05 Jun Off the Vine, Season 3, Ep 3

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St Hallett Vineyard: St Hallett is in the great wine-growing region of the Barossa Valley. Interestingly, the region takes its name from the Spanish word Barrosa, which was miss-spelt in translation and so became Barossa. Now, as we’ve mentioned before, regionality is about wines that are reflective of both their region and grape variety. Few brands manage to achieve this, but St Hallett wines in particular have captured the essence of the Barossa. The Barossa Valley is made up of a vast combination of meso climates and soil variation; block selection is critical to producing high quality fruit. Every effort is made to source the best fruit, which often means using only small parcels from particular vineyards and keeping them separate right up to final blending. Small batch processing is one of the keys to St Hallett’s success at producing premium wines and maintaining regional integrity. Over sixty separate parcels go into the final blend of the St Hallett flagship wine, Old Block Shiraz. In 1988 the St Hallet winery underwent a dramatic change with the installation of some of the world’s most advanced fruit processing and handling equipment. Despite all this technology, traditional winemaking techniques still prevail at St Hallett. The modern fermenters are based on the dimensions of traditional concrete fermenters. The dedication and commitment to excellence are reflected St Hallet wines portfolio. Stuart Blackwell’s outstanding achievements as a winemaker were recognized when the Barons of the Barossa awarded him 2003 Barossa winemaker of the year.