There are three polygons that have, since the very early days, looked like they could stand apart as Single Polygon wines. Polygon 3 is 0.274 hectares (ha) and approximately 200 vines. Its soil profile is shallow red brown earth over deep chalky, sedimentary limestone which contains fractured schist and limited iron. Polygon 5 comprises two similar parcels of 0.12ha and 0.25ha, a total of 0.37ha. These Polygon 5 sections have deeper soils and well fractured schist with ferric clay (within the fractures).

Polygon 1 was defined in Pedro’s second visit in 2018. The block is 0.4ha which Pedro divided into separate areas and recommended that we exclude one section of 0.097ha which lacks the fractured schist of the other sections.

This blend of Grenache Shiraz Mataro allows us the opportunity to create great wines through combining different Polygons. The characteristics of the Old Quarter are underpinned by the Grenache from Polygon 4 which consists of schist and clay which is complemented with the lighter Grenache from Polygon 2 which contains hard schist and wind blown limestone. These components were blended with the Mataro from P6 and the Shiraz from P8 & P7.

Grenache is the champion here and these wines draw upon the 70 year old vines of the Old Quarter of the vineyard. Outside of the single Polygon releases, Fractures Grenache is the very best blend of rocky Grenache Polygons and parcels that we can make. It is the fine vine roots that live in the fractures of vineyard rocks that derive the mineral character and energy that define this wine. Polygon No. 2 Grenache, on dense, bony schist, forms the base of this wine and it is joined by the limestone rich component of Block 18 and the schist and clay oriented Polygon No. 5.

Striato Shiraz was born in an incredibly exciting part of the vineyard named ‘Spice Garden’, just to the north of the ‘Old Quarter’. It is planted to Shiraz on different soils, with limestone, schist and clay each dominating in different areas. We mapped these polygons with Pedro Parra in 2018, wielding three fascinating parcels to work with - Polygon 10, Polygon 11 and Polygon 14.

Since the original release in 2020, we have started to included small amounts of other Polygons (including Polygon No. 1 on schist and quartzite) in the blend as we strive to make the best possible Shiraz that we can. The one thing that remains constant is that the fruit gown in the limestone of Polygon No. 10 always make up the base of this wine. As the sourcing has spread into other parts of the vineyard we have changed the name of the wine to ‘Striato’, which refers to the striations, or long narrow abrasions, created by the movement of a glacier.

As we reach the 10 year anniversary of Alkina at 41 Victor Road, we’ve been reflecting on how much has been achieved in the vineyard during that time. As part of this ongoing process of soil health, vine health, vine architecture and fruit quality improvement, we celebrate this milestone with the release of three new ‘Estate’ Wines.