Technical Tasting Notes

2021 PRIMROSE VINEYARD SHIRAZ

GROWING SEASON
The 2021 Barossa Valley vintage will be remembered as an almost faultless season after the challenging years that preceded it. Good spring rains meant that for the first time in many years we entered the growing season with good soil moisture levels. A warm dry growing season followed, with balanced and healthy canopies producing an average crop of extremely high quality fruit. Certainly the best in a decade, maybe longer. The good news is that flavours and colours (in reds) and overall quality is exceptional. A truly great Barossa vintage in the making.

TASTING NOTE
The wine has all the hallmarks of a Northern Barossa shiraz grown on ironstone soils in an exceptional vintage - bright purple red hue, powerful black and blue fruits, full bodied, the dense fruit balanced by abundant natural tannins. This wine is well integrated but has ample structure to carry it forward in years to come.

SPECIFICATIONS
Region: Barossa Valley
Sub Region: Ebenezer
Variety: Shiraz
Alcohol: 14.5%
Production: 1200 bottles
Cellaring: 10 years+
Winemaker: Andrew Seppelt

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Reviews

2022 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

The Real Review Stuart Knox

93 Points - Ink-black core, virtually retaining that intensity into the rim as well. Blood plum, violet, clove and vanilla notes all fill the nose and palate. It's full and rich; hints of black olive show as it glides along adding some deep complexities. As the flow builds momentum, firm tannins fill in, bringing some needed tension and focus and ensuring the long finish is detailed and bone dry 14 FEB 2024

2024–2036

2021 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

QWine (www.qwinereviews.com)

93 Points - If you enjoy richer styles, this Single Vineyard Primrose Shiraz release would be well placed in your cellar. Owner Brett Hayes says this is an intellectual wine. Sit beside a glass for a while and you can see what he means. It will be a late bloomer and time will be its friend.

Dark chocolate and generous dark fruits early, the oak has some heft for now but it will undoubtedly calm. After three days of tasting it did so. Stay the course and you'll be rewarded.

Highlights of caramel, licorice bullets, boot polish and some leather, those secondary savoury tones slide in underneath the dark fruits with ease. It is a wine that also has a cheeky meaty edge with some earthy feels showing the ironstone in which its roots are firmly planted. A ripple of spice tingles the taste buds no end - nice. Powdery tannins seal the deal. Clever stuff with a long future.

Drink from 2025 for ten years+

2020 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

Not Yet Reviewed

2019 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

Not Yet Reviewed

2018 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

2021 Wine Companion (James Halliday)

96 Points - The grapes come from a tiny patch high in the hills of the famed Schulz Vineyard in Ebenezer. Full-bodied, but with all its components in total harmony, letting the light shine in on its inherent dark-fruited complexity.

2017 Vineyard Series Primrose Shiraz

2020 Wine Companion (James Halliday)

94 Points - From a single block on the Schulz Vineyard in the northern Barossa Valley. Excellent crimson-purple; it is full-bodied, overflowing with black fruits, tannins built to measure for the fruit, oak a veneer on the finish. 71 dozen made.

Drink by: 2030

QWine (www.qwinereviews.com)

95 Points - Super Shiraz! I may or may not have had more than a few glasses... One of those wines that speaks to you and resisting temptation to go back for more is futile. So, give me another.

I looked at this over a few days. Captivating on day one, it continued to evolve beautifully. Time continued to peel back layers of interest and I revelled in what was on show. Blackcurrants, blueberries and whispers of mulberry all played a steady hand. Touches of nuts, some cedar and caramel added further appeal. Every crevice of the mouth filled with pleasure.
Soft and luscious, this just rolls on and on buffered by melted chocolate. Superfine spice just rides the fruit at ease finishing long and moreish. Divine. Give it time and you'll be rewarded.

Drink now to ten years+ 6/3/2019

2016 Vineyard Series Ebenezer Shiraz

2019 Wine Companion

95 Points - Single Vineyard, 100% new French oak, 50 dozen made. The oak is clear and obvious, but the fruit is right up to the task. Smoked cedar wood and meaty spice notes ripple through pure, ripe plum, clove and blackberry. For all its richness it feels manicured and controlled. It exudes class

Drink to 2032

Campbell Mattinson
Halliday Cellaring Selections 2018

Huon Hooke (huonhooke.com)

95 Points - Colossal colour: very saturated purple/red, with a concentrated plum juice aroma to match. The wine is very intense and concentrated, essency and mouth-filling, with tremendous power and density, at the same time impressively supple and smooth, fleshy and easy on the tongue. It borders on jammy but gets away with it. A lush, decadent style of shiraz. (620 bottles) 30/3/2018

Drink 2018 to 2028

QWine (www.qwinereviews.com)

93 Points - Here's a big brooding type. Old school Barossa if you will. As dark as the night's sky, this is all bulging biceps and chest pumped out.

Cedar, dark chocolate, wood smoke and strips of cured meat. The mouth is consumed by layers of interest peeling back effortlessly. Wood spices chime in with clove and chunky Christmas cake bites. A creaminess slides through in the background all while dark berry fruits fold over one another with absolute ease. Bitter chocolate tantalises on a long finish. Special friends and lovely piece of beef the go-to for wines like this.

Cellar comfortably beyond a decade. 17/3/2018

Tyson Stelzer (www.tysonstelzer.com)

94 Points - The power and might of this single block high in the hills of Ebenezer in the northern Barossa effortlessly swallows up 20 months in a new French puncheon. It has emerged a deep black purple, rippling with density of black fruits, black pastilles and coal dust. A wine for lovers of the full impact of the northern Barossa, yet with line, length, finely structured tannins and balance to support it.

Drink 2019-2024

2015 Vineyard Series Ebenezer Shiraz

QWine (www.qwinereviews.com)

94 Points - If I were charged with awarding a prize to the best newcomer for 2017, Hayes Family Wines would be right up there to take the gong. The quality across the range has been mightily impressive and is capped off in style by this Shiraz - their flagship.

Andrew Seppelt, take a bow. This is a glorious rendition of Barossa Shiraz. Veneers of interest peeling back at every turn.

Chocolate and caramel rolled in to one, Caramello Koala esque. Flirtatious spice courtesy of cardamon, clove with a finely tuned coconut husk and butterscotch touch. Sumptuous dark fruits evoke nothing but comfort. Creamy through the mouth, baking spices put the feet on the dash in cruise mode finishing long and very satisfying.

Still youthful, this will be even better in time as the acid has room to relax. Cellaring beyond a decade will be easily done.. 29/9/2017