Winery & Vintage Info
John Duval began working with old vine Barossa Shiraz when he commenced his winemaking career at Penfolds in the early 1970’s. Through the 1990’s he played a leading role in trialling maturation of old vine Barossa Shiraz in new French oak hogsheads, contrary to the established winery convention of blending Shiraz from multiple regions and maturation in American oak. The early trials led to the first release of the Penfold’s RWT Barossa Shiraz from the 1997 vintage – a wine that marked a step change moment in the style evolution of Barossa Shiraz. John’s approach to making Barossa Shiraz continues unchanged, and maturation of selected parcels of old vine fruit in French oak is fundamental to producing Entity - an elegant Shiraz that is true to the Barossa.
Following the pattern of recent years, the preceding winter rainfalls were above average followed by slightly drier conditions through spring. Warmer than average conditions through October and November promoted healthy canopies, good flowering and a healthy set of bunches. Very dry conditions through summer tested the growers to maintain good vineyard management practices and preserve vine health, and they were rewarded with perfect ripening and harvest conditions throughout March and early April. Vintage concluded with 30mm of rain in mid-April which refreshed the vineyards after the dry vintage. We believe 2018 will produce many exceptional wines, with Eden Valley Shiraz, in particular, appearing amongst the best in living memory. These wines display vibrant fruit and lifted aromatics combined with depth and intensity on the palate, without being heavy.
Sourced from old vineyards in the Krondorf, Ebenezer, Moppa, Light Pass and Eden Valley regions comprising 48% Barossa Valley, 52% Eden Valley fruit.
The parcels of fruit were fermented separately in small stainless steel fermenters with submerged caps and twice daily pump overs. Some batches were left on skins for up to 2 weeks. Post ferment, the component wines were matured in oak for 15months, with 31% in new fine grain French oak hogsheads (300L) and the balance in 2, 3 and 4 year old hogsheads. We intend for the wine to be approachable in its youth, but with ample structure and fruit depth to allow cellaring, under good conditions, for at least 10-12 years.
