Ministry of Clouds McLaren Vale Shiraz 2024
Regular price $34.00
Unit price per
We combined two separate picks from our own Onkaparinga Rocks vineyard, and three separate picks from a trio of sandy dry grown Blewitt Springs sites which were spread over more than a month. Whole-bunch inclusion ranged from 0% up to 60%, with approximately 33% whole bunches retained in the total blend, the rest gently de-stemmed to preserve whole berries for purity. Of the 18 separate ferments all were fermented wild, and either hand plunged or pumped over twice daily. Maceration on skins ranged from 8 days up to more than 30 days to build both complexity and retain freshness. After pressing, the wine was matured for 7 months in a combination of French oak hogsheads, puncheons, demi muids, and foudres. 14 % alc/vol.
'An exercise in slender power, bringing early picked McLaren Vale Shiraz characters exhibited by cool blue and red fruit with layers of coal dust and earth to entice, supported by a gentle oak creaminess, which progresses to the palate exhibiting a deep fruit weight kept bright, nervy, and fleshy and filed down nicely by a fine and mineral tannin line.' Bernice and Julian.
2024 ‘The 2024 Shiraz is sourced from the estate vineyard in Seaview in McLaren Vale. The fruit was picked over three weeks and treated as a series of small ferments and élevages. The fruit is being picked earlier and earlier in terms of ripeness, and the focus on detail and finesse is prioritized over glycerol and power. Aromatically, the wine leads with mulberry and blood orange, lavender and raspberry seed. It's really good. There was 33% whole bunches in the end, and it shows, serving the wine on the palate in the way that it emphasizes capaciousness and spice. There is some new oak (this is the cuvée that they use to season new oak, and usually the total is around 20% new), concrete and foudre, too. This is very good. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.’ 92 points, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate, December 2025.
After almost three decades shared experience in the wine industry, Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood decided to have a crack at their own (ad)venture. For them, Ministry of Clouds represents the relinquishing of past security and structure for the beguiling freedom and independence inherent in this, their own voice.
They seek fruit from distinguished vineyard sites mostly in McLaren Vale, but also in the Clare Valley for a crystalline expression of Riesling and across the Bass Strait for a flinty and somewhat wild expression of a Tasmanian Chardonnay. Their reds revel in Grenache, Shiraz, Mataro and Tempranillo fruit from a variety of mature vineyard sites through McLaren Vale, some up to 90 years of age.
Ministry of Clouds produce classic wines that show careful attention to detail, wines that speak of the land, that reveal the essence of the season; wines with perfect ripeness yet showing some tension, restraint and poise complete with crunchy texture, delicate balance and a somewhat modest built. They are wines that beg to be shared on a convivial table consumed with various foods, flavours and textures.