The wine world seems to still be trying to leave Australia for dead on the big stage, but Oz keeps rolling out hits that fly in the face of the standard rumors about the balance, performance and aging potential that seem to effectively counter them. As people who were in at the beginning of the great Australian invasion at the turn of the century, we are still among those that think the category holds too much promise to ignore. Here we are with ‘public enemy number one’, the category most pointed to in facilitating the decline in Australian wine’s fall from grace, Barossa Shiraz and, to that, we say ‘nonsense’.
We’ll give you a short analysis of the main reasons we think Australian wines fell from grace in the marketplace. First was the breakdown of the classic ‘big Shiraz’ wines but, as we have said, a lot of the blame there has to fall on growers with old vines that decided they needed to have their own labels. We have proven on many occasions that ‘the players’ have excellent balance and age just fine (like the older Greenock Creeks we offered recently). Then there was a period where everything that came in seemed to be another leafy, undernourished red that was supposed to show restraint and be food friendly. The problem was that they weren’t very engaging in the first place.
We are doing our best to ‘make Australians great again’ in the minds of consumers because we believe in the wines and have long time relationships with a number of labels. Today’s offer is one of those. The Kalleskes have been working their Greenock farm for longer than anyone we know in California, some 150 years or seven generations. They farm sustainably and not only organically but biodynamically. They were certified back in 1998, long before it was the topic it is today. Winemaker Troy Kalleske has been at the winemaking helm of his family’s winery for almost two decades . It was Troy and his brother Tony that created the Kalleske label back in 2002. They’ve had plenty of time to figure things out.
That same Troy Kalleske makes the Nietschke wines. Johann Nietschke and Johann Kalleske both arrived in Barossa to established vineyards in 1838. Somewhere around 1968 the families came together with the marriage of John Kalleske and Lorraine Nietschke, hence the connection here. A number of years after the establishment of Kalleske Wines, Troy wanted to showcase some of the dedicated high-quality growers from across the Barossa Valley so the Nietschke Shiraz was born, named in honor of his mother Lorraine.
The winery calls the Nietschke Jack Shiraz 2017 (named for ‘great uncle’ Jack) a ‘modern Shiraz with a twist’. There’s a little something extra with a dash of Petite Sirah (5%) blended in for added complexity. All grapes are from the Barossa Valley including the renowned Greenock sub-region where vines are low-yielding and are grown in shallow, sandy loam soil over deep red clay, providing ideal conditions for these varieties. The juice spent a year in a combination of French and American hogsheads (300L barrels), some new and once used. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered.
We know a lot of you will think this an ‘unwieldy red’ when you see Barossa Shiraz. That is the conditioned response that the media has encouraged. Not true. Sure, this wine has some muscle and a ton of dark red fruits. But the weight and richness here present themselves with polish and balance. The Petite Sirah adds a little black pepper to the mix and threads of darker fruits. Full throttle, yes. But under control and packed with character. Nice notes from James Suckling, “Blackberry crumble, elderberry pie, vanilla and baking spices. Full body, some nice juicy tannins and a chewy finish. .. 91 Points.” All that and a sub-$20 price tag.
