Tasting Notes
Flaxman Valley Syrah, within Eden Valley, is sourced from three cooler sites than many in Barossa, and wetter: his family's old-vine home block which is over 100 years-old, a steep hillside vineyard, Naimanyna, on their neighbour's property around 500 metres above sea level, that gives floral aromatics, and another neighbour's vines, Burley Hill. This is definitely more Syrah than Shiraz. It is the most restrained of the four wines, with fluidity on the palate, elegance and salinity. This needs time.
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Callum Powell has learnt from the best when it comes to Syrah. He practically grew up at the powerhouse that is Torbreck, the Barossa winery his father co-founded. He went on to make wine with his dad under the label Powell & Sons working with prime Barossa sites which gained him much international attention. But he cites the year at Jean-Louis Chave in the Northern Rhone, one of THE top producers of Hermitage and St Joseph as the most formative in honing and learning his craft. It's here that he began to understand the true provenance and terroir through the diversity of the 7 different lieux-dits that Chave farms.Influenced by Chave, Callum opted to name his wines after the towns from which the fruit is sourced. Please note! These are not Torbreck-styled over-oaked power houses - these are lithe, pure, and unadulterated wines without the heavy oak influence that the region is known for. There's a certain sinew to them and a nervy youth and chalkiness to the tannins. The feedback so far from just a few sommeliers has been out of this world and with some blinding recent reviews from the Wine Advocate, we're thrilled to have these wines available.