A Perfect hat-trick
By Andrew Caillard MW
Kicking off 2026 is the release of three important Australian wines, all of which represent ambitions of generations past yet have been reinvented through the prism of optimism, new horizons and heritage. Circumstantially, I have been privy to these projects through my work as an author. The 9th edition of Penfolds The Rewards of Patience will be released in February and the Seppeltsfield book – celebrating 175 years – is slotted for a May /June publication date. Yalumba’s Octavius Shiraz - which is based on old vine material going back to 1854, is marketed through La Place de Bordeaux – and will get its first public outing at Wine Paris (9th-11th February). All three releases play a crucial role in building interest in the cause of fine Australian wine. Although completely different in style, Barossa Shiraz is either the principal or supporting actor. And they are united by imagination, and singularity of purpose, while being profoundly connected to Australia’s fine wine heritage. 2022 Penfolds Grange La Chapelle, 2021 Yalumba Octavius Shiraz and 1926 Seppeltsfield 100-Year-Old Para Tawny are all substantial wines, each capturing a sense of discovery and the best of winemaking provenance. Perfection; each in their own way.
2022 Penfolds Grange La Chapelle, Australia-Rhone Valley
Deep crimson. Intense dark cherry, blackberry pastille, blueberry white peppery chinotto, violet aromas with hint ginger notes. Glossy and pure with blackberry, white pepper, vanilla, marzipan gingerbread flavours and fine graphite textures. Finishes chalky firm and slinky. Plush and luscious with lovely mineral length. Assured, brilliantly well-balanced and complete. A beautiful wine showing the superb structural integrity of Grange and the ultimate cool expressive terroir of syrah. Bound to age for the medium to long term. 50% La Chapelle, 44% Barossa Valley and 6% McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. 100% shiraz/syrah. Sealed under cork. Drink 2026 – 2045. 14% alc 100 points
About Penfolds Grange La Chapelle.
Grange La Chapelle or is a 50%/50% blend of Hermitage La Chapelle, sourced from lieu-dits (vineyard plots) surrounding the Hill of Hermitage (Rhone Valley France) and Penfolds Grange Shiraz, a multi-vineyard South Australian blend based on mature to ancient vines in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and other districts. Typically, Grange is matured in 100% new American oak hogsheads, while Hermitage La Chapelle is aged in 20% new French oak barriques and amphora. Each component brings out the best of its blending companion. While Grange gives volume, generosity and warmth, La Chapelle brings lift, purity and spring. Neither component dominates resulting in a wine that represents something more than the sum of its parts. Ultimately it is an expression of history*, the beauty of collective terroirs and the prismatic quality of modern syrah/ shiraz.
*In 1832 James Busby returned to New South Wales with a collection of grape vine cuttings from France and England. A consignment of cuttings from Spain did not survive. Within this collection were cuttings from the Hill of Hermitage and the Languedoc (also directly derived from the Hill of Hermitage). It is more than likely that James Busby (in 1831) walked through the vineyards that make up today’s Domaine de la Chapelle’s Hermitage La Chapelle. Most of the heirloom vineyard parcels that lie behind Penfolds Grange Bin 95 Shiraz are probably related to this 19th century import (see The Australian Ark, The Vintage Journal/ Longueville Media 2024).
2021 Yalumba Octavius Shiraz, Barossa Valley – South Australia
Deep inky colour. Intense blackberry pastille, roasted coffee, roasted chestnut hint vanilla aromas with star anise, mint/sage notes. Gorgeously concentrated palate with pure blackberry, espresso, dark chocolate flavours, fine loose knit cedary textures and underlying roasted chestnut notes. Richly flavoured, yet not overly dense with linear fresh acidity intertwined with underlying aniseed notes. Finishes bittersweet and minerally with seductive blackcurrant/ blackberry pastille flavours and hints of herb garden/ nutmeg. A lasting vintage with superb vinosity, inky density and typical gentle vigour. Very expressive and beguiling showing the hallmarks of 19th/ early 20th Century old vine provenance and a stellar vintage. At the vanguard of the Barossa Shiraz experience. Sealed under cork. 55% Barossa Valley, 45% Eden Valley. 19 months in 24% new and seasoned French oak. Now - 2050+ 14.5% alc 100 points
About Yalumba Octavius Shiraz.
Yalumba’s century-old vineyards are the legacy of a thriving export market for South Australian dry red and fortified wines during the late 19th century and early to mid-20th century. Although there are cabernet sauvignon plantings dating back to 1888 in the Barossa Valley, it was typical for Australian claret styles to be made from shiraz. When Yalumba planted its vineyards in the 1850s, the cuttings were sourced from Sir William Macarthur’s Camden Park in New South Wales, and from Pewsey Vale and Tarrawatta in the Eden Valley. This ancient genetic material is widely planted in the Barossa, with most surviving 19th and early 20th century vineyards plantes on their own roots. The oldest vines that contribute to Octavius Shiraz date back to 1854 (before the famous 1855 Bordeaux Classification), 1901, 1919, and 1920. Others were planted later, in the 1940s and 1950s. Average age of vines is around 88 years.
1926 Seppelt 100 Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny, Barossa Valley – South Australia
Review released February 19
About Seppeltsfield 100 Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny.
In 1878 Oscar ‘Benno’ Seppelt laid down his first puncheon of vintage tawny with instructions that it should not be bottled for 100 years. Although the Seppelt family lost control of Seppeltsfield in 1984, the tradition has been honoured for 149 years by successive generations. When released, the 100 Year-Old Para Vintage Tawnies usually possess a treacle-like consistency as a result of an 80% evaporation rate over a century. Under the ownership of Warren Randall, these rare tawnies are bottled in 100ml bespoke quarter-pint perfume bottles, highlighting their rarity and recognising that they are best enjoyed as an experience. A single pour of 10ml is recommended.
The blend of varieties is not exactly known but grenache and shiraz will be dominating varieties along with mataro. Other varieties like doradillo (also known as blanquette and used for distillation) and carignan might have been included as well for vintages around this time.
The first ten years of age is a very dramatic stage with the wine turning from red to light gold brown and showing the oxidative effect of barrel maturation. By around 20 years of age the vintage tawny has lost its crimson robe entirely and is showing mahogany colours, more volume, velvety textures and classic nuttiness. The next twenty years sees the wine further aging with the volume becoming thicker and beautiful rancio* characters emerging. At 40 years and beyond, a Vintage Tawny can reach a very attractive phase showing a degree of completeness and flow.
The evolution after a further 60 years in barrel is less dramatic but the vintage tawny will go out of balance because of the profound evaporation and changes in composition. Topping up – the process of condensing multiple barrels eventually into a single puncheon – maintains the freshness of the vintage tawny without compromising its age integrity and authenticity at the time it reaches 100 years old.
*Rancio – is a complex aromatic character that is achieved through long, slow oxidative aging of fortified wines and involves seasonal fluctuations in temperature during the barrel maturation phase. A caramelised roasted nut/ dried fruit, fig-like aromas and flavours emerge.