The Vineyard
Fechner Vineyard is owned and farmed by brothers Michael Fechner and Graeme Fechner near Moculta in the northern end of the Eden Valley.
The Fechner Vineyard is unique, being one of only a few eastern facing vineyards in the Eden Valley region. The eastern slope which offers cooler daytime temperatures, together with higher altitude and cool valley winds produces optimum growing conditions for Shiraz.
Site location: Moculta, Eden Valley
Map coordinates: -34.475005,139.071367
Clone: 1654
Planted: 1999
Elevation: 345 meters
Soil: Broken grey schist integrated with shallow limestone and red clay, very complex and ancient soil.
Aspect: East-facing
Rows: 35 to 37
Harvest: February 23, 2013
Tonnes: 1.90T
The Winemaking
Hand-picked and destemmed to an open-top tank for fermentation and gently hand plunged two to three times daily.
Basket pressed directly to oak for 11 months maturation - 55% French, 45% American, with 75% new oak.
Unfined, unfiltered and vegan.
Bottled 25th February 2014 – 1,566 bottles
The Wine
Over the last 900 million years a large chunk of dolomite was pushed up into the landscape at Penrice, crumbling all the land around it.
Next to this in the rich, complex gravel the Fechner Vineyard produces a deep and concentrated wine with immense spices and 900 million years’ worth of minerality. Elegant and deep to the core.
Drinking... Ready for drinking upon release or cellar for 20+ years.
Alcohol 13.5% alc/vol
Reviews
96 POINTS - James Halliday's Wine Companion Magazine (May 2015)
"Matured in 55% French, 45% American oak (75% new); grown on 900-millionyear- old gravel soils. As far removed from the Cemetery Vineyard Ebenezer Shiraz as the sun from the moon, this is all about elegance and intensity, with fruit and oak spices to the fore, but leaving ample opportunity for the tangy cherry, plum and blackberry fruits to state their case. 131 dozen made. 13.5% alc, cellar to 2033."
James Halliday's Wine Companion Magazine - Top Cellaring Selections 2015
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92 points - Huon Hooke, Silver Ribbon, August 2015.
Awarded #11 of 50 2013 Shiraz wines tasted from Barossa.
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94 points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front