The Chairman's Folly

This selection provides people with the opportunity to contrast some iconic Barossa Shiraz, as well as a couple of Australian and New Zealand Pinots. It has a mix of classic brands as well as some upcoming names, but each bottle should more than hold its own in your cellar.

Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 2001
The story of Stonewell Shiraz began in 1987 when Peter Lehmann decided to make a special Shiraz – a wine of immense muscularity that would demand time in the barrel and bottle before release.
The tradition has continued and each vintage the best Shiraz grapes are selected from no more than a dozen of the Barossa’s small, old vineyards, the oldest planted in 1835. These low-yielding vines produce sparse crops of typically less than one-and-a-half tons per acre. The berries are small, intensely flavoured and with deep colour which bestows Stonewell with its great character and exceptional longevity.

Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia.
Winemaker: Peter Lehmann.
Colour: Deep, dark purple with the first hints of brick-red maturity at the rim.
Bouquet: A complex amalgam of black fruits, dark chocolate, dusted prunes, licorice and vanillin oak.
Palate: Immensely muscular and tightly structured with an explosion of deep, dark, velvety smooth chocolate and prune flavours reined in by fine, dusty tannins and harmoniously integrated oak.
Cellaring: 2016
Food match: Robust red meat dishes or hard, mature cheeses.
Awards: Top 100 Wine (Blue Gold) 2007 Sydney International Wine Show, 1 Bronze medal

Balthazar Barossa Shiraz 2003
Balthazar of the Barossa vineyard is located on Stonewell Road, Marananga, a celebrated Barossa Shiraz microcosm. Run by the delightfully irrepressible winemaker and vigneron, Anita Bowen, Balthazar of the Barossa produces some of the finest Shiraz to come out of the region. The vines were painstakingly sourced from one of the oldest vineyards in the Barossa whose origins date to 1847.
The vineyard is nurtured with hand pruning and sustainable environmental practices including straw mulching and minimal eco-dam irrigation. The result of such care can be seen in the quality, flavour, complexity and balance of every Balthazar wine.

Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia.
Winemaker: Anita Bowen.
Colour: Opaque garnet with rich purple hues.
Bouquet: A wonderfully dramatic attack of plum and blackberry fruit with enticing spice and earth notes.
Palate: Impeccably structured with full-flavoured blackberry and plum fruit, complemented by black pepper spice notes and finishing with fine tannins.
Cellaring: 2016
Food match: Wild venison and morello cherry casserole.
Awards: 1 Gold, 1 Silver, 6 Bronze medals; Top 100 Wine (Blue Gold) 2006 Sydney International Wine Competition

Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2002
Grant Burge is a fifth generation winemaker who is absolutely committed to the Barossa Valley. He strongly believes that fine wines are born in the vineyard, and that vineyards are the cradle of ultimate wine quality. With this in mind he has developed one of the most extensive networks of premium quality vineyards in Australia strategically positioned in the Barossa.
Along with Balthazar, this stunning red wine is one of the finest examples of Shiraz made in the Barossa Valley. It’s made with fruit from the Filsell vineyard, from vines that are almost 100 years old. These old vines bestow the wine with tremendous power and intensity, which is even more evident given that 2002 was one of the decade’s greatest vintages.

Region: Barossa Valley, South Australia.
Winemaker: Grant Burge.
Colour: Ruby red fading to a pale ruby rim.
Bouquet: Concentrated blackberry, plum, mocha and a subtle earthy straw character.
Palate: Rewards with layers of flavour, fine spice and pepper balanced with dark berries, plums and complex oak and mocha flavours, tight, fine tannins leading to a soft back palate and a very long finish.
Cellaring: 2014
Food match: Rich beef dishes or with hard, mature cheeses.
Awards: 1 Trophy, Top 100 (Blue Gold) 2007 Sydney International Wine Competition, 3 Gold, 6 Silver, 9 Bronze medals.

Henschke Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 2004
This Cabernet Sauvignon label carries the name of the late Cyril Henschke as a tribute to one of Australia’s outstanding winemaking pioneers, renowned for the production of varietal table wines, with the accent on quality and flavour. Cyril Henschke planted Cabernet Sauvignon at Eden Valley in the 1960s.
Today, Stephen and Prue Henschke (winemaker and viticulturist respectively) capitalise on their very old, low-yielding vines to make some of the finest red wines in the country. This 2004 release is made from Cabernet Sauvignon (90%) with a splash of Merlot (10%) grown on the Henschke Estate vineyard. The 2004 vintage produced good yields and excellent fruit quality, evident in the finished wine.

Region: Eden Valley, South Australia.
Winemaker: Stephen Henschke.
Colour: Deep crimson.
Bouquet: Lifted and perfumed with violets, cassis, blueberries, plums, blackberries and spice with hints of vanilla and cedar.
Palate: Supple and soft with sweet, ripe juicy blackberry and blackcurrant fruit flavours of great concentration with layers of complexity and soft, supple tannins.
Cellaring: 2013
Food match: Lamb neck braised with Chinese sausage.

Dorrien Estate Bin 1A Beechworth Pinot Noir 2005
Dorrien Estate is the flagship winery for the Cellarmasters Group, nestled in the heart of the Barossa Valley halfway between Nuriootpa and Tanunda. The winery itself originated in the 1950s as the home of Woodley Queen Adelaide. Today, Dorrien Estate stands proud as one of the most advanced integrated wineries in the Barossa, producing a range of wines exclusively for the Cellarmaster Group’s club network, as well as making wines for many small, independent South Australian-based producers.
Dorrien Estate Bin 1A is made only in exceptional years, when the vintage produces grapes of a quality worthy of bottling under this, the flagship label for the Dorrien Estate range.

Region: Beechworth, Victoria.
Winemaker: Neil Doddridge.
Colour: Medium red with bright cherry hints.
Bouquet: Concentrated dark cherries, plums and a touch of earthy, forest floor.
Palate: Full of character, with a rich and fleshy texture. Subtle and complex with restrained plum and cherry fruit flavours, forest-floor notes and delicate spices, with oak tannins balancing the fruit.
Cellaring: 2010
Food match: Chinese barbecued duck with blood orange sauce.
Awards: 3 Bronze medals.