This wine is made from selected premium parcels of Shiraz grown by Kurtz Family Vineyards. The wine was matured in a mixture of new and older French and American Oak hogsheads for 24 months prior to bottling. The bouquet shows a great expression of bright Shiraz fruit with plum, sweet vanilla, floral notes, and spice. Silky, dusty tannins combine with pure fruit to form an ample-weight wine with a supple consistency, and an agreeable complexity. Blackberry, violets, plum and chocolate flavours, together with loads of dried herbs, finish slightly sour but with good length.
Food Accompaniments
I suggest a big T-Bone steak, cooked as little as possible, a few greens, button mushrooms and some potato chips.
Viticultural practices:(such as trellising, clonal selection, soil information, etc.)
Yields per acre:
Old Vines @2 tonnes per acre, Younger vines @ 3 tonnes per acre
Appellation:
100 % Barossa Valley
Filtration and fining:
Wine is racked 3 times and course filtered prior to bottling. No fining or settling agents used.
Wood treatment and type of wood used (if any)
15% New American Oak, 10 % New French Oak, 25% Old French and 50% Old American hogsheads.
Length of barrel maturation:
24 months in total.
Other Viticultural Notes
Minimal irrigation was used during the 2005-growing season. A number of blocks were dry grown resulting in excellent colour and berry size. The use of straw mulching under vine is aiding us to restrict the amount of supplementary irrigation.
Winemaker's Notes
The wine consists of 5 different blocks that were picked and fermented at differing times. Ferments lasted 7 -10 days and were pumped over 3 times per day. Minor Acid adjustment was undertaken at the crusher and then prior to pressing. To add further complexity 3 different wineries were utilized for fermentation process. Malo culture was added at pressing with free run and pressings combined in all cases. Parcels were kept separate until final blending stage and the final blend remained in barrel for a further 4 months prior to bottling, this allows for full integration of all parcels.
Although suitable for current consumption, this wine will continue to improve with careful cellaring.
Analysis
Alcohol:
14.6
pH:
3.49
Total Acid:
6.88
Residual Sugar:
2.50
Free/Total Sulfur:
20/58
Other:
Other information you may wish to include (optional)
The vines range in age from 5 years to 45 years old. All fruit is grown by Kurtz Family Vineyards in the Barossa Valley. Traditionally these vineyards have no fence lines to divide the properties of you and your neighbour, instead a 'Boundary Row' is planted and the yield from this row is shared. We would like to share this 'Boundary Row' with you.
