Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz 2020

Kaesler Old Vine Shiraz is produced from vines planted in 1961. The younger brother of the Old Bastard Shiraz, the old vine vineyard was planted with cuttings from the Old Bastard 1893 vines and aged in 500L French Oak puncheons to create a harmonious wine with a plush and soft texture.

Winter saw plenty of small rain events, but there were no soaking rains to push moisture deep into the soil. October, November and December saw high temperatures and we had to manage our water carefully. The intense heat impacted the volume of fruit; however, February was much cooler, and we received good rainfall which meant the grape quality was very good.

At Kaesler we strive to not only maintain but rebuild the soils, because at the end of the day we want to leave these precious old vines in better condition than we found them. It’s a process called ‘regenerative farming’ as it’s more than sustainability, it is a practice that constantly evolves so we are not just sustaining the environment we are improving it.

Fermentation took between 7 to 8 days and in this time the wine was pumped over 2 to 3 times per day to help extract colour from the skins and keep the cap moist in an effort to maintain freshness. After gentle pressing the wine was left to rest for 2 to 3 days, then racked to French puncheons for around 16 months.