Bethany Wines - GR9 Reserve Shiraz 2004

Producenten udtaler:

“Reserve wines are a product of evolution rather than creation...” In our case, the GR series evolved after 11 years of Shiraz making. The variety which the Barossa is most famous for was also the most widely planted in our family vineyards and when we made our first wine in 1981 we decided to keep parcels of fruit from different vineyards separate.

The classification was made in the vineyard on the basis of micro-climate, soil type and viticultural technique, the parcels were processed separately in four tonne fermenters, and matured separately in new and used American hogsheads for varying lengths of time. Over a decade one parcel of fruit kept grabbing our attention. It came from a small vineyard of less than 5 acres in the foothills of the Barossa Ranges, from old vines on classic Barossa red brown earths overlaying limestone. The vines produce small berries which provide maximum flavour and colour and the breezes on the foothills ensure gradual ripening and fine tannins.

The GR Philosophy It is not every year that we make a GR. Each vintage the red wines are assessed and a decision is made; is there a parcel of GR quality? We aim to produce a traditional wine which expresses the varietal Shiraz fruit flavour as much as possible.

The bouquet should be ripe and powerful, the tannins fine and elegant and a palate that has extraordinary weight and length, balanced, to support and express the fruit flavour.

Awards This wine comes from a lineage of award winners; in 2004 the 1998 vintage took the title of The Visy Board Great Australian Shiraz Challenge Trophy, and The Frescobaldi Trophy at The International Wine & Spirits Competition in London. Both the 1999 GR7 vintage and the 2002 GR8 were highly rated by James Halliday with 5 stars and a score of 94.

After an absence in 2000 & 2001, the 2004 is an another exciting addition to this Reserve Series. The GR9 Tasting Notes The 2004 vintage saw generous fruit characters and typical Barossa full bodied flavours expected from this varietal and has provided us with a wine that is dense ruby red with some hints of deep purple. Ripe plums, mulberries and chocolate notes backed by oaky vanillin nuances fill the bouquet and follow on to plumy, briery flavours on the palate tempered with toasty oak flavours.

This wine is showing good concentration and weight featuring well integrated, fine grained tannins, it is built to last, a superb food wine with typical Barossa pedigree.