Long-time Australian vintners Calabria Family Wines is proud to celebrate the release of its newest premium red wine, The Iconic Grand Reserve Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012.
An exciting step in the family’s continued journey to craft outstanding premium wines, The Iconic is the most expensive wine that the Calabria family has released and was featured yesterday at a special launch event held at Bentley Restaurant & Bar in Sydney.
The fruit for The Iconic, in its inaugural vintage for the winery, was carefully hand-harvested by owner and winemaker Bill Calabria and his family from Barossa Valley vines that were originally planted in 1914.
“We are honoured and truly excited to share this much-loved shiraz which represents a new page for our family,” Bill said.
“Someone was working hard in 1914 when they planted these vines, and we’ve done our very best to maintain their integrity and the fruit they produce. This premium wine represents not only our family’s love and dedication for the craft of winemaking, but also the families before us that worked hard and made sacrifices to develop the vineyard.”
In 2010, the winery expanded its portfolio into the Barossa Valley with the purchase of two iconic vineyards in Nuriootpa, which contained the centenarian vines. It was not until two years later that the vines started to produce a high enough quality of grape that satisfied the winemaking team.
“The Iconic means a lot to our family, and especially to my father,” sales and marketing manager Andrew Calabria said.
“His goal in restoring the centenarian vineyards was about putting the love back into the vines. They are old, brittle and incredibly fragile, and we all feel privileged to be able to not only touch and care for something that is 100 years old, but to be able to then develop a magnificent wine from them.”
“Dad considers himself somewhat of a custodian to this vineyard and has passed along his great pride in working with and caring for it.”
The mean summer temperatures of the 2012 vintage were cooler than average, which allowed the fruit to mature slowly, resulting in balanced flavours that built throughout the growing season. After being hand-picked and hand-sorted, the fruit was fermented in traditional open vats for seven days before being pressed to barrel. The wine then matured in French oak for 18 months prior to being bottle-matured for a further 12 months.
The result is an opulent, luscious and muscular wine, typifying Barossa Shiraz. The bouquet is seductive with cinnamon, red liquorice and blackcurrant weaving through layers of French oak spice. Blackberry coulis and brambly forest fruits allure the wine across the palate with fine grained tannins revealing white chocolate appeal.
“We’re thrilled this wine has already received 96 points from James Halliday, and we cannot wait to share the special vintage with others from the wine industry,” Andrew said.
“It has been tough work restoring these vines to produce such a high quality product, but for us it is all about continuing to nurture them for future generations to experience the joy they have given to us and embrace the history they contain.”
This wine from 100-year-old vines truly brings to life the idea that beauty can develop more with age.
The Iconic Grand Reserve Barossa Valley Shiraz 2012 (RRP $175) is available now at fine wine retailers nationally and online at www.calabriafamilywines.com.au.
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