Six months have passed since the end of the vintage and on the weeeknd we held our annual Growers Tasting and Dinner.  This tasting is not only a chance for us to look through all the batches of wine... from 2009 but it is also a great opportunity for the growers to taste the fruits of their labor. As has been previously mentioned by numerous authors and a range of blog entries on this site, we have very high expectations of the 2009 vintage at Torbreck. Even though yet ANOTHER once in a lifetime heat wave threatened to spoil our vintage in February, the ripening period from March to May was perfect and we were able to pick our grapes exactly when they became physiologically ripe. At the time the fruit was pressed the wines looked vibrant, fresh, lifted, structured, pure, and elegant and any other positive adjective we could muster. It was obviously very easy to get carried away, especially after such a tough vintage in 2008. My heart was telling me it was the greatest vintage I have seen, however the sensible winemaker in me (that’s why they call me ‘Sensible Craig’…) was saying that it was way too early to make a judgment about the quality of the vintage. This tasting was a great opportunity to test our gut feelings on the vintage and to find out just how good 2009 is….

In 2009 Torbreck received fruit from 35 different growers and the winery accepted over 180 batches of wine. Each batch of wine is kept separate until the individual wines (Steading, Struie, Run Rig etc) are blended, giving us great control over the barrel ageing process and many blending options to play with. It also means that the growers have a rare opportunity to taste the wine made from their individual vineyards. At the growers dinner we sample each of these batches and let the growers loose in our barrel hall to taste both their own vineyards and that of their neighbors’. The growers physically get to see the quality of wine made from their different patches of vines and compare it not only to their own vineyards but also those surrounding their properties. Some very curious growers will try many different batches, comparing soil types and sites and discuss farming techniques with the other viticulturalists. It also gives the growers the opportunity to talk to the winemaking team about our thoughts on the quality of wine made from their vineyards and where we think things can be improved. This is obviously a great benefit to the Torbreck brand and one of the reasons why we believe the quality of our wine is continually improving.
The growers tasting is also an opportunity for the winemaking team to come together and taste each batch of wine, assess its quality and allocate where we think the wine will be used in our portfolio. From my perspective, I think the wines certainly lived up to expectation. Across the whole valley the wines had incredible depth, complexity and concentration. The colours were amazing – vibrant, deep and lively. The aromas were fresh, fragrant and incredibly lifted. All of this alone would have convinced me that this was an exceptional vintage, however it was the structure of the wine was that really sold the vintage for me. The tannin profile (particularly in Grenache) was amazing and there was a perfect balance between primary fruit driven characters and secondary savory characters. At Torbreck we always talk about trying to achieve a harmony in our wines between power and elegance and in 2009 I think we are as close to achieving this harmony as we have been.

As I mentioned in my last blog, I was recently in the southern Rhone and was blown away by the quality of their wines from the 2007 vintage. From what I tasted on the weekend I think we will have comparable quality in our 2009 wines from the Barossa Valley. As I type we are bottling the 2009 Juveniles which will give everyone an insight into what to expect from 2009. I would encourage every wine loving individual to source out a bottle of this, open it for a few hours then just kick back and enjoy the purity and structure that is 2009.

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