There's something remarkable about pouring a glass of wine made from vines that were planted before your grandparents were born. In the Barossa Valley, this isn't unusual it's part of what makes the region unlike anywhere else on earth.
The phylloxera story
In the 1860s the vine aphid phylloxera devastated vineyards across Europe, killing nearly 90% of all vines by 1889. South Australia was the only colony with a far-sighted quarantine policy that protected its vines, meaning the vineyards planted by the early Silesian settlers in the 1840s and 1850s continued to flourish. Those ancient vines are still producing today and the wines they make are unlike anything that could be grown anywhere else.
What makes old vines special
As vines age, they produce less fruit, but what they do produce is extraordinary. Deeper root systems draw on more complex layers of soil and mineral. Lower yields concentrate flavour into fewer berries. The Barossa Old Vine Charter, introduced in 2009, classifies vines into four age-based categories, Old Vine at 35 years or more, Survivor Vine at 70 years or more, Centenarian Vine at 100 years or more, and Ancestor Vine at 125 years or more.
Tasting history
The first Old Block was created in 1980 by Barossa icon Robert O'Callaghan from a single vineyard planted in 1912, it soon outgrew that original block to become a representation of old vine Shiraz from across the entire Barossa region. Since its inception, the focus for St Hallett Old Block Shiraz has been to showcase the rare and ancient vines of the Barossa to qualify, vineyards must be planted on their own rootstock and be older than 40 years of age. Today the fruit is sourced from old vine vineyards over a century in age across both the Barossa and Eden Valleys. The name says exactly what it is and it delivers on that promise every vintage.
St Hallett has long understood the importance of saving old vines and strong long-term relationships with passionate growers give them access to some of the Barossa's most prized vineyards, some planted over 100 years ago. These vines are irreplaceable and the wines they produce are worth every dollar.
Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz tells a similar story. It derives mostly from the Filsell Vineyard planted in 1920, with contributions from three other sites all with vines over 100 years old. The Rolf Binder Heinrich SMG includes Mataro from dry grown bush vines planted in the 1880s, well into Ancestor Vine territory.
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