You don’t have to look far to see that Torbreck garners some of the greatest critical acclaim of any producer in Australia – and for good reason. Torbreck Vintners was created by former lumberjack, David Powell, who set out to craft world-class wines from historic, old vineyards in the Barossa Valley. He share-farmed at the start and purchased many of the parcels over the years to comprise what is a meticulously curated estate today. In 2008, David sold Torbreck to Pete Knight, who has continued to nurture the treasured vineyards and their heirloom vines as well as craft traditional, honest wines, under head winemaker, Craig Isbel.

Like fine Southern Rhone red wines, Torbreck’s Steading is greater than the sum of its parts. A blend of 66% Grenache, 21% Mataro (down-under synonym for Mourvedre) and 13% Shiraz, this red wine is the product of one of the greatest vintages in decades as well as lineage in the vines that reaches back over a century and boasts its original pre-phylloxera rootstock. Each unique block is picked at optimal ripeness at various stages then is de-stemmed separately into wooden as well as concrete open-top tanks where the juice is fermented, and the wine is gently pumped over twice a day for roughly one week. The wine is basket-pressed into older French Hogsheads, which are significantly larger than barriques or Burgundian barrels. This allows a purer varietal expression and a unique sense of place to shine through in the wine. In barrel, it naturally goes through malolactic fermentation and ages on its fine lees for 24 months. The wine is then bottled without fining or filtration. The result represents one of the most profound and honest expressions of the Barossa Valley on the market.