Tasting Notes
A blend of Ebenezer - from the Hoffman Dallwitz block vineyard that goes into Sami-Odi's wine - and the 158 year old vines of Asbroek's "Ancient" block (1864 vines), that has been historically tightly held by St. Hallett for decades as a core component of their Old Block Shiraz. Both outlined above. The label is an old alphabet chart from from the 1880s from a local school. Still settling into itself, this is a phenomenal blend of these two great, historical vineyards. You get beautiful perfumes and lovely layers of fruit. The oak is barely apparent as Callum uses old double size barriques and barriques that are neutral in taste impact. 2436 bottles made.
More Info
We were put onto Agricola by Fraser McKinley, of Sami-Odi, who has a waiting list of thousands for his own three small production Shirazes. We import Sami-Odi and can only get 60 to 90 bottles of each for the UK, and they sell at £120 to £180 a bottle. Fraser shares the source of grapes that Callum uses for his Ebenezer, and was emphatic that we should get onto these incredible wines. I've drunk them alongside Hermitage Chave, Hermitage Chapoutier, and Hermitage Dard e Ribo. They more than hold their own. Chave costs over £300 a bottle and is an exceptional wine, but Agricola by Callum Powell really doesn't taste out of place alongside it. Winemaker, Callum Powell, grew up at Torbreck, which became one of Australia's most sought after and expensive reds, and worked with his father for a few years. He also did a stint at J.L.Chave, which shaped his view of bringing out the best of single vineyard sites.