2004 Sparkling Chardonnay
An exceptional parcel Eden Valley Chardonnay from the relatively cooler 2004 vintage presented the opportunity to make this bottle fermented sparkling wine. Extended ageing on lees has given brooding toasty nuances and a full creamy palate. Aromas of elderflower, nougat and nectarine are all carried by a vibrant bead. Showing impressive Chardonnay length and richness on the palate it is an exciting addition to the Turkey Flat range.
The Wine
Oak Treatment - Fermentation in seasoned French oak hogsheads
Bottled - November 2004
Colour - Straw
Nose - Elderflower, peach, nectarine, nougat, cashew, honey
Palate - full and creamy with lifted citrus characters and crisp acidity
Cellar - Drinking well now
Alcohol - 12.2%
Disgorged -July 2006
2008 Eden Valley Chardonnay
Our first Chardonnay has been produced from grapes grown in the high altitude, cool climate region of Eden Valley. The rough stony terrain has produced a wine of great elegance and finesse. Aromas of white peach, cashew nut and citrus blossom lead to a palate of fresh, ripe pear, rich Chardonnay intensity and a crisp, dry finish. Six months on lees in new and seasoned French oak has added to the luscious texture and mouth feel of this wine.
The Wine
Harvested - March 2008
Maturity At Harvest - 13.0’ Baumé
Yeast Type - EC1118
Skin Contact - None
MLF - Minimal
Time On Lees - 7 months
Oak Treatment - New and seasoned French oak
Bottled - September 2008
Colour - Pale straw/ yellow
Nose - Aromas of white peach, cashew nut and citrus blossom
Palate - Fresh, ripe pear, rich Chardonnay intensity and a crisp, dry finish.
Cellar -3-5 years
Alcohol - 13.6%
2009 Butchers Block White
The 2009 Butchers Block White is a blend of 57% Marsanne 32% Viognier and 11% Roussanne produced from fruit grown in our Stonewell and Bethany vineyards.
Marsanne & Roussane are premium varieties originating from the Northern Rhone in France where they are the dominant white grape varieties used in making the great white wines of Hermitage. Viognier also has it’s origins in the Northern Rhone, where it is used to make rich and aromatic white wines in Condrieu, or to soften and add complexity to the Syrah wines of Cote Rotie.
The grapes for the 2009 Butchers Block White were harvested during ideal weather conditions resulting in perfectly balanced fruit producing a wine of ideal balance and freshness.
This blend offers a complex nose of lemon and barley sugar, fresh apricots, and citrus peel with lifted aromas of orange blossom with nutmeg and toasted barrel nuances.
A rich, medium bodied white, the flavors of honey, pear and green apple are enhanced from partial barrel fermentation in French oak hogsheads. Extended lees contact has further contributed to the mouth-feel and structure of this wine.
T h e W i n e
Harvested - February 2009
Yeast Type - D47, D254 and EC1118
Skin Contact - minimal
MLF - minimal
Time On Lees - 6 months
Oak Treatment - 70% new & conditioned French oak hogsheads
Bottled -October 2009
Colour - pale straw with lime hues
Nose - Intense aromatics of almond and orange blossom.
Palate - medium bodied with subtle and complex flavours of crisp pear and stone fruit with a lemon sherbet finish.
Cellar - 5 to 7 years
Alcohol - 14% alc/vol
2007 The Last Straw
Inspired by the rare and luscious vin de paille of France’s Rhône Valley, this is the fourth release of this sweet white, made from 100% Marsanne grapes.
In both France and Italy a traditional method of obtaining concentrated sugars and flavours is to lay harvested grapes on straw mats where they are left in the sun to dehydrate.
We adopt a similar method, spreading out the bunches on our old apricot drying trays for up to six weeks before gently crushing and basket pressing. The unfermented juice is transferred into 112 litre French Oak barrels, where the wine will slowly ferment and mature until bottling.
Sweet wines of this style are not only suited to traditional desserts; served as an aperitif it will drink well with full flavoured savoury dishes such as blue cheese, foie gras or sardines.
