Langmeil Orphan Bank Shiraz 2021

This wine is rooted in an extraordinary viticultural story. A small plot of 140-year-old vines in Tanunda was destined to be destroyed to make way for real estate. Langmeil individually transplanted every one of the 300-plus vines onto their own property. Ninety-five percent of the vines survived, and the first post-transplant fruit was picked in 2008. This fruit forms the heart of the blend, and is supplemented with Shiraz from other selected plots of old vines, hand-harvested from late February until early April.

The bunches were destemmed and then fermented in open tanks for seven days with twice-daily pumpovers, before being basket pressed. After fermentation the wine was matured for twenty-four months in French oak hogsheads, with fifty percent new oak. During this time the wine clarified naturally and was bottled without fining.

Matthew Jukes featured the Orphan Bank 2019 in his 100 Best Australian Wines 2023 - "a highly detailed wine with a beautiful flavour profile covering an array of red, purple and black fruit tones, and while it has an expansive feel on the palate, it is not a particularly heavy wine. There is something intangible about the texture found here. It is silky and aerial with Pinot Noir cherry hints perfectly integrated into wilder mulberry and blackberry fruit. The French oak (of which 56% is new) perfectly matches the fruit, lifting the brighter flavours and adding fruity, cake spice tones. This is a triumphant wine that further broadens the flavour spectrum of the collection of Barossa Shirazes in this Report. "