The Frederick Stevenson Sangiovese is one of the most unexpected and rewarding wines in Steve Crawford's range — a variety sourced from the Adelaide Hills rather than the Barossa heartland, the cooler climate doing exactly what Sangiovese demands: preserving freshness, tightening structure, and keeping alcohol in check without sacrificing the variety's characteristic depth. Since taking on this vineyard in 2017, Crawford has been drawn to its ability to provide elegant, cool-climate fruit expression from the nose through to the mid-palate, while carrying the present and tight Sangiovese tannin and spice that makes it a compelling drink — a long, mild and dry ripening season delivering extended flavour and tannin development. The winemaking approach is characteristically restrained: destemmed and fermented on skins, pressed to older foudre where it matures for 12 months, bottled with minimal intervention to preserve natural brightness and personality. Dark cherries, plums and raspberries on the nose with background forest floor and gamey notes — on the palate cherries, spiced plums, dried rose petals, balsamic strawberries and drying tannin, with a clean exit to fresh acid and slight tea and tobacco notes. Sizzling with Frederick Stevenson's trademark silky, lithe movement — cherry, plum, dried flowers, bay leaf, camphor and spice — medium-bodied with a fleshy, fruit-driven mid-palate and firming al dente tannins.
