1.5L 2017 1880 Vines Old Hill Shiraz
Planted in 1880 by Charles King, the 'Old Hill' or 'O.H' vineyard has produced some of the Hunter Valley's greatest red wines. Legendary winemaker Maurice O'Shea first made wine from the 'Old Hill' in the 1920's & 1930's. These early wines are still regarded as some of the greatest Australian wines of all time.
Shiraz
2017
About this Wine
Region
Hunter Valley, NSW
Winemaker
Adrian Sparks
Colour
Deep purple
Aroma
Intense dark fruits coupled with lovely spice and red berries.
Growing Conditions
An excellent year in the Hunter Valley. Dry throughout the growing season, the vineyards burst early but a cool spring slowed the growth periods, meaning ripening was around 2-3 weeks later than usual. December saw warm weather with average rainfall allowing for healthy and clean canopies giving excellent ripening conditions. January and February saw significantly lower than average rainfall conditions which meant ripening was even and let the team have the ability to pick fruit at its optimum ripeness.
Palate
Structural with powerful fruit, a long intense palate with seamless tannin.
Vinification/Maturation
Hand picked in three passes through the vineyard, only selecting the perfect bunches on each run. The fruit was destemmed & crushed into small open fermenters for a brief cold soaking period where intense colour was gained immediately. Fermented at 18-25˚C for approximately 9 days. Gently pressed to large format French oak barrels (~25% new) for almost 13 months maturation, before blending and bottling.
Alcohol/Vol
14%
pH
3.45
Acidity
6.4
Food Matches
Prime-rib steak with green peppercorn sauce
Peak Drinking
Will reward cellaring for up to 50 years.
Professional Reviews
98 Points - James Halliday
2020 Halliday Wine Companion
"Bright crimson-purple; a masterpiece from the ground up to the wine in the glass. It is absolutely no more than medium-bodied, but it has extraordinary drive and length, achieved without any visible effort. Blackberry is joined by satsuma plum, then these two reveal savoury/earthy, ripe tannins to put its terroir in letters writ large."
97 Points - Gary Walsh
Wine Front
"My feeling is that this is probably the best of the ‘block wines’ from 2017. I could be wrong. It’s all a matter of taste, after all.
I put my nose into it, and thought, ‘It’s Hunter Barbaresco!’, and while that’s coloured by my somewhat skewed view of wine, there’s no doubt that this wine is, in short, ‘The Business’. Deep, resonant, black fruit, pepper, spice and chocolate, with a floral perfume above, perhaps a little amaro herb. Moving to full-bodied, but very fresh and energetic, tannin floods the mouth, but it’s more waving than drowning, earthy, boysenberry, red fruits bobbing up, wonderful concentration, and sticky ribs of tannin and perfume running on a very long finish. Outstanding".
