2004 Torbreck Run Rig Shiraz Viognier

Powerful US wine critic Robert Parker has rated the last 3 vintages of this wine 99 points, describing it as ‘virtually perfect’ and ‘one of the most remarkable wines made in either the Southern or Northern Hemisphere’.

Made from a blend of 96.5% Shiraz and 3.5% Viognier.  Sourced from low yielding, old vine Barossa vineyards up to 160 years old, the fruit was gently de-stemmed into both wooden & concrete open top fermenters where they were carefully nurtured for 6-7 days on skins. After basket pressing the wine was run directly into both new and old French barriques where they spent 30 months with minimal racking. During the final ‘assemblage’ a small addition (3.5%) of estate grown Viognier was added and the wine was later bottled without the use of filtration or fining.

Opaque black crimson colour with deep crimson hue. Toasted oak, vanilla, spice and blackberry aroma. Outstanding palate length and depth. Mouth filling palate. Flavours of spicy oak, vanilla, liquorice and black pepper. Fine grained tannins, perfect balance. Very long aftertaste of liquorice, vanilla and black pepper. An Outstanding wine.
Cellar 4-5 years (2010-2011)
Alc/Vol: 14.5%

Other reviews...
The flagship 2004 Run Rig is 96.5% Shiraz and 3.5% Viognier with the Shiraz component aged for 30 months in a mixture of new and used French oak. Yields were a minuscule 14 hl/ha (about 1 ton per acre). Saturated opaque purple/black, it has a remarkably kinky, exotic perfume of fresh asphalt, pencil lead, smoke, pepper, game, blueberry and black raspberry. Full-bodied and voluptuous in the mouth, the wine is dense and packed, with amazing purity, sweet tannins, and a complex collection of sensory stimuli. The wine demands 10 years of cellaring and will provide hedonistic delights through 2035+. Torbreck, under the leadership of owner/winemaker David Powell, remains a Barossa Valley benchmark as well as one of the world’s greatest wine estates. The top cuvees are limited production and expensive but there are also some outstanding values in the portfolio. With regard to the current vintages for the Barossa red wines, David Powell states “2004 is more savory while 2005 has more purity and definition. 2004 is more classic, 2005 will take longer to come around.”
Rating 99
Drink 2007 - 2035
Jay Miller - Wine Advocate #173 Oct 2007