Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 2015  £51.44

PETER LEHMANN STONEWELL SHIRAZ

Peter Lehmann was a member of the Order of Australia, a founding member of the Barons of the Barossa and a legend of Australian wine. His contribution to the industry as a whole was acknowledged in 2009 with an International Wine Challenge Lifetime Achievement Award.

Stonewell; The Best Wine Of Each Vintage & One Of The World’s Great Shiraz. The story of Stonewell Shiraz began in 1987 when Peter Lehmann decided to make a special Shiraz - a wine of immense intensity and muscularity that would demand time in the barrel and bottle before release. The wine was named ‘Stonewell’ after the district that he believed best showed the characters admired most in Barossa Shiraz. This tradition has continued and each vintage the best Shiraz fruit from their extensive network of growers is chosen to create Stonewell.  Usually no more than a dozen small, old vineyards are selected each year, the oldest planted in 1885. The berries are small and sparse with crops typically less than 1.5 tonnes per acre. The pedigree of these vineyards and the knowledge that has been passed from each grape growing generation to the next assures us that Stonewell Shiraz is a wine of great longevity that can be cellared with confidence for many years to come.

Fermented and kept on skins for two weeks, together with partial barrel fermentation during this time. Following pressing and clarification, the wine was matured in French oak hogsheads for 15 months.

This wine has a dense black centre and garnet rim, exhibiting aromas of plum, chocolate and hints of mint. Its structure shows intense depth of fruit and firm tannins. Made in limited quantities, this release may be cellared until 2035.

95 Points Wine Companion

As can be expected at much of the higher premium tier of the Barossa this full, polished red beams dark cherry and plum, while clad in five-spice, espresso and vanillin barrel ferment oak tones. Powerful, sure, but this needs time in the cellar to shed a whiff of reduction and to exhibit a bit more than heft and oak. Its track record is unblemished, at least for the fans.

Ned Goodwin MW