Kaesler 'The Bogan' Barossa Shiraz 2017
Grape Varietal: 100% Shiraz
Growing Region: Barossa Valley - Australia
Chief Winemaker: Reid Bosward
4 Stars ★★★★
I must admit it has been a few years since I last visited Reid, and the ancient dry-grown bush vines. As Reid and his vineyard team, work with some of the oldest vines in the world - and over the past few seasons have been working with diverse range of oak barrels to support and complement their rich wine expressions.
These ancient dry-grown bush vines are fragile and need great care during the growing season and harvest time. Their Marananga vines were planted in 1899 and the other parcel from Nuriootpa was planted in 1965. These two mature vines play an influential role in both this wine and the invitingly rich wines of the Barossa. At Kaesler, they have learnt from history and meticulous winemaking, how to combine and get the best from these sites.
These unique Barossa vines are world famous for crafting concentrated Shiraz wines. This colloquially named ‘The Bogan’ Shiraz over a number of years has developed an exemplary, full bodied style. The two vineyards used to make this wine perfectly complement each other. The Marananga old vine block provides intense, rich, small earthy berry characters. While the Nuriootpa vines offer riper, sweet fruit note, which add to the wine’s reputation and intense style.
Due to the fragile and natural irregular shaped vines, the fruit was hand harvested and given time on skins, and then pressed off into oak barrels. This Shiraz matured for up to 15 months in 25% new French oak and the remainder was a combination of 2 and 3 year old French oak. After tasting and blending, the wine was carefully racked, not filtered or fined before bottling.
• In your glass you will be greeted by a deep red-black colour with an vivid purple hue. On the nose enticing aromas of dark plums, black cherries, whole peppercorns with hints of spice from the controlled length of time in oak. On the palate your senses are fully engaged with those rich, spiced dark fruits and considered expression of fruit tannins and a defined framework of oak. The richness of small wild berries has a perceived sweetness from the front of the palate through to the captivating French oak which envelops the senses and the silky tannins, lead onto a long focused finish.
This 2017 Kaesler ‘The Bogan’ Barossa Shiraz has 15% Alc./vol. Medium decanting of 30-45 minutes and serve in a generously shared red wine glass at 16 - 18°C.
CELLARING POTENTIAL: *(Review 10/10/20)
With medium decanting, drinking this season; plus will age for another 8 - 10 years.
FOOD PAIRING SUGGESTIONS:
Perfect wine pairing with grilled prime red meats, slow cooked, well-seasoned meat dishes, rich pasta dishes, earthy vegetarian dishes and aged, hard cheeses - enjoy.