T h e W i n e
Harvested - April 2007
Maturity at Harvest - 14.5’ Baumé
Baumé at Crushing - 19.0’ Baumé
Yeast Type - Zymaflore ST
Skin Contact - minimal
MLF - nil
Time On Lees - 3 months
Oak Treatment - 100% French oak
Bottled - November 2008
Colour - Straw yellow
Nose - Candied citrus zest, saffron, crushed brazil nuts and oak derived sandalwood aromatics
Palate - While complex and initially sweet, mouthfillingly rich flavours of ripe white peaches, honey and oatmeal are balanced with a delicate acidity allowing a dry finish.
Cellar - up to 5 years
Residual Sugar - 81 g/L
Alcohol - 14.5%
2009 Rose
Australia is ideally suited to producing and consuming wine as fruity, refreshing and reviving as an ice cool glass of Rosé. We enjoy the perfect climate and have the ideal grape varieties, as well as the perfect food culture to complement this style of wine.
Having been amongst the first to lead the great Rosé revival, it has been interesting to watch the popularity of this wine style grow. We dedicate one vineyard to Rosé ensuring continuity of style. Our Rosé is still drier than most and displays complexity and balance difficult to find.
The 2009 vintage has delivered another great Rosé. Following the small heat spike in January the Rosé production all went to plan. Displaying a brilliant ruby colour, with soft tannins and a crisp, dry balanced finish with complexity and elegance. Our Rosé fans will not be disappointed.
The Wine
Harvested - February 2009
Maturity at Harvest - 10°-12° Baumé
Varieties - Grenache (60%), Shiraz (19%), Cabernet Sauvignon (16%), Dolcetto (5%)
Oak Treatment - Nil
Bottled - June 2009
Colour - Ruby/Rose Petal Pink
Nose - Sweet perfumed red fruits
Palate - Upfront red berries with soft tannins and a crisp, dry balanced finish
Cellar - A fresh wine best consumed within the year, always serve chilled
Residual Sugar - 8 g/L
Alcohol - 12.5%
2007 Grenache
Grenache has it’s origins in Spain and is particularly well suited to the Barossa climate due to its ability to withstand extremes of heat, aridity and wind.
The fruit for this wine was predominantly sourced from 97 year old Grenache vines grown on the Turkey Flat Vineyard. These old vines produce fantastically concentrated fruit which translates into a style of Grenache for which Turkey Flat has become famous.
These vines are traditionally spur pruned, in the goblet style of Southern France and yields are kept low (around 2 tonnes/acre or approximately 32 hectolitres/hectare) producing wines of exceptional quality.
The 2007 Grenache is rich and earthy, displaying aromas of cherry, chocolate. The palate is full with stewed plum and anise overlain with warmth and peppery spices.
Full of rich fruit whilst young, this wine will develop more savoury characters with careful cellaring. Bottled under screw cap closure this wine will benefit from decanting prior to serving.
T h e W i n e
Harvested - March 2007
Maturity at Harvest - 15° to 15.5° Baumé
Yeast Type - L2226 and D254
Fermentation Temp - 15° to 28°C
Time On Skins - 7 to 14 days
MLF - spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 13 months maturation in seasoned French oak hogsheads & puncheons
Bottled - July 2008
Colour - deep plum to black cherry red
Nose - plums, dark cherry, chocolate aromas
Palate - full bodied with rich & fleshy spiced fruit flavours & even tannins
Cellar - up to 8 years
Alcohol - 15.5 % alc/vol
2005 Butchers Block Red
The Butchers Block is a traditional Barossa blend made with grapes selected from the Turkey Flat vineyards, including some from the original old vine plantings. It is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvédre (Mataro), with the proportions of each variety varying from vintage to vintage. The 2005 vintage of Butchers Block is a blend of 41% Shiraz, 40% Grenache and 19% Mourvédre.
Each varietal component of this wine was vinified separately in open fermenters and subsequently aged in both hogsheads and larger format French oak for approximately 18 months. The result is an intense warm, earthy full-bodied red with seamless oak integration.
The nose is rich with dark plum and violets and hints of cracked black pepper, cherry and juniper berry. The palate shows sweet lifted fruits with a hint gaminess and creamy vanillin oak character.
The tannin structure is long and restrained with a velvety finish.
