SCHWARZ WINE COMPANY The Schiller Shiraz Barossa Valley
This Shiraz comes from 400 vines planted near Tanunda in 1881 by Carl August Otto Schiller and still owned by his descendants. Maximum annual production is 170 dozen bottles. This is Jason Schwarz’s flagship wine, an intense, dark coloured, seductive Shiraz with aromas and flavours of black cherry, dark plum and fruit-cake spices framed by French oak.
The wine is long-flavoured, with supple, dark-chocolate tannins and retains Schwarz’s signature freshness and elegance. Despite its fully-ripe, old-vine Shiraz intensity it also has a sense of restraint. This is top-tier Barossa Shiraz, a serious, cellar-worthy wine made in a convincing, savoury-yet-rich style.
Colonel William Light, the South Australian colony’s Surveyor-General, named the Barossa in 1837 after the site of an English victory over the French in the Spanish Peninsular War. In the mid-1800’s Silesian and English immigrants settled in the area. The Barossa itself comprises two distinct sub-regions: Eden Valley and the warmer Barossa Valley floor at 270m.The Barossa Valley enjoys a warm Mediterranean climate characterised by hot dry summers and relatively low rainfall. Cool sea breezes from the Gulf of St Vincent modify the temperature, however hot northerly winds can occasionally dominate creating considerable vine stress. Many older established vineyards are dry-grown, but supplementary irrigation is also extensively used. The valley is comprised of rich brown soils and alluvial sands. A long history of uninterrupted viticulture in the area means the Barossa valley is home to Australia’s largest concentration of old-vine Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre with many over 100 years old. Although most famous for Shiraz, the Barossa can also produce fragrant and deliciously fruity Grenache blends and beautifully rich, chocolatey Cabernet Sauvignons.
