PRE-VINTAGE
RAINFALL: Winter (below average) | Spring (below average).
TEMPERATURE: Mild Spring and early Summer | No extreme heat.
UPSHOT: Balanced canopies and crop levels.
VINTAGE
RAINFALL: Summer (below average) | Autumn (below average).
TEMPERATURE: Days (warm) | Nights (cool).
UPSHOT: Compressed vintage | Fast late ripening curve | Powerful wines
SEPPELTSFIELD VINEYARD BLOCK: D Block.
VINEYARD: Very shallow red clay loam overlying shattered limestone | North-south oriented rows | Elevated Eastern aspect | Long, even sunlight.
UPSHOT: Reduced natural vine vigour.
HARVEST: 16 February to 2 March 2024.
FERMENTATION: De-stemmed | 10-12 days on skins | Open pump-overs
Basket pressed.
OAK: French oak (60% new, 40% seasoned) | Natural malolactic fermentation | 22 months’ maturation.
PROFILE: Dark fruit | Mocha | Cocoa | Cardamom.
TEXTURE: Great length | Layered.
Orora Glass Trophy — Best South Australian Shiraz
2026 Great Australian Shiraz Challenge
97 points — 2026 Great Australian Shiraz Challenge
96 points — Wine Pilot, Ken Gargett
“This is a bit special. Fully destemmed Shiraz from the Seppeltsfield Vineyard, fermentation was in French oak, 60% of it new. The wine then spent a further twenty-two months in oak for maturation. Opaque maroon, right to the very edge. This is a big, bold, powerful style of Barossa Valley Shiraz. Indeed, one might even call it ‘quintessential’, if they hadn’t used that name already. On the nose, there are rich notes of chocolate, cassis, cloves, blackberries, coffee beans, root vegetables, licorice and tobacco leaves. Even a flicker of blueberries. A force of nature, there is excellent length here through to ever-so-silky tannins and we see more and more coffee bean notes emerging towards the finish. Enjoy over the next twenty to thirty years.”
95 points — The Real Review, Huon Hooke
“Very bright youthful, vivid purple colour that stains the glass. Lots of oak on the first nose, with plumcake and preserved plums, mocha and a touch of liquorice; the palate is massive and dense, concentrated fruit and liberal oak, backed by masses of tannin, alcohol warmth and a long carry. A touch oaky at this juncture, but give it time. A blockbuster of a shiraz.”
