Vetus Purum Barossa Shiraz 2010

97 Points
“Made in tiny quantities and only sold in airport shops in Australia, Asia and the united states; the packaging is at a level only previously seen with top-end special bin penfolds reds. Hand-picked from the Willandra vineyard in the Barossa Valley, it is an outstanding wine, still amazingly youthful, with a cascade of plum, blackberry, liquorice and multi-spice flavours on the very long, superbly balanced and focused palate. It spent 24 months in a mix of new and used oak, now totally integrated.” James Halliday, www.winecompanion.com.au, 2-Sept-2016

Colour:

Deep ruby red

Region:
Barossa Valley, South Australia

Bouquet:
The bouquet is delightfully complex. In its
aromatic depths are plum, spice and clove notes, with a hint
of vanilla and even roasted meat.

Palate:
Immediately supple and beguiling, the flavours keep
building with plum, spice and clove layered over chocolate
and vanilla notes. Medium to full-bodied, the wine has an
assertive texture with abundant fine tannins. Seductively
poised, this wine reflects all that is great about Shiraz grown
in ancient Barossan soils.

Cellaring Potential:
Beautifully integrated on release, this
wine will reveal additional layers of complexity as develops
in the cellar over the next 10 years.
Release date: April 2014

Serving suggestion:
Eye-fillet of beef wrapped in
prosciutto with a porcini farce, served with well-roasted
bone marrow.

Bottled:
19 June 2012

Vintage Conditions:
2010 epitomised the perfect growing conditions for old vine Shiraz in the
Barossa Valley. Fruit quality was outstanding, yielding wines with remarkable colour, vibrant fruit intensity and exceptional balance. Warm conditions prevailed as winter turned to spring and brought an early bud burst. Then a period of cooler weather was followed by warm to hot conditions in November which hastened leaf and canopy development. This was followed by the ideal mild, dry summer conditions which ripened the fruit evenly. The grapes for Vetus Purum we handpicked slightly early than normal on 26 February 2010.

Winemaking:
This wine was born, as all great wines are, in the vineyard. Constantly monitoring
the progress of the fruit, a member of the winemaking team made regular visits to the Willandra Vineyard. Located at Rowland Flat in the heart of the Barossa Valley, Willandra boasts vines in excess of 85 years old grown in predominantly sandy soils overlay red clay loams. These ancient lean soils produce low yields of incredibly high-quality fruit.
From these strong foundations, a premium Shiraz was carefully crafted. Picked at optimal ripeness, the grapes were vinified as a single parcel and fermented on skins for 18 days before being pressed. Malo-lactic fermentation took around 5½ months in barrel, after which it was racked and returned to the same barrels. For this inaugural release, a high proportion of new oak (41% French and 52% American) was chosen to balance the rich intensity of the fruit. The remaining 7% was filled to old American oak. The barrels used were created to the winemakers’ specification following a visit to France to assess the forests and individual cooperages.
After a total of 24 months oak maturation a meticulous tasting identified the best barrels which were blended as the final Vetus Purum Shiraz and bottled in June 2012. Sam insisted the wine be rested in bottle for a further two years to ensure complete integration of this exquisite wine.

Analysis:
Alcohol: 14.7% alc
Total Acid: 6.7 g/L
pH: 3.52