Kalleske 2005 Johann Georg Shiraz

 

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Winery/Brand: Kalleske

 

The colour is deep black-red. On the nose there are powerful aromatics of dark berries, plum, cinnamon, aniseed, coffee, cedar and chocolate. The full-bodied muscular palate is rich and dense with finely textured tannins and fleshy dark fruit. A weighty and sophisticated wine with a great balance. The intense flavours linger for a long time giving this wine a generous finish. A magnificent wine that whilst drinks well upon release will ultimately benefit from a decade or more in the cellar.

The 2005 growing season started with a wet Winter and Spring, providing excellent moisture for the vines. A cooler than average Summer with no heat waves resulted in gradual ripening and retained natural acidity in the grapes. A dry, mild to warm Autumn with sunny days provided ideal ripening conditions to finish the grapes to maturity. A good vintage with intense flavours.

 

 

The Story

Johann Georg Shiraz is a single vineyard wine produced from the oldest vineyard on the Kalleske estate. This vineyard was planted in1875 and produces very low yields of around one tonne per acre from old, gnarly, dry grown vines. The top soil is sandy with excellent clay subsoil.

The wine is a tribute to Johann Georg Kalleske, the first Kalleske ancestor to migrate to Australia. Johann Georg was born in Brätz, Prussiain 1794 and migrated to South Australia with his wife and children in 1838.

The old Shiraz vines are hand picked and the grapes are gently destemmed into a small open top fermenter. The grapes are fermented for a week on skins where hand pump overs are employed two to three times daily. The must is basket pressed while still fermenting (approximately one baume) and immediately filled to new American and French oak hogsheads where it completes fermentation.

The wine matures in hogsheads for twoyears prior to bottling. Johann Georg Shiraz is bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The good news is that this wine is bloody fantastic. The bad news is that it’s a one bottle limit per customer and already sold out. It’s all happening here with aromas of blackberry, dark plum, aniseed, chocolate, eucalypt, coal and vanilla pudding. Richly fruited and handsomely oaked. On the palate full bodied with a torrent of flavour including black fruit, raspberry, aniseed, chocolate, tar, cedar and vanilla. Intense and deep but not at the expense of freshness. Lovely creamy texture with plenty of fine ripe powder fine tannins and clean acidity. Enormous length of flavour. It’s a show stopper and a jaw dropper. I’d buy a bottle if I could. Rated : 96 Points. Drink : 2014 – 2025....Gary Walsh, Winorama, July 2007

The Specs

RegionBarossa, SA
GrapesShiraz
Vintage2005
Volume750mL
PackagingGlass Bottle