The Wine
Harvested - April & May 2005
Maturity at Harvest - 15.2’ Baumé
Yeast Type - L2226
Skin Contact - 7 days
MLF - spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 18 months in French oak hogsheads & large oak vats
Bottled - June 06
Colour - deep ruby red
Nose - dark plum and cherry, violets & cracked black pepper
Palate - juicy sweet blackcurrants with some gaminess, velvety tannins & crisp acidity
Cellar - up to 8 years
Alcohol - 15.0%
2008 Butchers Block Red
The Butchers Block is a traditional Barossa blend made with grapes selected from the Turkey Flat vineyards, including some from the original old vine plantings. It is a blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvédre (Mataro), with the proportions of each variety varying from vintage to vintage. The 2008 vintage of Butchers Block is a blend of 52% Shiraz, 24% Grenache and 24% Mourvédre.
Each varietal component of this wine was vinified separately in open fermenters and subsequently aged in both hogsheads and larger format French oak for approximately 18 months. The result is an intense warm, earthy full-bodied red with seamless oak integration.
The nose is floral with hints of five spice, dark plum, cherry and blackcurrant. The palate is generous, displaying juicy sweet lifted fruits with a firm palate structure. An elegant and restrained wine with a velvety finish.
The Wine
Harvested - February, March 2008
Maturity at Harvest - 14.5’ Baumé
Yeast Type - L2226, D254 and EC1118
Skin Contact - 10-14 days
MLF - spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 18 months in French oak hogsheads & large oak vats
Bottled - November 2009
Colour - deep ruby red
Nose - dark plum and cherry, violets & five spice
Palate - juicy sweet blackcurrants and Szechwan pepper with firm tannins & crisp acidity
Cellar - up to 8 years
Alcohol - 14.5%
2007 Mourvèdre
Encounters with unblended Australian Mourvèdre are rare. The origins of Mourvèdre are almost certainly Spanish where it is often called Monastrell. It is the principal black grape of the five appellations that cluster on Spain's Southeastern Mediterranean Coast.
A very late variety in both bud break and ripening season, the Barossa Valley is one of the few areas in Australia that can successfully ripen Mourvèdre. One of the original grapes grown in the Barossa Valley, Mourvèdre thrives in the hot and dry conditions of a Barossa summer. Until the late 1960s, however, the main French plantings of Mourvèdre were in Provence, where it is the dominant grape in Bandol. It is also used in the blends of Cotes du Rhone and Chateauneuf du Pape.
The wine produced from Mourvèdre’s small, sweet, thick-skinned berries tend to be deeply coloured, rich in spice, high in alcohol and tannin, gamey when young and full of fruit.
The Wine
Harvested - April 2007
Maturity at Harvest - 15° Baumé
Yeast Type - EC1118
Fermentation Temp - 20° to 28°C
Time On Skins - 12 days-18 days
MLF - spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 18 months in new & seasoned French oak hogsheads and puncheons
Bottled - December 2008
Colour - deep cherry red
Nose - plum, sweet spice, leather
Palate - rich, intense, flavours of red berry fruits, with a mineral flinty finish.
Cellar - up to 15 years
Alcohol - 14.5%
2006 Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is made from fruit grown on the historic 150 year old Turkey Flat vineyard. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines are planted on the river flat near the cellar door where they thrive on deep soils without the need for irrigation. Cabernet Sauvignon vines produce fruit of exceptional richness and concentration when grown in sites such as this.
What sets Cabernet Sauvignon apart is its ability to travel, to set down its roots in distant lands and still produce something that is recognisably Cabernet, whatever the circumstances and conditions. Whilst the Barossa Valley has largely earned its reputation for making 'big' reds with the Shiraz grape variety, this wine is certainly proof that the Barossa can produce distinctive ‘classic’ Cabernet with power, concentration and structure, in specific sites .The ‘Black Flat’ vineyard, behind the winery, is such a site, which, since 1994, has been producing a consistent lineage of classic distinctive and stylish Cabernets.
This intensely varietal Cabernet sourced from the “Black Flat” vineyards, is infused with eucalypt from the old gums that grow along the creek bed. Red currant, cedar and subtle tobacco on the nose gives way to a long palate of fine firm tannin, wood spice and wild fennel. This strictly limited release will improve with careful cellaring of up to 15 years.
