JOANNA SIMON | March 2024 – Torbreck Vintners

Standing Taller Than Ever: the Old-Vine Wines of Torbreck in the Barossa

by Joanna Simon

Ian Hongell is a man in a hurry. Not that you would know it from meeting him. He has an easy, smiling manner and comes across as measured and thoughtful rather than someone in a mad hurry. But the point is a wine grower only has one vintage a year.

“I do feel I’m in a rush. Before you know it your career is over,” he says. A little later he adds: “Every year you finish vintage and you’re thinking about what you’re going to do next year.”

Read the full article at https://www.joannasimon.com/post/standing-taller-than-ever-torbreck-in-the-barossa

The Hillside Vineyard Grenache 2021

93 points

Vivid deep purple. Lifted, sweet, floral aromas – violets and raspberries – then blackberry, baking spices and graphite freshness. Sensuous, silky wine with very fine tannins and cool acidity. A wine of great purity and length. Can be drunk now but deserves cellaring. Drink to 2031. 15%

Les Amis Grenache 2021

94 points

Less expressive on the nose than the 2021 Hillside Vineyard Grenache. More savoury, with red berries, graphite, earthy, peppery spices, notes of paprika, cumin, bark and clove. Concentrated, long and savoury with firm but seamless tannins and more marked by its acidity (the pHs of the two Grenaches are almost the same). More backward than the Hillside Grenache. Drink to 2035. 15%.

The Struie 2022

93 points

Very dark purple. Perfumy, ripe, crisply defined black fruit. On the palate, the fruit is darker and more brooding, alongside black pepper, smoke and liquorice notes. Very intense and concentrated with rich, soft tannins combined with the tension and coolness of acidity. The nose is more Barossa; the palate shows more of its Eden Valley side. Drink to 2040. 15%.

The Gask 2022, Eden Valley

94 points

Deep purple. Lifted perfume with a scent of iris and black fruit and an undertow of minerally earth. Taut, dark fruit on the palate – both red and black – with dark chocolate, black pepper, allspice and graphite. Power, concentration and bright fruit cooled by acidity and set against a filigree of satin-textured tannins and savoury length. Enjoyable now, but still very young. Drink to 2033. 15%.

Descendant 2021

94 points

Very dark ruby (rather than purple). Very aromatic with high-toned black and red berry fruit, cake spices, a garrigue herbal note and just a hint of apricot. Lush and ripe with fleshy tannins and a strikingly creamy texture. Generosity and power but with rigour and precision. Drink to 2036. 15%

The Factor 2021

94 points

Very deep, slightly purply red. Aromas of black cherry and blackberry. Dark fruit intensity and concentration on the palate with savoury, almost smouldering black tapenade and liquorice. Satin-smooth tannins and neatly turned acidity. Drink to 2040. 15.5%.

RunRig 2021

97 points

Expressive, lifted aromas of black fruit with a hint of ripe stone fruit overlaying bitter chocolate. A generous, rich palate with fruit of great purity, intensity and definition; notes of baking spices and liquorice and fine-grained tannins beneath extraordinary silky smoothness. Layered, very long and will probably still be going well in 2050. 15.5%. 97

The Forebear 2019

97 points

Enticingly sweet, briary, blackberry fragrance. Plush yet precise on the palate, with black and red fruit intensity, cocoa, mocha, black pepper and some graphite. Perfectly judged and integrated acidity and tannins. Very long and refined. Drink until 2040? 15%.

The Laird 2019

96+ points

Deep purple. Resonant black fruit on the nose – black cherries and blackberries with blueberries. Immensely concentrated, dense palate; opulent fruit, spice and coffee-chocolate flavours with seamlessly assimilated oak and substantial tannins polished to smoothness. Drink to 2045. 15.5%. 96+