150 YEAR OLD BUSH VINES IN THE ANGASTON FOOTHILLS, A RARE TREAT

Old vine Barossa grenache vineyards are a rare treat. Walking amongst the old bush vines gives me such a wonderment of what has transpired in the years gone by to get to this moment in time. It’s like i am breathing the air of times past - it can be truly something quite moving and somewhat magical.

I’ve been working with Barossa grenache since my first vintage and whilst versatile, it can easily become overly sweet and some people can even call it lolly water. But not this special site - no way josé. It gets cool air draining from the Eden Valley across the red sands, so i’ve found it leans more toward complexity and structure, which is what pushes my buttons.

How do i treat such a special site - pretty simply is the answer. 100% whole bunches get a foot treading over several weeks, I press it to large oak barrels and bottle it unfined and unfiltered.

That means when i taste this wine I’m still caught up in the magic from the vineyard that has transpired for well over a century. I’ll wipe the tear from my eye as i have another glass.

TECHNICAL STUFF

VINEYARD:

• Angaston, Barossa Valley

• Red sands over red and yellow clays

• West facing slope with cooling gully breezes

WINEMAKING:

• Hand harvested, foot treaded and fermented whole cluster

• Fermented over two weeks with wild yeasts

• Basket pressed to large oak for 21 months elevage

• Bottled unfined and unfiltered