The Wine
Harvested - April 2006
Maturity at Harvest - 14.5° Baumé
Yeast Type - Enoferm B.D.X.
Fermentation Temp - 18° to 26°C
Time On Skins - 14 days- 28 days
MLF - spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 20 months in new & seasoned French oak barriques
Bottled - December 2007
Colour - deep garnet red
Nose -black berry, spice and subtle tobacco notes
Palate - full bodied, intense, flavours of red and blackberry fruits, eucalypt and anise with seamless tannin structure
Cellar - up to 15 years
Alcohol - 14.5%
2007 Shiraz
The Turkey Flat Vineyard boasts some of the oldest Shiraz vines in the world. Planted in 1847, these hard-working gnarled old vines are still producing fantastic grapes. They are dry grown with their roots extending metres into the soil in search of moisture.
Much of the credit for the best Shiraz made in the Barossa is due to old vines such as these. The fact that these vines still exist is largely due to a far-sighted quarantine scheme, in which South Australia was spared the phylloxera outbreak which devastated the vineyards of Europe, America and subsequently parts of Australia in the late 1800’s.
The 2007 vintage saw some of the smallest yields on record. A warm and dry growing season gave the 2007 Shiraz rich aromas of ripe dark cherries, savoury spice and leather. Extended pre and post ferment maceration has given the wine youthful yet restrained tannin. The 100% French oak adds depth and length of flavour to the structure supporting a palate of blackberries, cedar and nutmeg. Cellar up to 10 years.
The Wine
Harvested - February – April 2007
Maturity at Harvest - 14º-15º Baumé
Yeast Type - Various, L2056, L2226, D254, EC118
Fermentation Temp - 18º to 30º C
Time on Skins - 10-21 Days
MLF - Spontaneous in barrels
Oak Treatment - 22 Months matured in new & seasoned French Oak Hogsheads
Bottled - December 2008
Colour - Deep Purple
Nose - Ripe, dark cherries, savoury spice and leather
Palate - Concentrated fruit characters with youthful yet restrained tannins. Rich layers of blackberries, cedar, and nutmeg.
Cellar - up to 10 years
Alcohol - 14.5%
NV Sparkling Shiraz
Every spring we select a few of our finest barrels of Shiraz to become base wines for this bottle fermented sparkling wine. Base wines are matured in seasoned French oak hogsheads for up to three years before being tiraged in the traditional champagne method. Following this second fermentation the wine is left to mature in the bottle on lees for 10 months before disgorgement and liquoring with very old Australian vintage port (ranging in age from 14 to 40 years).
Very dark ruby red, subtle and complex aromas of plums, prune, cherry, blueberry pastries, panforte, dark chocolate and earth follow onto a full bodied and intensely flavoured palate. Rich yet fresh on the palate, very fine and soft tannins and lingering complex flavours. Cellar up to 10 years
The Wine
Oak Treatment - maturation in seasoned French oak hogsheads up to 36 months
Bottled - November 2005
Colour - very ruby red
Nose - plum, blackberry, blueberry, chocolate & earth
Palate - rich & concentrated with flavours of plums, cherry & wood spice, with a long, fine tannin finish
Cellar - up to 10 years
Alcohol - 13%
NV Pedro Ximenez
This fortified Pedro Ximénez was made from grapes grown specifically for us by a number of traditional Barossa grape growers. When the grapes reached a maturity of 15 Baumé the canes supporting the bunches were cut, which enabled the fruit to dehydrate and concentrate. Two weeks later the fruit was harvested at a maturity of approx 18 Baumé.
The grapes were then crushed, and after maceration for 4 days were fortified with brandy spirit, pressed and matured in French oak hogsheads.
Amber in colour, the nose and palate display attractive marmalade and citrus peel characters.
The Wine
Harvested - A blend of 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 & 2002 vintages
Maturity At Harvest - 15 Baumé
Oak Treatment - French oak hogsheads
Bottled - April 2006
Colour - bright orange/amber
Nose - intense marmalade, cumquat with a slightly spicy edge
Palate - lusciously rich and intense, with apricot and marmalade flavours
Alcohol - 17.2%