Barossa
100% Shiraz
14.5% Alc
18 months in barrel, 40% new
40-110 Old Vine
Breathe 2 hours
Old Hands acknowledges that many of the Barossa‘s finest vineyards are owned by long-time grape growers with years of experience, often with the benefit of advice from past generations. Made in a generous Barossa style the aromas of red fruits, sweet spice and cedar are complemented by a dense and ripe palate of dark fruits, chocolate, soft tannin and length of flavour.
96 points - The Vintage Journal; Andrew Caillard MW & Angus Hughson
Medium deep colour. Dark chocolate, blackberry aromas with mocha/vanilla notes. Richly flavoured wine with blackberry chinotto, cola flavours, fine loose-knit chalky bittersweet tannins, and well-balanced vanilla nougat oak. Firm finish with lovely pure fruits. Really beautifully made wine. 2027-2038.
96 Points – Ken Gargett, www.winepilot.com
What is not to love? A superb Barossa Shiraz from old vines and a brilliant vintage. Destemmed into a fermenter for a week, the usual twice daily pumpovers and then to American oak, including 40% new hogsheads, for 14 to 18 months. Bottled under cork. Near black/maroon. We have aromas of plums, dark chocolate, bay leaves, mocha, axle grease, cherry pies and more chocolate. Ripe, plush and concentrated. The texture here is wonderfully seductive and sensual, layered and even cashmere-like. Ever-so-soft tannins and impressive length. This is stunning stuff. It will sail through a decade or two.
93 points – Antonio Galloni Vinous; Angus Hughson
The 2021 Shiraz Old Hands is done in a more traditional Barossan style of letting the fruit do the talk. It displays a generous serving of youthful fruit pastilles, dark cherry and new leather aromas, well integrated with impressive oak. There is a lovely mouthfeel to the wine. Layers of plush ripe fruits are lifted by touches of aged meats and wood smoke, while fleshy tannins ensure a silky finish.
Drinking Window 2024-203
Welland Old Hands Barossa Shiraz 2021
The Welland story began with the arrival of the Krieg family, from Germany in 1847. The Kriegs became one of the Barossa’s founding families. Hardworking and successful business people, the family owned the local brickworks, a tannery and also a significant amount of orchard and vineyard at the northern end of the Nuriootpa township.
Welland vineyard was planted in 1923 by the Krieg family Situated on red clay soils, this vineyard for many years supplied premium fruit to well-known Barossa wineries such as Penfolds and Peter Lehmann. The Barossa has more than 550 grape growers. Many of these growers are generational and while the Krieg family never owned or operated a winery themselves, their vineyard became known amongst local winemakers as growing some of the region’s finest Shiraz.
Welland Today In 2017, the last few hectares of this old vineyard were listed for sale as a ‘development site’. The vines were within a whisker of meeting the bulldozers when a group of friends led by Ben and Madeleine Chapman purchased the block. Together they are now in the process of resurrecting this historic old vineyard.