Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz – Stonewell has been lauded as one of Australia’s greatest wines and one of the world’s greatest Shiraz. The wine exhibits aromas of dark plum and chocolate with hints of mint. The story of Stonewell Shiraz began in 1987 when Peter Lehmann decided to make a special Shiraz – a wine of immense intensity and muscularity that would demand time in the barrel and bottle before release. The wine was named ‘Stonewell’ after the district that he believed best showed the characters admired most in Barossa Shiraz. This tradition has continued and each vintage the best Shiraz from their legacy of growers’ Barossa vineyards is chosen to create Stonewell. Usually no more than a dozen small, old vineyards are selected each year, the oldest planted in 1885
Those special grapes, affectionately named ‘Little Black Jewels’ by Lehmann, were sourced and crafted into what we now know as Stonewell. Their ‘Little Black Jewels’ are picked when they are slightly riper to increase colour and create greater depth and mouthfeel. Fruit from the best Shiraz vineyards is kept separate during crushing and early barrel maturation until the annual vintage classification where intense colours and concentrated flavours are seen as potential Stonewell varieties. As the story goes, Peter Lehmann and Andrew Wigan had to hide the wine to allow for optimum ageing to occur over a five-year period. Sourced from vineyards in the Light Pass, Nuriootpa & Moppa districts from selected parcels belonging to five of Peter Lehmann's valuable growers. Some of these vines are circa 60+ years old and dry-grown. The grapes are picked in the cool of the night and crushed immediately into stainless steel fermenters for 7-12 days. After pressing off skins, the wine is then matured in new and older hogsheads for 15 months prior to fining, filtration and bottling. The wine rests in their temperature controlled warehouse for four more years prior to labelling and release.
Lifted powerful blackberry fruit, dark chocolate, raspberry, crushed rocks, and hint of smoky oak char on the nose. A palate of rich plums, spiced fruitcake, a slight minty freshness and an oily/inky mouthfeel with a long & fine-grained tannic structure over a long, sumptuous finish. In short, everything is in its right place and it will be exciting to see how this wine continues to develop.
