Varietal: 100% Grenache
Region: Barossa Valley
Vineyards: Three Springs Vineyards, Kleemann
Vines: Centenarian Bush Vines (1916), Survivor Vines (1926)
Oak: New & seasoned French oak hogsheads
Analysis:
Alc/Vol: 14.5%
pH: 3.58
Titratable acid: 5.61g/L
Food Pairing: Steamed pork buns
Cellaring: Drink now to 2029
Dark ruby in colour, layered with prominent aromas of blackberry hedgerow fruit, plum skin and freshly picked strawberry ahead of teasing glimpses of ground cumin, cracked pepper and porcini broth.
On the palate dark cherry and red currant join the ever present strawberry notes to give some upfront creamy texture to the mouthfeel. The presence of fine, present tannins arriving later in the piece provide genuine framing and corset the wine around the edges thus providing a clear line of travel and a focused end point.
Hand harvested, berry and bunch sorted and in the case of the 2019 wholly destemmed. The wine is placed into either traditional open top fermenters or large format oak where the wine undergoes pre-fermentation cold soak before being gently pumped over or punched down by hand according to winemaker specifications so as to obtain optimal colour and retain complex fruit flavours. Additional post fermentation maceration usually occurs before the wine is then drained and pressed to barrel.
Free run and pressings are usually kept separate and a combination of new and seasoned 600 litre puncheons are used for a maturation of 12 months.
The wine is then prepared for bottling before seeing some further time in bottle prior to release.
The Three Springs vineyard is located on the site of the original Schild family estate.
Situated on historic Narrow Road at Rowland Flat, this vineyard sits at 300 metres above sea level. The bush vines planted in 1926 are classified as ‘Survivor Vines’ in the Barossa Old Vine Charter. The Kleemann Vineyard is situated high in the Eastern Hills overlooking Rowland flat from an elevation of 320 metres and provides the ‘Old Vine’ grenache planted in 1985.
The 2019 growing season commenced with a warmer than average winter and spring followed first by a couple of hot spells before near perfect conditions arrived later in the season as we closed in on harvest dates. This all resulted in some early harvest sugar accumulation in some blocks without necessarily the required flavour development in the grapes. A year when there was no substitute for winemakers spending significant time in the vineyards. With well managed canopies and moisture, flavour components caught up and while yields were low, the resulting quality was very good.
