The Torbreck tasting on September 22 was an outstanding celebration of Australian Rhone varieties from one of the classic producers of collectible wine in the Barossa Valley. Torbreck Vice President – Americas Matt Lane opened the festivities with some classic down home Aussie humor and interesting factoids. We discussed the dynamic and complex history of wine in Australia, with a special focus on the ancient soils (oldest in the world) and ancient fruit, as well as the recent challenges the industry has faced in the world wine market. Matt by the way makes no apologies and well he shouldn’t as Torbreck showed us again how great these wines can be at their pinnacle. Winemaker Scott McDonald took us through a truly spectacular tasting of many of Torbreck’s red wines, including the much-acclaimed 2012 Pict Mataro and the 2012 Run Rug Shiraz. The unique and evolving aromas and flavors of each wine kept our guests on their toes as the wines gained complexity and expanded across our palates with a wonderfully silky weight combined with undeniable balance. To insure the tasting was truly unforgettable, Matt and Scott ended the night with two unexpected treats – magnums of the 2006 Les Amis Grenache and the 2006 Struie Shiraz. Each of these wines exhibited a subtlety and depth of fruit that had everyone asking for more. We are putting together our post class order as we speak so friends of SF Wine Center can purchase Torbreck’s wonderful wines by emailing brian@sfwinecenter.com. A complete list of the wines we tasted is below:
2013 Cuvee Juveniles
2011 The Steading Grenache Shiraz Mataro (Mourvedre)
2012 The Pict Mataro
2012 Descendant Shiraz Viognier
2012 The Factor Shiraz
2012 Run Rig Shiraz
2006 Les Amis Grenache (magnum)
2006 The Struie Shiraz (magnum)