This Stonewell Road vineyard sits at 255m elevation on red loam over clay peppered with ironstone. It has a gentle westerly aspect and is pruned to grow low yielding, early ripening and intensely flavoured fruit. The 2022 vintage, following the celebrated 2021 harvest, is marked by notably lower rainfall while maintaining cool temperatures. As a result, the canopies were smaller, and both the bunches and berries were reduced in size. This led to a high concentration of fruit and an elevated skin-to-pulp ratio, creating a remarkable balance between fruit weight and structure. The inclusion of a relatively high proportion of whole clusters during fermentation has further contributed to an exceptional level of freshness, energy, and vibrant fruit expression. Handpicked on the 3rd of March, 50% destemmed, 50% whole bunch, wild fermented in open fermenter, pressed to French oak, matured for 20 months in barrel (15% new, Saint Martin Reserve).
(2022 vintage) “Wow. An especially exciting, vibrant nose of sharply defined raspberry, plum, redcurrant and deeper tones of blackberry. Fruit purity also shapes the front palate, which is clean, lean and beautifully poised; a string quartet bowing a long, exquisite harmonic line. This shapes a new definition of Barossa intensity, its fruit being nimble and dextrous atop a serious, studied bedrock. It will be fascinating to see how this develops.” – 98 Points David Sly, Decanter
(2022 vintage) "Deeply perfumed and fragrant, with aromas of wild blackberries, mulberry bush, tobacco leaves, violets and iodine. The palate is full-bodied with seamless tannins and a creamy mouthfeel, showing notes of bramble berries, mocha and ferric earth. Wonderfully constructed with a seamless, long-lasting finish. Excellent. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - James Suckling 96 Points
Michael Hall Barossa Valley Shiraz, Stonewell Road 2023
"Winemaking was a dream that grew over nearly 20 years, from my own wine epiphany in my early 20s."
I grew up in England with a dad passionate about French wine. We spent summer family holidays in the French provincial landscape touring around with a tent. The memories are rosy and much of it stuck. I lived in London in my 20s during the vibrant wine bar scene of the 1980s and, whilst I found work in the jewellery trade, much of my time and wages were spent discovering new wines.
But the next two decades passed building a career in jewellery valuation, climbing to the rarefied air of Sotheby’s in Switzerland, working with socialites, captains of industry, the occasional aristocrat and handling fortunes in precious jewels.
Burgundy and the Rhône Valley were just over the border and called to me. While jewellery was glamourous, this world of privilege wasn’t for me. At 40 years’ old I decided to bring my wine dream to reality. I applied for an Australian student visa and enrolled in Wine Science at Charles Sturt University, which I graduated dux in 2005.
It was a leap into the unknown, even though there are echoes of the meticulousness of my old work. There’s a resemblance between perceiving tiny distinctions of colour and purity in a gem and the multitude of nuances to be coaxed into a wine’s fullest expression – both of which can influence perceived value by many orders of magnitude. Recognising and championing these variations and subtleties can be the difference between a decent wine and a memorable experience.
I took advantage of the inverse hemisphere seasons and worked stints in Australia with Cullen, Giaconda, Henschke, Shaw + Smith, Coldstream Hills and Veritas; in France with Domaine Leflaive, Meo-Camuzet, Vieux Telegraphe and Trevallon. I then spent four formative years as winemaker for Barossa contract winemaker, Moppa Vintners.
Now, many years into my life in wine, I think one of its greatest appeals is the cultural connections I have made, working with gifted growers, exchanging ideas with passionate winemakers and sharing experiences with globetrotting cellar hands. I love the common language and the far-reaching community.
“Thoughtfully-produced wines, which provoke thought"
Rather than moulding the fruit to a style, I’m interested in passively crafting the wine with as few material inputs as possible: Hand picking, maceration, wild yeasts, lees contact, barrel maturation and no filtration. Allowing the season and site to show themselves. Slow wine.
I think about how the sun shone and the rain precipitated during the season. The influence of the growers and the many hands that tended, picked and sorted the grapes. The yeasts that occurred naturally and the signature of the coopers and their forests. Then those evolving bottles, being opened and shared at tables around the world. The connection the wine makes with passionately prepared food, evoking memories or creating a new and memorable experience for someone, perhaps thousands of miles from where the grapes ripened.
At its best wine is a communion of artisan and agriculture. There are hundreds of possible choices we should make in the winery to nurture nuance and complexity, but the wine is ultimately shaped by the site and the elements.