150 Year Old Vines Semillon 2015
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Tasting Notes

This strictly limited release hand-crafted wine is the quintessential Barossa Semillon. A bright and balanced wine with complex aromas of lemon, spice and beeswax. Nutty cashew and nougat notes are intertwined creating a complex palate, rich and smooth, deliciously flavoured, superbly textured with a dry finish and extensive persistence. 

Winemaking

The hand-picked grapes were destemmed, but not crushed, prior to gentle basket pressing with the juice allowed to settle naturally before racking to eight French oak barrels for fermentation. This was followed by seven months barrel maturation with regular lees stirring to enhance aroma and structure whilst building flavour complexity and length.

Although approachable in its youth this classic Barossa Valley Semillon, with its tightly wound palate and considerable breadth and length of citrus fruit flavours, is built for a long life in the cellar.

Vineyard

The Barossa Old Vine Charter was instituted to register vineyards by age, so that older vines could be preserved, retained and promoted. The grapes for this wine come from the Cirillo family’s single vineyard of “Barossa Ancestor Vines” in the Vine Vale sub-region of the Barossa Valley, planted in the 1850’s. These low yielding “Barossa Ancestor Vines ” have stood strong and proud for more than one hundred  and fifty years and are a living tribute to Barossa’s early European settlers. 

* Only 1890 bottles produced.  

Reviews
A terrifically exciting wine...
Review by: Sarah Ahmed - The Wine Detective, thewinedetective.co.uk
Pale straw with delicate waxy quince, mineral and oilskin nuances to the nose which follow through on the palate. Bracing, rapier-like acidity on the attack – a lunge – makes for a briskly paced, positively breath-taking palate. You could be forgiven for missing its substance and detail.  Tightly wound yet intense notes of firm, under-ripe white peach, quince, preserved lemons, grapefruit and minerals tattoo the palate stacatto-style, confident in the knowledge that the bigger picture will emerge with time. For now it’s all about the sensation.   The finish is long and firm – super-mineral. Assertive in its persistence.  I reckon supremely ageworthy.  Fabulous potential.  Wow.  Would love to see how this plays out; on day three its still very tightly focused but showing a bit more flesh – subtly nougat inflected lees, white peach.  A terrifically exciting wine to stash away and eke out over a decade or two.
91 Points
Review by: James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2017 Edition
Hand-picked, destemmed, basket-pressed, fermented and matured for 7 months in French oak. This is a striking semillon, the barrel ferment and oak far from obvious. Drink By: 2030 
92 Points and Silver Medal
Review by: Decanter World Wine Awards 2017

 

Currently not available for purchase.
Other Vintages
2014 |  2017 |  2018 |  2019 |  2020 |  2021 | 
CLOSURE
Stelvin

WINEMAKER
Stuart Bourne
COLOUR
White
BOUQUET
Lemon, Spice and Beeswax aromas.
PALATE
Lemon-barley, cashew and nougat notes.
GRAPE VARIETY
100 % Semillon
GROWING REGION
Barossa Valley
% ALCOHOL
11%
MATURATION
Seven months barrel maturation with lees stirring.
PDF TASTING NOTES
Download the Tasting Notes in PDF format.
HI-RES PHOTO
Click here to download.

 

 

Sold Out
Tasting Notes

This strictly limited release hand-crafted wine is the quintessential Barossa Semillon. A bright and balanced wine with complex aromas of lemon, spice and beeswax. Nutty cashew and nougat notes are intertwined creating a complex palate, rich and smooth, deliciously flavoured, superbly textured with a dry finish and extensive persistence. 

Winemaking

The hand-picked grapes were destemmed, but not crushed, prior to gentle basket pressing with the juice allowed to settle naturally before racking to eight French oak barrels for fermentation. This was followed by seven months barrel maturation with regular lees stirring to enhance aroma and structure whilst building flavour complexity and length.

Although approachable in its youth this classic Barossa Valley Semillon, with its tightly wound palate and considerable breadth and length of citrus fruit flavours, is built for a long life in the cellar.

Vinification

The Barossa Old Vine Charter was instituted to register vineyards by age, so that older vines could be preserved, retained and promoted. The grapes for this wine come from the Cirillo family’s single vineyard of “Barossa Ancestor Vines” in the Vine Vale sub-region of the Barossa Valley, planted in the 1850’s. These low yielding “Barossa Ancestor Vines ” have stood strong and proud for more than one hundred  and fifty years and are a living tribute to Barossa’s early European settlers. 

* Only 1890 bottles produced.  

Reviews
A terrifically exciting wine...
Review by: Sarah Ahmed - The Wine Detective, thewinedetective.co.uk
Pale straw with delicate waxy quince, mineral and oilskin nuances to the nose which follow through on the palate. Bracing, rapier-like acidity on the attack – a lunge – makes for a briskly paced, positively breath-taking palate. You could be forgiven for missing its substance and detail.  Tightly wound yet intense notes of firm, under-ripe white peach, quince, preserved lemons, grapefruit and minerals tattoo the palate stacatto-style, confident in the knowledge that the bigger picture will emerge with time. For now it’s all about the sensation.   The finish is long and firm – super-mineral. Assertive in its persistence.  I reckon supremely ageworthy.  Fabulous potential.  Wow.  Would love to see how this plays out; on day three its still very tightly focused but showing a bit more flesh – subtly nougat inflected lees, white peach.  A terrifically exciting wine to stash away and eke out over a decade or two.

91 Points

Score: 91 Points
Review by: James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2017 Edition
Hand-picked, destemmed, basket-pressed, fermented and matured for 7 months in French oak. This is a striking semillon, the barrel ferment and oak far from obvious. Drink By: 2030 

92 Points and Silver Medal

Score: 92 Points
Review by: Decanter World Wine Awards 2017

 

Currently not available for purchase.
Other Vintages
2014 |  2017 |  2018 |  2019 |  2020 |  2021 | 
CLOSURE
Stelvin

WINEMAKER
Stuart Bourne
COLOUR
White
BOUQUET
Lemon, Spice and Beeswax aromas.
PALATE
Lemon-barley, cashew and nougat notes.
GRAPE VARIETY
100 % Semillon
GROWING REGION
Barossa Valley
% ALCOHOL
11%
MATURATION
Seven months barrel maturation with lees stirring.
HI-RES PHOTO
Click here to download.

 

 

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