BAROSSA SA
'Cottage Block Shiraz'

In The Vines 'Cottage Block Shiraz' - Delicious

 

Planted by Johannes Benno 'Jack' Bartsch, Rita Henschke's husband, in 1995 to compliment their old vine 'Shandy Block',

centennial cuttings from the famed, Hill of Grace family vineyard at Parrott Hill.

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How do we make such exceptional wine?

 

During our custodianship, we could see the 'young vine' block, on 'permanent arm' pruning had had its time,

with extensive signs of eutypa we undertook the careful maintenance of taking them back to 'Rod & Spur',

and bam!, the results, the return of a clean healthy vines, rejuvenating the whole block, free again to produce exceptional fruit,

drawing from their coveted terroir, deep rooted through heavy clay into the abundant limestone beneath.

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Grown with organic, sustainable methods, fed with rich fertigation through bore drip irrigation,

the fruit they produce just kept getting better.

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The secret in the picking - We have learnt a lot, with generous neighbours and customer reminding us that,

'Great wine is made in the vineyard' !

 

Volatile seasons bring weather from scorching heat to complete frost, floods across the valley beneath us to serious drought,

each vintage bring new surprises, no matter how many you might have done, it's going to be different.

 

Careful, repeated sampling across the block as ripening progresses, tasting berries for flavour,

crunching the seeds within, looking for that tell-tale nutty crunch from earlier tart green soft chewiness,

checking for beaumé, potential alcohol from the sugar levels in the grape, 

all setting up that perfect day when carefully hand picking will result in wine that 'sings in the glass'

- so long as the process is perfected.

 

'Trust the process' - Enter our neighbour, teacher, mentor, respected and much awarded winemaker, Ben Chipman.

The Chipman's winery, Tomfoolery, as you will no doubt be familiar have developed processes refined through almost every type of vintage,

learnings from around the world, resulting in their own distinct method, producing many of the Barossa's most exceptional wines.

 

We did a little of our bit too, using almost forgotten skills, helping maintain and improve the presses, pumps and more - win win !

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Perfectly picked fruit - ~Twenty percent whole bunch, topped up with remaining destemmed grapes,

poured whole into open fermenters, bringing natures own yeasts from the vine, 

the resulting juice breaking down and fermenting the sugars into alcohol.

Slowed with two 'chill' pump-overs each day for eight to twelve days, vintage dependant,

numbers checked, method tweaked, 

until ready for the free juice to be extracted, the remaining berries slowly basket pressed overnight.

With their treasured 'pressings' brought together with the 'free pour',

providing the important layers, the power, from which the best wine will come.

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Left now to settle in stainless tanks, the early lees dropping out,

allowing the first 'racking' into a mixture of reworked and new French oak, where the magic continues.

Secondary fermentation smoothing any remaining sharp acids, perfecting that all important final mouth-feel.

Another rack-and-return, absolute minimal sulphur added, only to 'keep the wine' from over oxidation before being locked away, 

bottled in around eighteen months, then left to rest again for a further vintage,

before released and ready for you...

So is it the unique mix of abundant bird life around the vineyard?
The rabbit's, hare's, kangaroo?  

Or the lizard's, brown snakes, or about a billion wolf spiders?!

Whatever, it all goes into making our Cottage Block Shiraz.

We hope you like too...

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Andrew, Josie & Lizzie Shaw

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