards are between 12 and 40 years old with a mix of Shiraz, Tempranillo and Cabernet. It’s contour-planted and there's seven different soil types which can change every couple of metres making it a challenge," said Reid.

"But we’re in the business of making wine, not growing grapes and while yields may be lower this year, the quality’s good. We’ve won a Gold medal in Melbourne and Gold in Adelaide for our Wrecked Shiraz."

The Nashwauk vineyards total 20 hectares.