Technical Tasting Notes

2023 PRAYER GARDEN GRENACHE

GROWING SEASON
The 2023 Barossa Valley vintage will be remembered as one of the latest vintages in recent memory. After a wet winter the rains continued well into November, it was certainly unlike any other. This meant the growing season was off to a slow start. The Barossa season from this point on was almost perfect. Warmer than the 2022 vintage, but cooler than the long term average.

TASTING NOTE
The Prayer Garden is a special place, dry grown very old bush vines in Ebenezer in the Northern Barossa Valley. Like its neighbouring Glengrae, the Prayer Garden is a lost block of a mere 2 acres planted generations ago. Traditionally farmed with no access to supplementary water, highly exposed and subject to frost more years than not. Known as the Prayer Garden as a result of the short statue of the vines, kneeling the preferred method of approaching the vines whether picking or pruning. Hard work, but worth every effort. Hand picked late in the season the fruit was de-stemmed before being fermented for almost 20 days on skins before being transferred to seasoned puncheons for maturation.

The resulting wine is highly perfumed, medium bodied. Beautifully balanced, red fruits, fine tannin and acid, all in balance. Wonderful grenache.

SPECIFICATIONS
Region: Barossa Valley
Sub Region: Ebenezer
Variety: Grenache
Alcohol: 14.5%
Production: 1350 bottles
Cellaring: 5 years+
Winemaker: Andrew Seppelt

Download Technical Tasting Notes 2023 Vintage ➝

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Reviews

2023 Prayer Garden Grenache

Not Yet Rated

2022 Prayer Garden Grenache

HUon Hooke (The Real Review)

92 Points - Deep, dark, dense colour, with a tint of purple, the bouquet very intense and earthy, dusty/terracotta and smoky mataro-like pepperiness. The wine is full-bodied, dense, concentrated and firm, the tannins almost tough in their impact. Very focused and penetrating, but needs a little more time to loosen up. 14 JAN 2024

WINEFRONT (Gary Walsh)

94 Points - Dry grown Grenache from Ebenezer.

This is a very specific and different expression of Grenache, and gee, I like it a lot. Cherry, Campari and amaro herbs, liquorice, spice, and don’t mind me, but this wine has a distinctly Italianate character to it, kind of like alpine Nebbiolo. It’s medium-bodied, has the flavour profile of a well-made Negroni to an extent, with something of a ‘mineral’ feel to acidity, powdery tannin, a certain sweetness, yes, but tempered by savoury dried herbs and orange peel. The finish is long and silty. Wonderful. Maybe not a wine of broad appeal, but I love it. Touch and go for 95 points.

HALLIDAY WINE COMPANION (DAVE BROOKES)

93 Points - I've been to a vineyard called the Prayer Garden in Ebenezer before. It might be the same one; there might be several with that name; the Barossa's mysterious like that. The one I went to was so named because the vines were so low the pickers looked like they were praying. Semantics aside, this wine's a ripper. All red fruits, cola, gingery spice, some sarsaparilla, citrus blossom and earth. A pure, easy-drinking style, and it's just lovely.

WINEFRONT (GARY WALSH)

94 Points - Vineyard planted in 1948. 1200 bottles produced.

Ripe red fruit, potpourri perfume, spice, some sage and mint. It’s a plush wine, succulent in dark red fruit and spice, something a little earthy in the mix, tannin is fine but still has a fair bit of grip, there’s some peanut character here, which I always like in a Grenache, and the finish is silty, satisfying and long. Classic Barossa Grenache. Excellent. It’s on the cusp of 93 and 94, though I’ll go the latter.

2021 Prayer Garden Grenache

Andrew Caillard MW (The Vintage Journal)

92 Points - Medium-deep crimson. Plenty of red fruits to start here with red cherry, redcurrant aromas with a nice dash of cola. Well concentrated and inky textured, there are more gentle red cherry and redcurrant flavours supported by fine lacy dry tannins and juicy acidity, which make for a very attractive, early-drinking grenache style.

Now-2025

Steve Leszczynski (Qwinereviews)

93 Points - A new addition to the Hayes portfolio, the diversity of their Grenache wines from across the Barossa (plus one from McLaren Vale) is quite something. Wonderfully aromatic, this is captivating from the outset.  The Prayer Garden is a small site, just less than a hectare, that survived the wretched vine pull of the mid 1980s.

Purple and blue fruits plus glorious aromas of raspberries and blueberries, you can't help but be immediately hooked. It slides through the mouth with ease. It's that yacht on calm water just sliding through as you marvel it's glory. The fruit gets a little deeper and more complex with the more air it sees. Delicate spices are carefully sprinkled throughout leaving a long wake that laps at your feet. Silty tannins have the last word. Slowly drying and drawing a moreish factor along for the ride. Just beautiful.

Drink to five years+

Gabrielle Poy (therealreview.com)

92 Points - Charred meat, black plums and raspberries on the nose make way for a savoury palate. Judicious oak spice mixes with a flush of fruit, adding complexity and a serious side to the wine. This should age well, letting the structure relax a little

2022-2029

2023 James Halliday Wine Companion (Dave Brookes)

93 Points - Bright red purple in the glass with aromas of blood plum, Asian spice, dark chocolate-dipped raspberries, licorice, earth and lighter hints of jasmine and cola. The spicy plume of plum fruit is propelled across the palate by bright, minerally acidity, tannins are compact and sandy and a vibrant, medium-length finish.

2020 Vineyard Series Prayer Garden Grenache

Not Publicly Released