Torbreck The Struie Shiraz

David Powell is well acquainted with the forests of Scotland. There, in the lands of the northwest, he worked as a lumberjack for several years; however, he realized that it wasn't his calling. Therefore, alongside his wife, he decided to move to Barossa Valley in the southern part of Australia. In his new destination, he added a couple of lines to his resume, choosing to follow the winemaking tradition of the area. Nonetheless, he couldn't forget the country that is part of the United Kingdom. Even the views of Eden Valley from Barossa Ranges - the mountain range located an hour from the capital Adelaide - reminded him of the panorama of Dornoch Firth from Struie - the 157-meter mountain located in the northeast of Scotland.

Powell managed to cope with this longing and homesickness, as the Galicians would say, by making two decisions: on one hand, establishing a winery he named Torbreck (the name of the northwest forest in Scotland, near Inverness); on the other hand, baptizing the wine that is born in this valley so reminiscent of Scotland with the name Struie. This is how Torbreck The Struie Shiraz comes to life, a red wine blend of old vineyards from Eden Valley (with an average age of 40 years) and old syrah vines (80 years old) that grow in the western ranges of Barossa Valley.

In the case of Eden Valley, it is a cold region, with river valleys reaching high altitudes (between 400 and 500 meters). This means that the grapes in this area have a slower maturation (specifically 1-2 weeks later) compared to the vines of Barossa Valley, which grow between 200-300 meters in altitude. This inevitably leads to different varietal flavors, lower pH, and higher acidity. However, this is not synonymous with lower quality since, although traditionally this area has been more associated with white wines, Eden Valley is capable of offering elegant and intense syrah reds that grow on a variety of soils. In the case of Eden Valley, the soils are very diverse (from sand to clay), just like in Barossa Valley (with loamy-clay and sandy soils). However, in terms of climate, there aren't as many similarities between the two areas. While Barossa Valley has a Mediterranean climate (with high temperatures during the day and low humidity and precipitation), the mesoclimate in Eden Valley - which primarily depends on altitude and orientation - is generally colder.

This geological and climatic mixture will be the determining factors for grape maturation, where only the best will be selected for vinification. This occasionally involves harvesting in different stages. Once in the winery, the clusters are destemmed and placed in open wooden fermenters. There, until the process is complete, Torbreck The Struie Shiraz will be punched down twice a day for a week. This ensures that the skins and grape solids remain moist at all times, preventing the development of bacteria in the cap (the layer of skins that float and settle at the top of the tank). After this, Torbreck The Struie Shiraz is basket-pressed and transferred to new and used French oak barrels, where it will undergo 20 months of aging until bottling.