Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2003 Shiraz Old Bastard is a candidate for Shiraz of the vintage from South Australia. Exhibiting an inky/purple color along with serious velocity and intensity, it is a superb expression of top-notch Barossa Valley Shiraz. A glorious perfume of charcoal, blackberry liqueur, smoke, and vanilla is followed by an enormous, but neither heavy nor over-ripe wine that is a testament to the winemaking skills of Reid Bosward.
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James Suckling
Such a different expression, this vintage saw a lot of split fruit and there’s dried-berry character on the nose with a distinctive, sanguine, rust-like edge. The palate has a very intense tannin core with dense, almost nebbiolo-like tannins. There’s nothing aggressive here,. Smooth, fine and condensed tannins. Aging well. Drink or hold.
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.