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Torbreck The Laird 2018
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Torbreck The Laird 2018
- Grape 100% Shiraz
- Country Australia
- Region Barossa Valley
- ABV 15.5%
- Producer Torbreck
- Case size 3 / 75cl
- 36 months in new French oak
- Deep purple, opaque. Energetic and aromatic, it lifts black fruits of blackberry, plum, and mulberry and intertwines them with liquorice, cinnamon, and roast espresso. It is Full-bodied, round, and plush. The palate has a multitude of complexities balanced by layers of silken-like texture, firm tannins, and a long finish.
- It is funny how truly great wines make me think of anything other than wine. When I first inhaled the scent of 2018 The Laird, I heard music, which was somewhat unnerving. The phenomenal perfume here conjured up Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave – a distant musical memory from my youth. I had never seen this famous sea cave first-hand, so I searched for an image on my phone while diving into this glass. If this wine looks like any marine geological formation, it must be this incredible cavern on the uninhabited island of Staffa. It is fantastic to think that Mendelssohn sat in a boat off Staffa in 1829 and penned a couple of bars of music inspired by this cave. Some 15 years later, the first vines were planted in Barossa. I suppose it is somewhat of a tradition for me not to bang on about fruit, flowers, herbs, and spices when writing about tremendously moving wines, preferring to take my readers to a more emotional place in the hope that they are moved enough to seek out the subject of my musings. In this instance, I cannot get over my Fingal’s Cave spark, and I think it sums up the absurdly deep and never-ending joy that this sublime wine imbues in its taster. 20/20 (Drink 2030 - 2050)
The Laird 2018 Drink 2023 – 2053 99/100
Single-vineyard wines at the behest and the mercy of the seasons are fascinating to view over time. You understand the essence of the style of the wine and the vineyard DNA, so you sit, patiently waiting for the vintages and seasons that meet your personal proclivities to roll around. The 2018 vintage is one of those for me, as will be the cool 2021 and 2022 seasons. The fruit is sourced from the Gnadenfrei vineyard, which was planted in 1958 in Marananga. The fruit was picked over various picks at optimal ripeness and matured for 36 months in new French oak barriques by Dominique Laurent. Eminently red-fruited in the mouth, this 2018 The Laird is reflective of the 2018 season in that it is pure, fresh, laden with blood plum, saturated in red berries, and framed by savoury, exotically spiced black tannins. The oak, while a prominent feature of the wine, supports the fruit at all times and assists in extending the flavour through the finish. Thick in the mouth, yet still fresh, this wine has a moreish quality. I love it. (It is likely unnecessary to tell you that the wine is incredibly full-bodied. It is enveloping and huge but wonderful.)
Price | £1,133.01 |
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Country | Australia |
Vintage | 2018 |
Bottles Per Case | 3 |
Bottle Size | 75 |
2 cases 10% off | No |
Winery | The vision of Torbreck Vintners, founded in 1994, was born out of a desire to create some of the greatest wines in the world by using the ancient, dry-grown Shiraz vineyards surrounding the Barossa Valley. Securing these vineyards initially involved share-farming the property, which involves paying the owner a percentage of the market rate for their grapes in return for managing the vineyard. This share-farming principle, together with their selection of some of the most highly prized vineyards, formed the founding pillars of Torbreck’s incredible international success. The vineyards, in particular, enabled them to source some of the very best fruit in the Barossa Valley, home to some of the world's oldest and most precious vines. Provenance is everything to Torbreck. They believe that the Barossa Valley, with its gentle Mediterranean climate and 175-year Silesian and English winemaking history, is the most exciting place in the world to make wine. A European sense of tradition here means that vines planted in the 1840s – many of them Rhone varieties such as Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvédre – still thrive and bear fruit of unique concentration and flavour. |
Keywords | Torbreck The Laird 2018 |