Torbreck 'The Steading' Gsm 2021

Concentrated Barossa fruit with proper polish. The Australian Rhône style.

The 2021 blend is 51 percent Grenache, 28 percent Shiraz and 21 percent Mataro. Fruit comes from old Barossa sites around Greenock, Moppa and Ebenezer, some with vines past 100 years old. Torbreck says these vineyards survived the phylloxera outbreak of the 1880s and the Barossa vine-pull scheme a century later. They are dry-grown on the valley's western ridge.

The wine spends 20 months in large-format oak, so the wood stays in the background and fruit and spice sit together. It is sealed under cork at 14 percent. A steading is the Scottish word for a farm with its barns and outbuildings, in keeping with the estate's Scottish naming habit.

Decant it for half an hour and serve at 16 to 18 degrees. It will hold to 2032. Herb-crusted lamb, a mushroom dish or a Moroccan tagine all suit it.