Winemaker Notes
Heady aromas of intense, rich dark fruits such as satsuma plum, blackberry and mulberry fill the bouquet with dark chocolate, spices and savoury notes combining added complexities. The palate possesses a rich concentration, with flavours of liquorice, ripe blackberries, dark plums and black cherries, evolving into a darkchocolate and mocha finish with cinnamon spice.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A single plot, planted by Malcolm Seppelt in 1958. A very complex and intense array of tarry dark-plum, clove and cardamom aromas. Plum paste, currants, blueberries and black cherries, too. There’s a load of dark spice here. The palate has a very intense delivery of such concentrated and intense dark, ripe plum and blackberry-essence flavors. Aged for 36 months in new French oak barriques. Extended flavors, a dark-chocolate note and emulsified tannins. Unique and complex wine. Best from 2025.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Torbreck's 2015 The Laird boasts explosive aromas of Christmas spices, ripe plums, vanilla, hickory smoke and maple syrup. It's a big wine, loaded with fruit and oak, full-bodied, rich and velvety, adding hints of toasted coconut and cinnamon streusel on the long, almost dessert-like finish. For a more savory experience, age it a decade or so before pulling a cork.
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.