Single Site range: Joanna Shiraz
A luscious and opulent single vineyard Shiraz from Wrattonbully
Joanna is a rich, elegant, cool climate Shiraz with a unique, powerful style. It is matured for 28 months in new American and second use French tightly grained oak hogsheads.
Joanna comes from a single vineyard planted by Pat Tocaciu in 1998. Patrick Tocaciu was one of the pioneers of grape growing in Wrattonbully; after extensive soil testing, he recognised the potential of the area for winemakers and took the plunge, establishing vines from scratch on what were mere grazing paddocks. Joanna Shiraz was originally called the Caves Shiraz, as the vineyard is near Naracoorte caves. It is now named after the old settlement of Joanna in Wrattonbully, as it is an excellent representation of the Wrattonbully region.
We introduced Joanna to our premium range in 2018 after having discovered a batch in the winery that was too good to ignore.
WINEMAKER’S COMMENTS
Luke says, “Back in 2018, I had an amazing parcel of wine that was in the winery. It was about 10 barrels of 2012 Shiraz and it was really rich and concentrated. I thought it was really good, and brought it in to let the Patrick team taste it, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive. That's how it came about and we've been making it ever since.
This wine is specifically from one block, within one of our vineyards. It's a south-facing slope, so it gets less sunlight, it takes longer to ripen the fruit and is more concentrated. It's late ripening and full of flavour. Joanna now has a cult following - a lot of our customers refer to Joanna as their favourite wine.”
A POWERFUL STYLE
Joanna is a luscious, opulent and intense Shiraz that may surprise you. Luke says,
“ Joanna is an interesting wine because it's a rich oaky style from a cool climate region, very different to most South Australian Shiraz. It's not one that everyone thinks they will like, but when they taste it, it really stands out, even among 'non-Shiraz drinkers'. It has some subtle flavours of spice (from our cool climate down here), but also lovely notes of mulberry fruit and red cherries. It's a complex wine that customers loved immediately upon release in 2018. It's wonderful on its own, but also pairs well with a lot of different cuisine, including chocolate after dinner.
Few winemakers are making a style like Joanna in this region. Shiraz wines in the region are generally lighter, like the Two-Blocks style, with less oak, and a more generous fruit profile. Whereas Joanna is all about oak, structure, power and tannins. It's beautiful now, but will also age really well.”
Joanna, like all of our Single Site wines are pre-cellared for a minimum of 5 years prior to release, most of that time is spent in bottle. Ageing in bottle allows for flavours to soften and integrate, this is one of the secrets to Joanna's beauty. If you choose to age Joanna further (always ensure it's temperature controlled), it will get better and better. Don't hesitate to contact us if you want to chat further about ageing wines like this, we'd love to help.
Click here for more information about Joanna.
Explore the other bottles in the Single Site range in our blog post here. You can purchase the Single Site range here.
If you would like read about Luke's insights on the other two exceptional wines in the new Single Site range in more detail, delve into our blog posts on Home Block and Block 5.
