Our Philosophy
Single Vineyard Barossa Wines, Barossa Valley
"Our philosophy is that our wines must have generosity of fruit
and you can only achieve that if you are in touch with the vineyard",
"Not only are our wines 100% Barossa but they are sourced entirely
from our own single vineyard at Light Pass. We don't have a choice
of blending material so what you see is what you get. Everything
we do - pruning, supplementary watering, cultivation, the time of
harvest - is all aimed at achieving ripe tannins and demonstrating
the vineyard's fruit intensity.
"We don`t want big alcoholic, porty reds - We aim for silky ripe tannins rather than grip and want the fruit to shine through in our Shiraz and Cabernet.
"We are also judicious about our use of oak - we extend the time
in barrel to two years but we use at least 50% second and third
use barrels. We are looking for softness and stability - maturation
character not oak character.
This approach to red winemaking has led to many show and wine media
acknowledgements, not the least of which was a Gold Medal in the
Melbourne Wine Show Shiraz class in 1995 - putting them a whisker
away from the Jimmy Watson Trophy.
Peter, who has distinguished himself as a Semillon maker, believes
the same restrained approach is needed with this often misunderstood
varietal.
"In the early days people used too much oak with Semillon - I ferment
a very small portion in French oak for complexity. I like our Semillon's
lemon-butter-citrus flavours when young with a creaminess as it
ages. The test of a good Semillon is its finish - it must still
have zest and life in the finish even after a few years in the bottle."
It is this philosophy which has won them two coveted trophies with
aged wines - the 1995 International Wine Challenge for the Best
Semillon in the World for the 1993 Willows Semillon; and the 2000
Hyatt Wine of the Year Awards for the 1997 Willows Semillon.
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