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Dear //FirstName// The great beauty of making wine is that each year you quite literally capture a season and all its vagaries in a bottle to be released and remembered at a later date. One of the great joys of drinking wine is the eager anticipation of what each new release may bring. As such we are delighted to announce the cellar door release of our 2013 Old Vine Garden wines. As far as vintage 2013 was concerned, there is no greater truism than ‘from difficult times come the best of wines.' The preceding winter and spring were dry enough with rainfall virtually ceasing by mid-September and then the Barossa Valley had its driest November since 1967. The subsequent low yields coupled with what turned out to be ideal temperatures through January and February promoted exceptional berry flavour development and even ripening. The results were outstanding wines, particularly Shiraz and Grenache, but in excruciatingly low numbers. Therefore at the risk of sounding like a sales pitch, I am advising anyone wanting Fifth Wave Grenache, Orphan Bank or Freedom Shiraz, to get in quick. (Having only 84 cases of Freedom left in cellar door–it will be gone all too soon and the others won’t be far behind!) On the plus side in 2013 we didn’t make a Jackaman’s Cabernet Sauvignon at all. A plus I hear you ask? As you may recall, back in the mild and moist vintage of 2011 (when we didn’t make any Old Vine Garden Shiraz) the Bordeaux-like conditions gave us a cracker Cabernet. Combined with an extra 2 years in the bottle our ‘new release’ 2011 Jackaman’s is being taken up with glee by the die-hard Cabernet fans out there! Speaking of pluses, you may also notice in the below photo that a white wine has joined the Old Vine Garden stable. Coming from the tangled 45 year old vines of our cooler Eden Valley vineyard, this fresh and zesty Riesling will drink beautifully over the Christmas period but will age well for a decade or so for those who appreciate the complexity time can bring to the variety.
This latest Old Vine Garden release really does have something for everyone, but I stress the need to order soon to avoid disappointment.
Kind regards as always, Jonathan Bitter Cellar Door Manager |
