BOTTLE STOP

Here’s the scene: you’re examining all the parcels of wine you harvest and craft annually, and on the bench are more than 120 options.

At St Hallett in the Barossa Valley, the winemaking team sniffs, tastes and spits its way through each parcel from separate blocks or vineyards in recognised sub-regions of the Barossa Zone, from the valley floor to the higher and cooler Eden Valley.

In mind, of course, would be the great St Hallett regional shirazes such as Faith, Old Block and Blackwell, which are the sum of many parts but with different ground rules. The Old Block, for instance, requires a minimum of 35-year-old vineyard fruit.

Meanwhile, to senior winemaker Tony Barlow, the Blackwell represents “classic, rich and robust Barossa power but has a recognisable St Hallett thumbprint of freshness and vitality”.