Chris Ringland Dimchurch Shiraz 2013

Chris Ringland Dimchurch Shiraz 2013

The Dimchurch Shiraz is the more archetypal Barossa Shiraz from the North Barossa Vintners portfolio. While I would describe this as the more fruit forward of our Hoffmann/Dimchurch premium project, the 2012 is dense and concentrated, showing its ability to age gracefully yet has a haunting floral/stone fruit overtone. With under 12 months in bottle under its belt, it is necessary to have the wine decanted for at least 6 hours before its depth becomes evident.

The North Barossa Vintners collaboration of Adrian Hoffmann, Nathan Burley and Chris Ringland is most fun when we gather to make our barrel selections to produce our Dimchurch and Hoffmann wines.

The grapes are sourced from old vines, situated at Ebenezer, in the Northern Barossa Valley. Adrian, 5th generation Hoffmann family vigneron, selects individual parcels from his and neighbouring Shiraz vineyards over the growing season. The grapes are gently destemmed, then vinified in small individual batches.

At 24 months in oak, a preliminary barrel tasting is conducted and classification made. This is repeated every 6-9 months until we have both blends finalised and the Dimchurch ready to bottle. The Hoffmann Vineyard usually then spends a further 6-12 months in oak.

At the lower end of production levels at just under 300 dozen for the 2012, we are very happy with how this vintage of Dimchurch is tracking. Still an baby, it will reward patience or require 6-8 hours in a decanter prior to drinking.