Background: John Duval began working with old vine Barossa Shiraz when he commenced his winemaking career at Penfolds in the early 1970’s. Through the 1990’s he played a leading role in trialling maturation of old vine Barossa Shiraz in new French oak hogsheads, contrary to the established winery convention of blending Shiraz from multiple regions and maturation in American oak. The early trials led to the first release of the Penfold’s RWT Barossa Shiraz from the 1997 vintage – a wine that marked a step change moment in the style evolution of Barossa Shiraz. John’s approach to making Barossa Shiraz continues unchanged, and maturation of selected parcels of old vine fruit in French oak is fundamental to producing Entity - an elegant Shiraz that is true to the Barossa.

Vintage: 2019 was a vintage where quality has triumphed over quantity, with spring frosts and dry conditions combining for greatly reduced yields across the Barossa. Volumes were well down on average, some vineyards more than 50% down, particularly in Eden Valley. However, the fruit we did (very gratefully) receive showed exceptional depth of colour, vibrant yet concentrated fruit with plenty of structure on the palate. 2019 will be remembered as a year for texture, structure and richness. The shiraz vintage started on 25 February and finished in Eden Valley by 10 March.

Vineyards: Sourced from old vineyards in the Krondorf, Ebenezer, Moppa, Tanunda and Eden Valley regions comprising 89% Barossa Valley, 11% Eden Valley fruit.

Winemaking: The parcels of fruit were fermented separately in small stainless steel fermenters some with submerged caps, and twice daily pump overs. Due to low yields and dry conditions we were careful to try and avoid over extraction, so fruit generally saw less time on skins and was handled more gently compared to 2018. Post ferment, the component wines were matured in oak for 15 months, with 35% in new fine grain French oak hogsheads (300L) and the balance in older French hogsheads and puncheons. We intend for the wine to be approachable in its youth, but with ample structure and fruit depth to allow cellaring, under good conditions, for at least 15 years.

Winemakers’ notes:

Nose: Lifted notes of dark berries, plum and boysenberry, supported by hints of anise and clove

Palate: Dark and brooding, with excellent concentration of layered rich dark fruits. with hints of dark chocolate and earth finishing long with youthful tannins Technical

Analysis: Alc: 14.5% pH: 3.61 TA: 6.2 g/ L