Two brands, Goat Square and Karrawirra define the Glug idea of red wine. The first vintage was the 2006. So this is the fifteenth 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 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. We 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. We like plump, ripe flavours with a light hand on the extraction.
The one feature that defines the modern change to wine making is the gentle press. A press is used to squeeze out the flavoursome juices but not tightened so hard that excessive tannins and other bitter hard elements make their way into the wine. These extractive tough characters are not all bad as they contain tannic preservatives and do soften with cellaring. This is why we encourage customers to drink wines younger as the chemical elements for surviving a long age are fewer.
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.
