Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block Shiraz 2015
- 95
- $160
- Drink by: 2021 - 2035
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The first wine released by Schubert Estate was their 2000 Goose-Yard Block Shiraz, and there has been a parade of top shiraz from this small Barossa producer, tucked away in the Marananga sub-region, ever since. This release has been very successful in shows, both at home and abroad.
Sourced from Block 2 of their vineyard, the ‘Goose Yard Block’, the procedure is largely the same as for the other shiraz they make. Handpicking, before the grapes are destemmed and then fermented, this time with wild yeast and not the usual cultured, in 5 tonne open top fermenters. Twice daily pumpovers then basket-pressing both the free-run juice and pressings into a mix of 225-litre French oak, 66% new and 34% two-year-old. Maturation in these barrels is for 20 months.
Yet another cracking shiraz from the team at Schuberts. The difference here is that it is perhaps more for the long haul than the immediate gratification offered by some others – not that it is not delicious now, or that the others won’t age well. Black fruits and leather notes. Coffee grinds, warm earth, a touch of tobacco leaves. Focused and balanced. Lots of tannins here, but soft and lingering with an impressively long finish. Perhaps a slightly increased level of savouriness when compared to some others. 95, but expect this to rise in years to come.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
