2012 Torbreck The Laird Shiraz

In Scottish terminology, ‘The Laird’ refers to the Lord of the Manor. This single vineyard Shiraz comes from an old vineyard in Marananga planted in 1958, a plot which remains the focus of envy amongst many of the region's winemakers. Previously owned and operated by the legendary Malcolm Seppelt, the vineyard was purchased by Torbreck in 2014 and is perfectly sited with the dry grown, original Barossa clones south east facing. The berries are typically small and concentrated and usually harvested in two separate passes.
The French oak selected for the maturation of this wine is considered to be some of the finest in the world. Referred to as Dominique Laurent's 'Magic Casks', the wood is selected from the incredibly tiny and highly prized Troncais forest. The staves are hand spilt in the French tradition and twice as thick as machine spilt staves. As a result of the extra thickness the barrels are able to sustain an extended maturation process due to the tighter porosity that comes with the extra wood. Maturation took place in the new hand crafted French oak barriques for a period of 36 months. The barrels were stored in their own temperature controlled, ancient stone shed. In short, no expense has been spared.
Vintage Conditions: 2012 will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest vintages that the Barossa Valley has ever experienced. The vintage is completely ‘dirt driven’ in that there was no serious weather event that pulled the flavour profiles of the wines either way. The cool weather conditions and resulting slow ripening period allowed the Torbreck team to pick The Laird with perfect aromatic ripeness and purity of fruit.
Impenetrable midnight black core with a very deep dark red black hue. An intense kaleidoscope of black fruit aromas waft from the glass with an overlay of boot polish like characters that may be distracting to some. Liquorice, ripe black cherry, blackberry and black plums leading the charge over toasty vanillin oak, mocha and spice. Staggeringly rich, thick and liqueur like in its concentration the palate has thunderous power with lavish flavours of ripe blackberries, liquorice, black cherry liqueur and black plum flavours hypnotizing the taste buds. Underscoring these heady black fruits are vanillin oak, mocha, boot polish and spice. Sublime length with the tannins overwhelmed by the voluptuous array of decadently rich fruit creating a velvet like mouthfeel. Exceptionally long and powerful aftertaste of liquorice, blackberry liqueur, black plums, vanillin oak, mocha, boot polish and spice.
Cellar 10-12 years.
Alc 15.5%