Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has fresh and intense blackberry and blueberry aromas on offer, with deep-set, spicy and sanguine threads, as well as fresh, loamy-earth tones. The palate has a sense of smoothly delivered power and the tannins come late and rich on the finish. Bold and round blueberry and blackberry flavors saturate the finish. Still very fresh and has plenty in the tank. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Racheting up the level of concentration, intensity, flamboyance as well as structure is the 2001 Shiraz Old Bastard. Although expensive, it is produced from 110-year old vines, and represents one of the great classics from Barossa. When compared to the price of a wine such as Penfolds Grange, it is a reasonably good bargain. The inky purple color is accompanied by gorgeous aromas of smoke, camphor, melted licorice, blackberries, cherries, and flowers. Dense, rich, and full-bodied with the wood well-concealed beneath spectacular concentration and extract, there is not a hard edge to be found in this old vine Barossa Shiraz. Anticipated maturity: 2005-2018.
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Wine Spectator
A big but remarkably elegant wine, focusing its pure blueberry, blackberry and plum flavors on a laser beam of finely balanced tannins and judicious acidity, persisting on the finish with glints of white pepper, licorice and coffee. Serious stuff that begs for cellar time. Best from 2010 through 2025. 400 cases made.
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Wine Enthusiast
Gets 100% new French oak for two years, and it shows. This is a big wine, with jammy berry and plum fruit that's doused in toasty, smoky flavors. Similar caramel-vanilla notes ring true on the nose. Finishes in a crescendo of caramel, and black plum and berry flavors. Excellent, to be sure, but also just massive. Don't try to drink this with anything other than a date and a bearskin rug—it's just not going to go with dinner.
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.