2010 Torbreck "The Steading" Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro Barossa Valley

Professional Reviews

Staff Reviews

RS

Ralph Sands

Ralph Sands

This is a very interesting, complex and tasty blend. The old vine fruit is deep and sweet, but not fruity. Round in the mouth and nicely developed with flavors of kirsch and cassis, interacting with hints of black licorice, smoke and earth all leading to a strong Grenache finish. Like it, and good to go now!

RW

Ryan Woodhouse

Ryan Woodhouse

Super expressive wine, explosive nose of ripe red fruits, warm earth, toasted spices, and wild herbs. It has a soft saturated mid-palate with easy, fleshy fruit and super fine silky tannins the coat the mouth. The Steading is powerful and decadent but refined and balanced. Packed with fruit and sweet spice but also showing some lovely earthy, mineral undertones from the deep rooted ancient vines. A big, pure wine for sure but never seems over-the-top, there is good acidity to keep the ripeness in control. The finish goes on and on as the juicy fruit dissipates leaving the more subtle terroir-driven nuances for you to enjoy. This is going to be a serious contender for Best Grilling Wine of the year 2015.

Notes

After tasting the full lineup of Torbreck's fantastic 2010 releases, for me, there was one wine that truly stood out from the crowd..."The Factor" Shiraz you might think..."The Decendant", no...maybe the 100pt WA "Run Rig"..? Nope...as good as all these are it was a different wine that made me sit up and pay attention--and that wine was Torbreck's workhorse "The Steading" GSM. This might come as a surprise to you as the wine is far more inexpensive than some other releases. Yet one look at the wineries philosophy on this bottling tells the real story...Winemaker's Notes: "The Steading is perhaps the most important wine within the Torbreck portfolio, the one that best exemplifies what Torbreck is all about. It is sourced from vines that survived the vine-pull scheme in the early 1980s, cultivated on their own roots that were unaffected by phylloxera. It also best explains the serendipitous discovery of some withered ancient vines, some well over a century old, that have been carefully nurtured back to life. Protecting and nurturing the old vine resources of the Barossa Valley is paramount to Torbreck and this wine, more than any other is an indication of what is possible from the now protected ancient Barossa cultivars - Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz." This is a wine that will grab your full attention and hold it for a long time...it is an incredibly rich and powerful wine with layers of depth and remarkable purity. (Ryan Woodhouse - K&L Australian Wine Buyer)