A highlight of my tasting career came from Glug customer, Alam Ramsey, in 2013 with an invitation to lunch with his neighbour Paul Johnson where they would open a Karrawirra Barossa Valley Claret 1973 which had lain in the Johnson family Canberra cellar since purchase well over 20 years ago.
The Karrawirra wines of the Barossa Valley were created by the Kies family in the late 1960s. This brand was resurrected by Glug in 2004 with the first vintage being released in 2008. Now old bottles are pretty much a gamble, but the level of the Karrawirra Claret was good, so our hopes were high. The cork crumbled, and it took a delicate touch to extract the pieces bit by bit. This is what we experienced: ‘Pale red-tawny colour; fragile sweet bouquet, warm climate nuances with faint leather and old wood; unexpected liveliness on the palate with the last rays of sweet fruit giving enjoyment. The wine held together quite well for several hours. A remarkable experience’.
Good wines hang on and on and experiences like this lunch urge winemakers to isolate the best wines. Glug created the first single vineyard Karrawirra wines in 2013. This Biscay Vineyard release continues the tradition. Incidentally most single vineyard Karrawirra wines are from the far northern Barossa where it is hotter.
