The first vintage was the 2006. This is the fourteenth vintage of the Goat Shiraz which we call the ‘Salt of the Earth’; a known quantity which can be relied upon to deliver a consistent view of Barossa Valley Shiraz each vintage. This is harder or impossible to deliver in some vintages such as drought years which create wines with over extracted distorted characters.
The Goat then is a pure expression of Barossa Shiraz with the ripeness and complex flavours of the fruit being complemented with a light dose of mature oak. Our winemakers do not want the fruit competing with the raw flavours of new oak.
This style of wine is what we wished to make when coming to the Barossa. This is achieved by using simple wine making methods, summed up as pick, ferment in small open fermenters, settle and age in old, oak puncheons. Our winemakers are careful with over-use of pump-overs which can extract unwanted hard flavours, and there is no pre or post soaking and repeat no new oak.
Incidentally Goat Square is an historic masterpiece as it was the original centre of Tanunda, Barossa Valley, and survives with three original cottages on the corners of the square with the oldest, the Rieschieck house built in 1850.
