Powell & Son Steinert Flaxman's Shiraz 2016

The Steinert vineyard is situated in the high hills of the Eden’s Flaxman’s Valley and contains some of the most prized and ancient vines of the Barossa. These historic, dry-grown, rod and spur pruned vines have now passed 120 years of age. The Steinert family still own the vineyard to this day.

The vineyard slopes provide an East to North-Easterly exposure and the soil consists of dark quartzitic loam. The Steinert vineyard for many years has provided the backbone for famous wines of the Barossa, though until now has never had the opportunity to produce a wine on its own to show its true character.

The 480 metres altitude and North-Easterly exposure allow the vines to experience a very long and cool ripening period, producing fruit with outstanding accumulation of complex flavours and elegant, powerful tannins. At maturity, we hand pick the fruit from the five acre vineyard in three seperate passes and ferment it using traditional open-top concrete vats and pump overs.

Once fermented the wine is racked and the skins are basket pressed slowly to encourage gentle extraction of tannin . The wine is then transferred to new Dominique Laurent barriques for wild malolactic fermentation followed by 18 months oak maturation before bottling without fining or filtration.

“The Steinert’s perfume is beautifully complex, displaying dried herbs and spices, lifted florals, dark cherries, red currants, charcuterie meats and smoked wood. Its palate is supple but refined, with a firm backbone of fine grained tannins providing the framework for a kaleidoscope of flavours. It sings with dark fruits accompanied by thyme, lavender, cedar and cloves, finishing with a crescendo of soft, powdery tannins. The Steinert Shiraz is the epitome of the beauty and grace of the Eden Valley.”