Brandy - Barossa History in a Bottle
A glass of Barossa Brandy anyone?
What is Brandy?
Brandy is a barrel aged distilled spirit made from wine grapes. Brandies have been made in the Barossa for well over a century for both consumption as a spirit or as a blending component for our world famous tawnies.
Brandies are made throughout the world. Put simply, Brandy is a distilled wine. Cognac is a type of brandy that comes from the Cognac region of France. Armagnac, like Cognac, is French but goes through a different distillation process.
How is Brandy made?
Barossa Brandies are typically double distilled in a pot still like Cognac, and can be vintage dated as is common in Armagnac, or blended like is typical in Cognac.
At Hayes Family Wines, we love the classic styles. Leading up to when we launched Hayes Family Wines, I took the opportunity to source some old brandies and fortifieds. I have always loved them and I anticipated that their day would once again return. Our Brandies are vintage dated, meaning they are made from grapes in a single vintage.
In addition to sourcing old material, we have also continued to make new vintage Brandies. Our Semillon grapes are made into wine which is double distilled then barrel aged. These will be a few years away from release, but we know you will love them.
Does Age Matter?
Yes and No!
With age in barrel comes colour, complexity and density. As you can see below, the 30 year old is darker in colour and this translates to the pallet, where the flavours are more complex.
But no, once bottled, aging essentially stalls. So further aging is not required and will not further benefit the brandy. So drink and enjoy!
How do you Drink Brandy?
Barossa Brandy is truly one of the great spirits of the world and deserves the very best brandy balloon glasses, a leather chair and some quiet! So grab a glass, if you prefer a mixer, go for it, but in each glass you will see the benefits of the aging we have done for you. Savour!