Henschke Tappa Pass Shiraz 2020 (Eden & Barossa Valley)

The 2020 vintage will be remembered for excellent quality wines from the Barossa Valley, albeit reduced yields caused by poor conditions at flowering and the extremely dry winter, spring and summer of 2019/2020. The 2019 winter and spring resulted in the driest start to the growing season ever, in line with 1939 and 1961. November was a troubling month with some frosts and wet and windy conditions during flowering. Significant heatwaves from mid-December to the end of January reduced shoot growth and berry size, however at the end of the month around 40mm of rain fell, alleviating the stress just before veraison, followed by a cool ripening period in February with just three days over 30°C. Vintage was early, beginning in late February and finishing by late March. The fruit ripened in near perfect conditions, resulting in optimal and excellent wine quality (colour, aromatics, flavours and tannin maturity). Bunches were in loose, open and pristine bunches, while the yield remained quite low, at about 50% of average. The 2020 red wines are intense in colour, exceptionally fragrant, spicy and well-structured.

Matured in 25% new and 75% seasoned French oak hogsheads for 18 months prior to blending and bottling.

The Barossa has a core of traditional growers of German Silesian descent, dating back six generations, staunchly continuing the traditions of their forebears. Occasionally one or two parcels of fruit of overwhelming quality come over the weighbridge; this is such an example. This wine is sourced from up to 70-year-old, low-yielding shiraz vines from a selection of historical grower vineyards at Tappa Pass and Light Pass, growing in low-fertility Neoproterozoic soils more than 542 million years old, that range from red-brown earths to terra rossa. These vineyards provide shiraz fruit from both the Eden and Barossa Valleys of the Barossa zone, vinified in traditional open-top fermenters.