Torbreck’s Finest: 12 Exceptional Wines, 5 Exclusive Pre-Releases, 1 Masterclass event
Torbreck NEW 2023 & 2022s Releases!
Taste 12 Wines in a single Masterclass event including 5 WA exclusive Pre-Release wines.
Matthew Jukes - Winery of the Year 2022/2023
“…Ever since Ian Hongell was appointed winemaker at Torbreck, the wines have sky-rocketed in precision, impact and detail.”The Real Review Top Wineries of Australia 2024, 2023 & 2022
Wine Companion Top 100 Australian Wineries 2024 & 2023
Tuesday February 25th
Masterclass: 5:30-7pm, 12 Wines with nibbles $75
Torbreck Context:
The Torbreck new releases are always an exciting suite of wines to taste through, as they straddle a delicate line: they are true to their traditional Torbreck roots—the very thing that made the brand famous—in that they are lusty, powerful, full-throttle wines that represent the power and density that the Barossa (and Eden, where relevant) is capable of. However, they do so with a measure of grace and elegance.
Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate April 2024
It’s 30 years since cult winery Torbreck was established in the Barossa – and plenty has changed in that time, from ownership to viticulture and winemaking. Through it all, however, the central ethos of expressing the quality of some of the oldest vines on the planet remains.
The Drink Business March 2024
…Torbreck is still a powerhouse of impactful old vine Barossa reeds, but it is the detail and nuance in the wines that is seeing it enhance its already shimmering reputation.
Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion October 2024
About Torbeck
Provenance is everything to us. We believe the Barossa is the most exciting place to make wine in the world, with its gentle Mediterranean climate and 175 years of Silesian and English commitment to winemaking and grape-growing.There is a European sense of tradition here that means vines planted in the 1840s – many of them Rhone varieties such as Shiraz, Grenache, Mourvédre – still thrive and bear fruit of unique concentration and flavour.
Torbreck pays tribute to these vineyards with minimal intervention, creating wines of richness, structure and length that age gracefully.The multi-generational growers, whose descendants arrived here nearly two centuries ago, are the backbone of Torbreck’s winemaking aspirations. Without their knowledge of the seasons and the soil, we would not have such a precious resource of fruit to work with.
Torbreck has also been fortunate to have the opportunity to invest in the protection of some of the Barossa’s most precious vineyards, after accepting fruit from them over many years. The historic Hillside Vineyard at Lyndoch, The Laird Vineyard in the sub-region of Marananga and the Greenock Keller Vineyard owned by the Schultz family, are all now under the custodianship of Torbreck.
In 2008 this long-term commitment to the Barossa was cemented when we completed our winery and bottling line, enabling us to achieve maximum quality control through 100% estate vinification, maturation and packaging.
Our latest development was the 2017 expansion of our original settler’s cottage cellar door to become an international guest centre, where we are proud to welcome our many friends and collectors from the USA, Asia, Europe and Australia. Torbreck has achieved a lot in less than three decades, but the journey is a long way from complete. In fact we remind ourselves every day that the best Barossa grapes are yet to be picked and the finest Torbreck wines are yet to be made.
We invite you to join us on this road to perfection.
Pete Kight, Proprietor, torbeck.com
The Wines
Champagne Forest-Marie Tradition NV, Our Price $87
Light-mid straw yellow with a brassy tinge; straw/dry grass and dried herb aromas at first sniff, palate crisp and fresh with lots of dried herb and some red apple, very good intensity and length of flavour, savoury, seemingly quite low dosage, long carry. Delicious wine of concentration and depth.
95 Points Huon Hooke, The Real review (June 2023)
The Steading Blanc 2022, Our Price $39
Tyson Steltzer Top 250 Wines of 2024
The cool 2022 season wonderfully agitates the tension of this Rhone blend, with a wonderfully crunchy pear and vibrant citrus lift to its core of apricot, and fig, basking in spice. It’s vibrant, long and fine-grained, with beautifully managed textural finesse. The interplay of acidity, flesh and subtle phenolic texture is next level, at once fine-grained and mineral, bright and tangy and yet also polished and slippery, setting this apart as the finest under this label yet.
94 Points Tyson Steltzer
The Steading GSM 2023 (Pre-Release), Our Price $43
The Struie Shiraz 2023 (Pre-Release), Our Price $52
The Gask 2023 (Pre-Release), Our Price $81
Descendant 2022 (Pre-Release), Our Price $138
Descendant 2021, Our Price $144
The 2021 Descendant is often termed as the "Baby Runrig," which, as we all know, is a bit of a myopic way to view things, but it gets the point across. This is Shiraz fermented on Viognier skins (8% by weight, no liquid) and decidedly floral on the nose, with marmalade and orange peel, pink peppercorns and blood plums. The wine is dense and velvety, with loads of tannin; the Viognier, while contributing floral aromatics, textural silk and flow, also contributes tannin, and it is felt here. There is no new oak, which helps with the tannin expression and core of red and purple fruit. The signature Barossan red dirt and ironstone show through the finish. It's really good! Excellent wine. 15% alcohol, sealed under cork and wax.
96 Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (April 2024)
The Factor 2022(Pre-Release), Our Price $138
The Factor 2021, Our Price $144
The 2021 The Factor is a blend of vineyard sites (Krondorf, Rowland Flat, Greenock and Marananga) and is 100% Shiraz (Syrah). On the nose, it offers a complete vision of Barossa Shiraz—chewy, supple, spicy, big, expansive and voluminous. It has a way of being both structural and inviting and flows long through the finish. This is a very good wine here, classy, comforting and evocative, and while silky, it's also pleasingly regional. The tannins are gently chewy through the finish, which I like very much. Good! 15.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork and wax.
96+ Points Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate (April 2024)
The Factor 2020, Our Price $144
Shiraz from the parishes of Gomersal, Krondorf, Marananga and Ebenezer matured in French oak (40% new) for 24 months. This year's Factor sports an inky, graphite-led intensity of fruit and a sense of purity. Compression, too, with deep satsuma plum, blackberry and black cherry fruits initially feeling compact and tight before exploding onto the palate with substantial tannin heft and layers of dark spice, cedar, licorice and dark chocolate. While you could happily tuck into this tonight, it will cellar like a champion.
96 Points Dave Brookes Halliday Wine Companion (July 2023)
The Factor 2016, Our Price $172
Dark fruit with iodine, muscle shell and hints of coal on the palate. Full-bodied, very tight and structured with steely tannins that give incredible length and poise. The greatest Factor I have ever tasted. Driven and brilliant. Better after 2021.
98 Points James Suckling (May 2019)
The Bothie Fortified NV 500ml, Our Price $130
Majority muscat à petits grains, fortified and run across a long, deep solera. This is a glorious expression. A wine with levity and density, power and grace, sweetness and a palpable dryness. It’s very fresh, with a well-served jolt of volatility across the infinite finish. Think cloves, dates, cardamon, fennel seeds, orange bitters and the scents of an exotic bazaar. A gorgeous elixir with endless possibilities at the table and a drinking window that, frankly, is endless. Drinkable now but will hold for years.
98 Points Ned Godwin MW, jamessuckling.com (February 2024)