Barossa Valley Estate E and E Black Pepper Shiraz 2016
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For more than a quarter of a century E&E Black Pepper Shiraz has earned a reputation as a defining wine of the Barossa Valley, one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions. E&E Black Pepper is our winemaker’s classification benchmark, for the selection of fruit that exhibit those rare Black Pepper Shiraz characters and concentration of fruit flavors found in exceptional vintage years. A floral bouquet of violet, black cherry, and black pepper spice on a richly textured dark center with powerful fruit intensity and elegance, seamless from start to finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Dense and muscular, showing appealing focus to the dark chocolate, blackberry paste, sage and huckleberry flavors, with espresso notes weaving in and out. Cigar box aromas emerge on the finish, where thick tannins offer a dense backbone and a touch of rusticity. Drink now through 2036.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2016 Barossa Valley Estate E&E Limited Release Black Pepper Shiraz stays generous and long on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine offers powerful and persistent aromas and flavors of black fruit, pepper, and oak. Enjoy it with grilled short ribs. (Tasted: October 5, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a big, oaky Barossa red that’s set up for the long haul. For now, the nose is somewhat austere, quietly showcasing ripe dark berries, black olive, mocha and spicy oak. The palate is rich and muscular and showing a bit of alcohol heat. Taut and woody yet nicely structured tannins powerfully pull the plush, silky fruit and savory, herbal notes together. Fans of the classic, old school Barossa style will find this ticks the boxes. Drink 2023–2035. Delegat USA, Inc
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Barossa Valley Estate's philosophy is to capture the distinctive elegance, finesse, and vibrant fruit flavors of the Barossa Valley, one of the world’s most celebrated wine regions.
Along the foothills of the Barossa Valley, a tapestry of ancient red friable clay soils combines with a warm and dry climate to create a unique environment for vines to develop fruit that has a vibrancy and depth of flavor like nowhere else on earth. From the very beginning, our viticultural practices nurture the sustainable health of the vine that moderates vine vigor and yield, and produces small berries of intense flavor and distinctive varietal character.
Located in the heart of the Barossa Valley, Barossa Valley Estate focuses exclusively on premium red wines from the Barossa Valley. Barossa Valley Estate produces a range that represents the wine styles that made the Barossa great—Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and GSM.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.