Very dark ruby red, subtle and complex aromas of plums, prune, cherry, blueberry pastries, panforte, dark chocolate and earth follow onto a full bodied and intensely flavoured palate. Rich yet fresh on the palate, very fine and soft tannins and lingering complex flavours.
Background: The Turkey Flat Vineyard boasts some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world. Planted in 1847, these hard-working gnarled old vines are still producing fantastic grapes. They are dry grown with their roots extending metres into the soil in search of moisture. Much of the credit for the best Shiraz made in the Barossa is due to old vines such as these. The fact that these vines still exist is largely due to a farsighted quarantine scheme, in which South Australia was spared the phylloxera outbreak which devastated the vineyards of Europe, America and subsequently parts of Australia in the late 1800’s. Every spring a few of the finest barrels of Shiraz are selected to become base wines for this bottle fermented sparkling wine. Base wines are matured in seasoned French oak hogsheads for up to three years before being tiraged in the traditional champagne method. Following this second fermentation the wine is left to mature in the bottle on lees for 10 months before disgorgement and liquoring with very old Australian vintage port (ranging in age from 14 to 40 years). |
