Turkey Flat Butchers Block Red 2016 (Barossa Valley)

Named in honour of our family’s original use for the building that now houses the Turkey Flat Cellar Door, the Butchers Block Red is a structured, fruit-driven & medium bodied wine. A crowd-pleasing style of wine that offers excellent value for money.

A dry winter as well as a warm start to spring brought forward both budburst and flowering delivering a vintage a month ahead of schedule. A hot and dry summer caused varieties and vineyards to ripen collectively. The vineyards inexplicably held together incredibly well 2016. this combined with 30mm of rain in January gave the winery some respite, and allowed the collective quality of 2016 to be very good.

Like medals at a children’s sporting event, when we blend a wine we like each parcel to have recognition, its own chance to feel proud of its contribution to the team. Here, each varietal is vinified & aged individually in French oak barrels before the final blending process. Shiraz adds the generous mouthfeel, Grenache the spice and cherry-like sweetness and Mataro the backbone, savoury edge and fragrance. Balance is crucial, each varietal’s contribution is evident, yet nothing competes for your attention.

100% French, 2% new. Harvested between January & March 2016, 13°-15° Baumé, 9% whole bunch & bottled August 2017. Winery Notes

Reviews
"A shiraz/grenache/mourvedre blend, part sourced from some of the oldest (1865) vines on the Turkey Flat vineyard. Excellent colour; a warm and spicy bouquet introduces a medium-bodied palate with red and black berries, plus good mouthfeel and length. Oak plays little or no part in framing the palate, fine tannins doing the trick."
94 Points - James Halliday

"... beside (the 2016 Turkey Flat Grenache) sits another more homestead style Turkey Flat 2016 Butchers Block Red, which is the estate's variation within the GSM genre, here with a 49:38:13 split of shiraz, grenache and mataro. Savoury characters here exude spicy, smoky smallgood aromas to contrast with its crushed crimson berries that are however always cloaked in the varietal feed of sandy, grainy tannins and textures. A knockabout country red blend with a fair bit of bush character to boot."
Tony Love, SA Weekend Magazine, October 28 2017