Named after a hill that rises above the Glenmorangie distillery, The Struie is the home of a pub called the Altman Arms. This is where David Powell first heard a band called Run Rig play! The Struie sources fruit from the high altitudes of Eden Valley imparting delicate spice, white pepper and fruit characters. While the Barossa component displays a richer, deeper, more brooding flavour and intensity. The combined structure will reward extended cellaring.
What the critics say...
Robert Parker: 93 points(01/10/2005)
The 2003 The Struie is a 4,000-case blend of cooler climate, high altitude Eden Valley fruit combined with small amounts of Barossa grapes. Aged 8 months in wood (20% new), it is a deep, chewy, fleshy effort displaying floral, peppery, incense notes intermixed with white chocolate, blackberry, and black currant characteristics. Consume it over the next 7-8 years.
Pairing: Beef, Game Animals, Grilled Red Meats, Roasts, Stews.
The Torbreck’s history started in 1994 in a small village of the subregión of Marananga, in Barossa Valley. This is a history that goes beyond the yearning by producing wine of quality. It illustrates that the vision and the enthusiasm of a person can feed an unique relation between the... inheritance of a region and its old vineyards. At the beginning of the 90’s, the idea of David Powell began to take form. Although grieved by the vision of sponsorship on the part of the government to dig out the old vines, David was firmly convinced that a public for old Rhone type vineyards wine existed. That’s why his reaction was to approach local owners, asking tthem to trust him and give their properties which were very close to disapear. He then looked very well after these old vineyards (between 80 and 120 years of age) and was rewarded with the fruit of some small plots and did his first vintage. He established contracts for the use of these vineyards and thus the old way of shared cultivation returned in the valley. They then provided to Torbreck the regular supply of the better vineyards of Shiraz, Garnacha and Mourvedre, that contain some of the oldest vines in the world. Subsequently, 30 acres were acquired for Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier and Shiraz, as well as a vineyard of 100 years that had previously been cultivated. In 1995, three tons of grapes were pressed in a shed of its farm of 12 Has. of Marananga and then fermented to give rise to the first vintage of ´Torbreck´, name that has its origin in a forest of Scotland where Powell worked once as the woodcutter. In 1999 two more old vineyards were bought and they were added at the shared system, having access at the same time at more than 250 acres of first class vineyards in Barossa. The objective of David Powell is to maintain the best balance among voluptuous and mature fruit with a subtle use of the oak.
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