2005 Heartland Director's Cut Shiraz

An outstanding red, that over delivers big time. This is a re-release of the 2005 which was first tasted in November 2006. The wine achieved a Winespider score of 98 and so it was with great interest that we re-tasted this wine.

The 2005 Director’s Cut Shiraz was produced from 60% Langhorne Creek and 40% Limestone Coast fruit. The grapes were harvested at night and crushed into open top 2 tonne fermenters, where after 24 hours of maceration on skins, the must is inoculated with a Rhone Isolate yeast that has been selected for its ability to ferment at cool temperatures. The fermentation process took place over a 9 day period, after which the wine is pressed directly into oak, 70% of which is new Allier and 30% new Kentucky. The wine remains on lees in the barrel for 6 months, after which time it is racked & returned to oak and allowed to mature in the barrel for a further 8 months prior to bottling.

Opaque black purple colour with black purple hue. Lifted nose – perfumed with violet top note followed by liquorice, blackberry, vanilla and confectionary – a superb sniff and still very vital. The palate is outstanding and just explodes – there is no sign of advancing age, it is still very youthful. Explosive aroma of black pepper and plum followed by layers of chocolate and spice. Totally mouthfilling. Fine grained tannins, perfectly balanced. Very long, explosive aftertaste of black pepper, blackberry and vanilla.
Cellar 3-4 years (2011-2012)
Alc/Vol: 14.5%

Notes taken from the front cover of Vintage Direct, November 2006.

The Australian Wine Industry seems to be modelled on a dynastic approach, with many family wine companies being founded in the mid 1800’s and still going. The commonality of these dynasties is the early evolvement of each new generation in the business. Sociologists can speculate upon the reasons for the existence and continuity of these family dynasties, we think, in fact, we’re sure, it’s due to an early appreciation of wine.

Ben Glaetzer is a member of the Glaetzer Barossa Dynasty, whose roots date back to 1888. His father Colin developed the great E & E Blackpepper Shiraz – and would you believe, Ben’s wife & two brothers are also winemakers.

Today, the major activity of the Glaetzer Family is contract winemaking. The family crushes 10,000 tonnes of fruit per year for a large client base, including the highly acclaimed Mitolo wines. During the 2005 vintage, 1300 different wines were made from 30 different grape varieties, which is a formidable effort by any standards. The quality of the wines across the board is excellent and this is in part due to Ben’s approach to grape selection, and the vast matrix of fermenter sizes that he has on hand. 110, two tonne fermenters provide great flexibility enabling high quality wine to be produced. These small fermentation tanks are complimented with a selection of 8, 25, 36 and 44 tonne fermenters and 5500 oak barrels. The scope for varietal complexity to be developed is enormous.

Heartland wines were established in 2002 when Ben, together with a group of wine industry identities saw the opportunity to create a range of exciting wines from 1000 acres of vineyards, which were situated on the Limestone Coast and in Langhorne Creek. Glaetzer and his team became disillusioned by the amalgamation of wine companies in Australia, which they felt had begun to produce generic wine styles of little character. He states “They’re less vibrant, less representative of what Australia offers… I knew I could do better than that.”

The success of Glaetzer’s winemaking can be attributed to the juxtaposition of technology and instinct. Ben is well versed with the science of winemaking, however, chooses not to rely upon laboratory analysis for decision making. “I admit I don’t want to see the analysis; I just want to taste. There is a window of perhaps four days between physiologically unripe grapes and overcooked fruit… I pick on ripeness of tannins and taste, not analysing the ripeness of fruit and sugars.” This approach ensures that the wine lover gets complexity and maximum flavour profile.

The 2005 Director’s Cut Shiraz is produced from 60% Langhorne Creek and 40% Limestone Coast fruit. The grapes are harvested at night and crushed into open top 2 tonne fermenters, where after 24 hours of maceration on skins, the must is inoculated with a Rhone Isolate yeast that has been selected for its ability to ferment at cool temperatures. The fermentation process takes place over a 9 day period, after which the wine is pressed directly into oak, 70% of which is new Allier and 30% new Kentucky. The wine remains on lees in the barrel for 6 months, after which time it is racked & returned to oak and allowed to mature in the barrel for a further 8 months prior to bottling. Just in case you’re a bit of a sceptic, the numbers are perfect: Alcohol at 14.5% Alc/Vol. Total acidity 6.8, pH 3.46 and residual sugar 1.6 grams per litre. A 'text book' result and an exceptional red.

AN EXCEPTIONAL RED ATTRIBUTED TO A COMBINATION OF SCIENCE AND INSTINCT

First Tasted 25th November, 2006;
Another outstanding wine from Ben Glaetzer who at the tender age of 27 has established himself as one of Australia's leading winemakers. Totally opaque black purple colour with black purple hue, showing good cling to the glass wall. Perfumed nose, with vanilla top note, followed by plum and violet with blackberry and confectionary end notes. Mouthfilling palate, explosive, with flavours of liquorice, confectionary and liquorice allsorts, followed by back palate flavours of blackberry, white chocolate and spice. Perfect balance – explosive, with long aftertaste of liquorice allsorts, confectionary, spice, blackberry and vanilla.
Cellar 3-4 years (2009-2010)
Alc/Vol: 14.5%
98 Points