Turkey Flat Butchers Block Red Blend Barossa Valley
Turkey Flat Butchers Block is named for the original Tanunda butchers building, today in use as the cellar door.
The Butchers Block Block is a traditional Barossa blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvédre (Mataro). Each variety is vinified separately and aged separately in French oak barrels before the final blending.
The wine is a smooth and approachable crowd pleaser, generous enough for immediate (and repeat) drinking but also has the quality to age and develop for a decade if not more.
Grenache 49%, shiraz 35%, mataro 16%. An even flow of berried flavour, immaculate balance, a bit extra on the finish, the impression that everything is pure and unadorned. Depth of flavour is on the modest side of medium but texture, style and interest are all here in spades.
93 points, Wine Companion (January 2020)
Dark cherries, black raspberry, liquorice and spice. Full of flavour, but less than full-bodied, chocolate, earth and spice, succulence and depth, fine almost brick dust tannin, a bit of a ‘mineral’ feel, and very good length. Something like black forest cake flavour in the aftertaste, and other things too, of course. What a bargain.
94 points, The Wine Front (October 2019)
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.
