Tasting Notes for Kalleske Buckboard Durif 2020 from the Winery

2020 Buckboard Durif is dense inky purple-black. The aromas surge forth signifying a powerful wine awaits. Captivating characters include Christmas cake with brandy sauce, dark chocolate, blackberry jam, cinnamon spice, ripe cherry and mocha oak. The full-bodied palate is rich, flavoursome and enticing. Ripe black fruits dominate and saturate the mouth with a hit of strong but fine natural tannin adding structure and definition. Intense and concentrated, there is a layer of toasty oak complimenting the dark fruits.  A generous lingering finish completes this powerful wine. Buckboard is a compelling and seductive Barossa Durif that can be enjoyed now or over the next decade.

KALLESKE

The Kalleske vineyard and farm was established at Greenock in the Barossa’s North-West in 1853. For more than a century, the horse drawn ‘buckboard’ was indispensible on the farm. The buckboard buggy transported not only people but hauled produce and supplies to and from the farm, including countless loads of grapes. In the mid 1900s the horse was replaced with a motor and then the buckboard further evolved into a flat bed truck and eventually to the modern ute. Buckboard Durif is a single vineyard wine that’s been grown, vintaged and matured on the Kalleske property. Vigilant grapegrowing, traditional winemaking and maturation in new and seasoned American oak hogsheads has resulted in a powerful, full-bodied wine of great flavour and intensity.

GROWING SEASON

Vintage 2020 has delivered wines of amazing quality.  However, quantity is very limited, with it being one of the lowest grape yields ever in the Barossa at around 50% of average.  Yields were dire due to a combination of early mild frost conditions, then a notably windy period (45% windier) around flowering leading to poor set (not many berries) followed by some hot days in November and an overall dry growing season (34% down).  Notably, quality is of the highest echelon with rich colours and intense robust flavours.  

VINEYARD

Buckboard Durif is sourced from a single vineyard on the Kalleske property. The hand-pruned vines are low-yielding and are grown in shallow, sandy loam soil over superb deep red clay, providing ideal conditions for Durif.

WINEMAKING

The grapes were picked on April 4th and then destemmed into an open top fermenter. The must was native-yeast fermented for 9 days on skins with hand pump-overs twice a day. After pressing off skins the Durif was filled to a mix of 25% new and the balance used American oak hogsheads. The wine underwent natural malolactic fermentation in barrel. The Durif was matured in barrel for twelve months prior to bottling.

(SKU: KA_DUR_20)