Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
From a single plot of 1853 vines, this has striking grey-stone and gravel aromas with some flinty notes, as well as violets, pepper, leaves, orange zest and pot-pourri. The complexity is very delicately nuanced around fresh blueberries and cherries. The palate has striking intensity and depth. Very low yields are driving rich flavors of blueberries and red plums. Such sleek, smooth tannins hold so long. Wow. Drink over the next 20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This hand-tended, bush vine vineyard is thought to be the oldest planting of Mourvedre on own roots in the world. 2018 was a sensational vintage in the Barossa—the wines across the board have been imbued with vitality, ripeness and intensity. This 2018 Old Garden Mourvedre is all of that, but there is a tobacco-esque leafiness that ensures levity on the palate. The flavors undulate through the finish long after the wine has gone, showing the concentration and longevity (in every sense) of old vines. This vineyard is a truly remarkable historical landmark that continues to produce fruit to this day. I think it's the texture that makes this great: it is silky, supple and smooth... all the way through the finish.
Rating: 95+
Full of ripe fruit, and robust, earthy goodness, Mourvèdre is actually of Spanish provenance, where it still goes by the name Monastrell or Mataro. It is better associated however, with the Red Blends of the Rhône, namely Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Mourvèdre shines on its own in Bandol and is popular both as a single varietal wine in blends in the New World regions of Australia, California and Washington. Somm Secret—While Mourvèdre has been in California for many years, it didn’t gain momentum until the 1980s when a group of California winemakers inspired by the wines of the Rhône Valley finally began to renew a focus on it.
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.