Torbreck "The Laird" Shiraz 2017
(Barossa Valley, Australia) - [WA 97+]

When rare opportunities arise, we need to capture, nurture and develop them so that their potential is fulfilled. So when Torbreck was given the opportunity to work with one of the most famous vineyards in the Barossa Valley, it became almost inevitable that the resulting wine would be truly remarkable.

In 2003, Torbreck growers and fourth generation descendants of the Seppelt family, Malcolm and Joylene Seppelt, asked our winemakers to create for them a small batch of Shiraz from their old Gnadenfrei vineyard in the sub-region of Marananga.

Planted in 1958, the five acre vineyard is traditionally dry grown and comes from an original Barossa clonal source. South facing, on the eastern side of a ridge separating the Seppeltsfield and Marananga appellations, these aged vines have been meticulously hand tended, traditionally farmed and pruned by a grower with a lifetime’s experience on Western Barossa soils of very dark, heavy clay loam over red friable clay. The resulting low yields of small, concentrated Shiraz berries make the vineyard the envy of all winemakers in the Barossa.

We looked longingly at the wine when it was returned to the Seppelts, knowing that it was the best we had ever made. In 2005 we convinced the Seppelts to sell Torbreck the fruit and The Laird was born. In 2013 Torbreck purchased the Gnadenfrei vineyard, securing The Laird’s reputation as one of the world’s great single vineyard Shiraz wines.

The oak selected for the maturation of this wine is considered to be some of the finest barriques in the world - Dominique Laurent’s ‘Magic Casks’. Dominique Laurent is an extraordinary individual and a truly great winemaker in his own right. He was so frustrated by the sales-driven and mass-production methods of the larger cooperages in France that he decided to make his own barrels. He left nothing to chance when developing his cooperage, selecting a site that was very high in wind and rain on the côte at the edge of La Forêt de Citeaux. The coopers he selected to craft his barrels had deep ties to artisanal barrel production, proud and driven by traditional techniques. The oak was personally harvested from Forêt de Tronçais in Allier and more specifically from the original area of this forest that was known to produce the finest oak. The oak trunks were split by hand and then again hand split into staves, producing staves that are almost twice as thick as traditional machine split staves. These were then aged for 48 to 54 months at a location that is already more exposed and weathered than the average maturation site. After this aging, the staves were hand-made into barrels. As part of this process, they were heated over three differing flames for several hours. This again is much longer than the standard process; however it does not result in a heavy toast because of the remarkable density of the wood.

The Gnadenfrei vineyard is handpicked in two separate parcels a few days apart depending on vintage conditions. It is immediately taken to the winery where the fruit is gently de-stemmed into wooden & concrete open top fermenters. It is then carefully nurtured for 6-7 days on skins with pumpovers occurring twice daily, varying in duration and intensity. When primary fermentation is almost complete, the wine is drained from the skins and the must is gently basket pressed for 8 hours. The wine remains in a stainless steel tank until primary fermentation is completed. It is then run directly into new French barriques coopered by Dominique Laurent where they spend 36 months under temperature controlled conditions. Once the oak and the wine have melded perfectly the wine is blended and bottled without the use of filtration or fining. Finally it is matured in the bottle for a further 24 months before release. The Laird is a wine born from perfectionists following the highest possible standards.

VARIETAL: 100% Shiraz
VINEYARD: Gnadenfrei Vineyard (planted in 1958) in Marananga, a sub-region of the Barossa Valley.

pH: 3.61

Acidity: 6.41g/L

Alcohol: 15.5% Alc/Vol

97+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:

I poured the 2017 The Laird, set it aside and got about doing other jobs for 45 minutes or so, to give it some room to breathe. And it does breathe. It has its own pulse and beat and life, and it flexes and moves in the mouth. This is incredibly enveloping, with aromas reminiscent of campfire coals, charred eucalyptus, lamb fat, roasted beetroot, black tea and a prowling sort of countenance. In the mouth, the wine is bonded and cohesive and seamless, there are no gaps between anything, no space between fruit, oak and tannin; it all comes as one. While this is a singular wine, it is so big and concentrated that it needs no accompaniment other than some fresh air and a good mate. It's denser than osmium and is impenetrable at this stage. 2022 - 2042.