2019 Laughing Jack Old Vine Moppa Grenache

Liquorice, spice and all things nice, there’s a lot of stuffing to the 2019. Blue-floral perfume, red fruits and brooding power work alongside an impressive tannin profile and mouth-watering acidity. It’s powerful and impeccably balanced with a dense fruity core and plenty of savoury tones. Complex, layered, mouthcoating and delicious—an excellent release.

Sourced from a low-yielding vineyard planted in 1962 by Albert and Ian Kalleske, this old-vine Barossa is a model in its class. The three-acre plot is located on the fabled southern slope of Moppa Hill, where Laughing Jack is one of only three growers. The contoured site is at 350m elevation, and the deep-rooted, old vines sit on ancient, sandy soils with orange clay and quartz stone underneath.

The fruit is always hand-picked and the 2019 was partially destemmed (76%) to whole berries with the balance remaining as whole bunches. After 14 days on skins in a three-tonne open fermenter (with twice-daily hand plunging), the wine was basket-pressed to barrel. It spent 19 months in seasoned French oak (60%) and seasoned American puncheons (40%).  

Liquorice, spice and all things nice, there’s a lot of stuffing to the 2019. Blue-floral perfume, red fruits and brooding power work alongside an impressive tannin profile and mouth-watering acidity. It’s powerful and impeccably balanced with a dense fruity core and plenty of savoury tones. Complex, layered, mouthcoating and delicious—an excellent release.

The first thing to know about this winegrower is that he lives in the vineyard. Getting a hold of Shawn outside vineyard hours is nigh on impossible, perhaps because vineyard hours at this address are roughly the same as sunlight hours. Kalleske has completed over 20 vintages at the estate and not only do his gnarled, crevassed hands tell the tale of each tour of duty, but the quality of his wines is also a testament to his rare work ethic.

One imagines it helps when you have such an impressive office to work from. Laughing Jack’s enviable vineyard holdings were planted by his forebears and span three sub-regions—Moppa, Greenock and Marananga—with vines dating back to 1962. All sites are on the slopes, ensuring a cooler run through vintage for the Laughing Jack fruit, as compared to those on the hot and dry valley floor. The Laughing Jack website is an invaluable resource for those wishing to delve deeper into these special sites.

Underpinned by a deep respect for traditional Barossa values, through a process of constant fine-tuning in the vineyards and cellar, Kalleske’s wines have become ever more refined and pure expressions of what are indisputably some of his region’s best-kept vineyards.

Looking back to the early days, Shawn readily concedes that in the Parker-era (like others in the Barossa at the time) the grapes were being picked on sugar ripeness. But, as Shawn told us recently, this “doesn’t come into it at all now”. Today the focus is placed squarely on picking grapes that are flavour-ripe, with great tannin and acid balance. Hard pruning keeps the already naturally low yields in check, and Kalleske has planted cover crops and manages weeds by cultivation without the use of chemicals.  

In the winery, méthode Barossa holds sway. The reds are all fermented in open-top fermenters, basket pressed and bottled without any fining or filtration. The use of wood these days is well-judged, with a mix of older and new French hogsheads and puncheons.

Great sites, top-notch fruit and a most thoughtful and conscientious vigneron result in a range of authentic and characterful wines. The much-loved Jack’s Shiraz is the great value gateway to this producer. At the other end of the scale are the premium powerhouses of the range, the Limited Two and the Carl Albert Shiraz. These wines showcase not only the powerful and perfumed fruit, but Kalleske’s skilled winemaking hand, balance is key, and he strikes it time after time. There are riches in between, from a perfumed Old Vine Moppa Grenache to a textural, yet crisp Greenock Semillon. Those on the hunt for true Barossa soul need look no further.