HENSCHKE - Tappa Pass Shiraz 2005 75cl Bottle

Very deep crimson in colour. The nose is concentrated and complex, with sweet lifted ripe aromas of spicy blackberries, blueberries and prunes, with hints of chocolate, anise and tar. The palate is sweet, ripe and lush, concentrated and complex, with intense blackberry fruits, plum, anise, cedar and tar. The texture is fleshy with silky layered tannins, excellent balance and great length. The average winter rainfall this season was a welcome relief after 2003s fourth-worst drought in history. A relatively frost-free, wet warm and thundery spring followed, creating a natural greenhouse effect. The vines grew vigorously, flowered and in general set a large crop. December was the hottest for 10 years, however at the start of 2004 the weather became mild and windy and the vines
thrived under virtually no heat stress. At the start of February searing heat caused sunburn and significant crop losses. Nnew records were broken with Ssouth Australia experiencing its hottest day ever. Fortunately March returned the region to glorious sunny days and cold dewy nights, with a couple of minor rain events, allowing the fruit to ripen under near perfect conditions. The vintage was almost as late as 2002 with good yields and excellent fruit quality. Matured in 55% new, 45% used French hogsheads for 18 months prior to blending and bottling. The Barossa has a core of grapegrowers of German-Lutheran descent dating back five generations, doggedly continuing the traditions of their forebears. Ooccasionally one or two parcels of fruit come over the weighbridge that just blow us
away; this wine is one such example. The old, low-yielding vines are growing in devigorating Nneoproterozoic soils about 542 million years old, ranging from red-brown earths to terra rossa. The tiny-berried, fully mature black shiraz grapes were sourced from grower vineyards in Tappa Pass and Light Pass and were vinified in traditional open-top fermenters and then matured for two years in new and seasoned French oak barrels. A limited-production wine from vintages of superior to excellent quality only.