Brown Brothers Shiraz 2013
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At Brown Brothers, located in northeast Victoria, mainland Australia's most southern wine region, the focus has always been on the winery's roots and the quality in the bottle. This philosophy is embodied in the company's motto "Nothing but the wine."
Brown Brothers owns 1,450 acres of vineyards and sources its grapes from five sites situated across a variety of climate, terrain and soil. These vineyards range from cool, high altitude areas to warm, dry valleys, allowing the winery to identify the perfect microclimate in which to nurture each varietal.
In 1989, Brown Brothers launched its pioneering Kindergarten Winery to mark the 100th anniversary of the family's first vintage. An enologist's dream, this state-of-the-art mini-winery is devoted to developing new viticultural techniques, enabling the winemaking team to experiment with several small batches of different grape varieties from various vineyard sites.
Though Syrah originated in the Rhône Valley of France, Australia is home to the oldest Syrah (called Shiraz here) vines on the planet. Found in Australia’s Barossa Valley, where phylloxera has never threated viticulture, these ancient vines are between 140 to 175 years old!
Having brought fame and merit to the country’s wine scene since the early 1950s, namely via the debut of Penfolds Grange, today Syrah (Shiraz) claims rank as the most widely planted grape in Australia. In fact, the amount of land dedicated to Shiraz in Australia is now almost equivalent to what it is in France. Australian Shiraz has its own personality with flavors and aromas of intense blackberry, fruitcake, menthol, tobacco leaf and umami. Conveniently one can find great Australian Shiraz at a variety of price points but the very best will be dense, gloriously complex and capable of long aging.