Winery & Vintage Info
The first owners of the Kaesler vineyards were Silesian pioneers who came to the Barossa Valley in the 1840s and took up 96 acres in 1891. By 1893 they had planted the entire acreage with Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro (Mourvedre) and White Hermitage vines. Some of the gnarled dry-grown Shiraz still remains and provides the backbone of the intense wines we produce.
The Kaesler vineyards were owned and operated by the Kaesler family from 1893 to 1986. In 1999, winemaker Reid Bosward seized the opportunity to become the head of the new Kaesler family when he and his partners bought Kaesler, becoming the third owners of this property. At this time, the Kaesler vineyards consisted of over 70% red wine vines, all 40 years of age or more.
The Old Bastard name given to the wine is in honour of these gnarly old vines. Nurturing these beautiful old vines presents challenges each year and with a combination of regenerative farming practices, two decades working the vineyard and a deep respect for Mother Nature, spectacular wines will be made.
The winter leading into the growing season saw a number of small rain events, but nothing substantial and definitely not enough to push the moisture deep into the soil.
October, November and December saw incredibly high temperatures. The winery had to manage their water very carefully. This intense heat had an impact on the grape quantity with below average yields. Fortunately, with cooler conditions in February and some good rains, the grape quality result was very good.
Fruit was hand-picked and sourced from Shiraz vines planted in 1893. The Old Bastard Shiraz ages beautifully, with the berry notes becoming more prominent over time. It has decades to give, cellar up to 20+ years.
