While the Eden Valley region is most associated with the white wine variety, Riesling, it also produces elegant, tautly structured Shiraz which is highly prized by winemakers. This Torbreck Shiraz cuvée is a skilful blend of fruit from a 40 year old Eden Valley Shiraz vineyard and an 80 year old Barossa Shiraz vineyard – a marriage of elegance and intensity.
The 2022 vintage enjoyed slow ripening in the cooler conditions made for a gentle and drawn out season, wines retained higher natural acidity, rich colours and fine tannins. The wines from 2022 will reward those patient enough to cellar them away.
Torbreck is the name of a forest near Inverness, Scotland. You’ll find more than a passing nod to the Celts in our wine naming conventions including Struie, which is a 157 metre high mountain in the rugged highlands of north-east Scotland. The view from the Struie down across the Dornoch Firth is as inspiring as that of the Valley floor from Eden Valley.
Maker:
Torbreck is a winery on a mission to become one of the world's great wine brands. Since 1994, they have remained committed to creating exceptional Rhone-style red and white wines that reflect the very best vineyards in Australia's famous Barossa region. Provenance is everything to them, and they believe that the Barossa is the most exciting place to make wine in the world. With a European sense of tradition, Torbreck pays tribute to the vineyards with minimal intervention, creating wines of richness, structure and length that age gracefully. The multi-generational growers, whose descendants arrived here nearly two centuries ago, are the backbone of Torbreck's winemaking aspirations. They work in partnership with the people of the Barossa who grow their fruit, always aiming to get the very best out of their vineyard sites. At Torbreck, they constantly seek to understand the difference between all of these special places in the Barossa and how this combination of soil, climate and farming experience is reflected in unique grape flavours. They are simply custodians, enhancing the innate expressiveness of the wines and enabling them to reveal over time their individual origins and personality. Torbreck is actually named after the forest near Inverness, Scotland where the winery's founder, David Powell worked as a lumberjack after completing university studies.
Vineyard:
The 2022 vintage was characterised by above average winter rains making up for a dry autumn, leading to full canopies and healthy vines for the harvest. A severe hail storm across some parts of the Valley in late October resulted in lower average yields. The summer was remarkably mild with very few days above 30 degrees. Slow ripening in the cooler conditions made for a gentle and drawn out vintage season, resulting in wines with higher natural acidity, rich colours and fine tannins. The wines from 2022 will reward those patient enough to cellar them away.
Nose - Blueberry, Dark Chocolate, Sandalwood
Lifted aromatics of blackberry, blue berry, dark chocolate, sandalwood and graphite.
Palate - Plush, Black Fruits, Soft Round Tannins
On first sip the palate is welcoming and plush with black and blue fruits and soft round tannins. The fruit and acid intermingle nicely across the textured mouthfeel without any harshness or bitterness.
Finish - Seed Spices, Dried Meats, Savoury
Textural with a long finish. The tannins are soft yet concentrated and they will hold the powerful structure and fruit weight together for many years.
The 2022 The Struie is composed of 79% Barossa Valley and 21% Eden Valley fruit. It is impenetrably dense in the glass and aromatic and rich in the mouth. It's totally concentrated with impressive flavor penetration on the palate. This is an epic wine, as usual, and at $55 AUD, it represents sensational premium Barossa Shiraz drinking. It's all velvet and volume, with detail and varietal definition. It could only come from one place on the planet, as it speaks as much to its red dirt origins as it does to the variety, Shiraz. Drink 2024-2037. - Erin Larkin, Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate, 96 Points.
Seed spices, dried plums and dried meat to sniff, complex and appealingly savoury. Dark chocolate in the background. The palate is focused and deep, with good concentration as well as softness and approachability, in spite of its obvious cellar potential. - Huon Hooke, The Real Review, 94 Points.
The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Shiraz
Country - Australia
Region - Barossa Valley & Eden Valley, South Australia
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 6L
ABV - 15%
