2022 Mystery Barossa Valley Shiraz Deal No. 6301

Ancestor Vines are the Barossa’s rarest tier. The region’s Old Vine Charter keeps the name for vines aged 125 years or more. A 2017 survey found only about 12.5 hectares of them. This 2022 Shiraz comes from one of those plots, and only one barrel was made. The maker is a fifth-generation Barossan who works with family growers and specialises in old vines on unusual sites. This wine sits at the top of their price list, above their flagship Shiraz. It’s in our Mystery range because it usually sells for a great deal more under its own label. The vintage did it favours. 2022 was a cool Barossa year, picked around two weeks late. Crops were small and intense, with good natural acidity. The fruit was hand-picked and fermented mostly as whole berries, with about 10% whole bunches. It was hand-plunged, basket-pressed and aged in French oak. What you get is old-vine detail rather than brute force. Russell Gallagher at Vino Masters scored it 98 points. He found black liquorice and a charcoal note over dark plum and blackberry. Save it for the dinner where someone will ask about the vines. The vines were planted before Federation. This is about as close as most of us get to tasting the 1890s.