Bethany Barossa Valley Shiraz 2015

The Shiraz was sourced from the Schrapel family vineyards grown along the eastern ridge of the Barossa Ranges. Established 80 - 100 years ago by Lawrence Schrapel; the vineyard follows the contours of the hillface and is planted in fertile red brown loam topsoil with a deeper red clay calcareous base.

The higher elevation of the vineyard and east west aspect is ideal for cool even ripening and sunlight exposure, naturally intensifying the aromatics and flavour profile of the fruit. Traditional viticulture practices of hand pruning to 70 buds per vine limit the yield from these old vines to 6.25t/Ha, concentrating the flavours into fewer berries.

The 2015 vintage will be remembered as one of the shortest and fastest we have experienced in years. In spring, near perfect, mild ripening conditions continued through to December/January with below average temperatures. In the second week of January, Bethany Wines recorded 47mm of rainfall at our Barossa Ranges vineyards replenishing soil moisture and setting up the vines for perfect ripening conditions.

The warmer weather in February accelerated ripening with vintage starting on 31st January and ending by the first week of March. In summary the 2015 indicates a great vintage with both above average grape yields and high quality fruit from our old established vineyards.

The fruit was crushed, de stemmed and left on skins in open top fermenters for eight days at a controlled temperature of 15-18 degrees. The juice was then racked from the skins and pumped over the skin cap for optimal colour and fine tannin extraction.

Once the primary fermentation was completed the juice was pressed and left to settle to complete secondary fermentation before being transferred into new and older French oak barrels for maturation. The wine was matured for 22 months in oak to enhance fruit and palate structure development before bottling. Winery Notes

Reviews & Accolades

BRONZE - 2018 International Wine Challenge