AGRICOLA VINTNERS - Flaxman Valley Shiraz 2020

Wine from these vineyards are of classic Barossa shiraz style in power, richness and intensity.

Granitic Loam & Quartz
Altitude: 500m
Rainfall: 750mm

The AGRICOLA VINTNERS Flaxman Shiraz is sourced from two vineyards: our old vine Home Block planted directly in front of our house, and our neighbour Nathan Burley’s stunning steep hillside vineyard next door. I sourced from two of Nathan’s blocks; the gully site was picked in early March to retain that bright, lightning acidity so attractive in Flaxman Valley shiraz, with the Hill site picked soon after.

Our Home Block was picked slightly later to exhibit a spectrum of black olive and meatiness found in cooler syrah. The wines were aged for 12 months in old, thick-staved 600L demi-muid to retain their purity and transparency.

Please make no mistake, this is a Barossa shiraz; However these are some of the higher shiraz sites in South Australia and grown on a granitic Easterly hillside.

One personal motivator and curiosity for me is that these sites bear semblance to Jean-Louis Chave’s granitic Les Bessards lieu-dit in Hermitage that I have worked with some years ago, in their lean and stony topsoil and marginality of ripening toward the close of the growing season.

The wine is light and lithe, showing the character of its home Flaxman Valley, tucked high up in the cool and rocky climes of the Eden Valley ranges.

The 2020 vintage was underpinned by very dry conditions from Winter 2019 and into harvest. This led to miniscule crops, in fact some of the lowest crops in the Barossa’s recent history. Harvest was mild with few heat spells. This coupled with the season’s very dry conditions allowed for ripeness at low potential alcohols and high natural acid.

The opportunity arose to pick early. Blocks started to come in late February, at low 12’s with full ripeness, concentration and grip of tannin and bright, fresh acid lines. Alcohols will not always be as low as these wines, but the wines convey this unique style that can only be brought on by such low yields and ideal ripening conditions.