With a touch of floral lift and dark fruits on the intial nose there is a secondary layer of wet slate, dark wine gums and nutmeg. A tamed beast with impeccable balance. It has great flow from the start with a dense fruit core and a long finish. Its honed and polished with great complexity.

To qualify for Old Block, vineyards must be planted on their own rootstock and be older than 40 years old, however in 2013 there was not a vineyard younger than 80 years of age. Once the vineyard qualified to be considered it is graded in a blind tasting by the winemaking team to determine its quality.

For Old Block Shiraz the focus is on keeping freshness, purity and seamless structure. Each vineyard is vinified separately and typically each parcel has skin contact for between eight to ten days. The pump over regime is tailored to the individual vineyard parcel. Post-pressing, the wines spend 24 hours in stainless steel before going to barrel. Barrels are matched to each parcel to promote harmony and balance during maturation. French Oak is used with a mixture of new, second and third barrel