Winery & Vintage Info
In 1853 our Kalleske farm and vineyard was established at Moppa, a small sub-district of Greenock in the Barossa’s North-West. The Moppa district was a flourishing settlement of pioneering farming families and gold miners.There were few schools in the region, so local parents established the Moppa Public School in 1873 to give their children a formal education. Located on our Kalleske property, generations of the Kalleske family attended this school until its closure in 1935. Sourced entirely from our Kalleske Moppa vineyard, a trace of Petit Verdot and Viognier has been added to this Shiraz giving it a contemporary edge.This is a genuine hand made wine that’s been grown, vintaged and matured on our Kalleske estate at Greenock in the North-Western Barossa.
Vintage 2016 was hot and dry resulting in grapes ripening earlier than average. Winter and Spring rainfall was down by 38% whilst growing season temperatures were up by 3 degrees. Some welcome rain came at the end of January refreshing the vines and giving them good moisture to ripen to maturity. Yields from 2016 are solid and importantly quality is stunning. 2016 is certainly a star vintage with bright intense wines of great flavour intensity and inherent balance.
Moppa is predominantly Shiraz with a trace of Petit Verdot (7%) and Viognier (3%) blended in for added complexity. Grapes are from ten different blocks on the Kalleske’s organic farm, with the oldest of these blocks planted in 1961. The vines are low-yielding and are grown in shallow, sandy loam soil over superb deep red clay, providing ideal conditions for these varieties.
The Shiraz was harvested in numerous batches from February 24th to March 16th. One lot of Shiraz was co-fermented on the skins of Viognier which had been harvested on February 22nd. The Petit Verdot is a late ripener and was harvested on April 5th. All batches were wild fermented in open top fermenters with hand pumpovers twice a day during fermentation. After 7 to 14 days on skins the fermented grapes were traditionally pressed. The wine was aged in hogshead barrels for thirteen months. Approximately 25% new French, American and Hungarian oak was used with the balance seasoned barrels. On completion of maturation, a portion of Petit Verdot and Shiraz/Viognier was blended for added complexity. The wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered. Winery Notes
