Dandelion Vineyards
Menagerie of the Barossa GSM 2020
Barossa Valley
At the end of Zar & Elena’s old vine garden path there is a historic ‘Menagerie’ of three grape varieties, adjoining blocks of Grenache, Shiraz and Mataró at Gomersal in the Barossa. These three grapes have been blended together for much longer than the first vines found their way to Australia, but the Barossa has really become a de facto new-world home for this trinity. The cool night of the Barossa really pulls back the reins on the power and intensity that comes with the hot growing days. After hand picking selected bunches of the Menagerie field blend in mid-March, Elena let the whole bunches ferment together in open top fermenters with ambient yeasts for 14 days, before basket pressing in old French oak barriques. The wine was then matured for a further 12 months in the same oak, before bottling with a gentle fining and sulfur addition, but without filtration.
Vineyard
Single site in Gomersal, 48 year old vines, red clay over limestone & ironstone
Winemaking
After hand picking selected bunches of the Menagerie field blend in mid-March, Elena let the whole bunches ferment together in open top fermenters with ambient yeasts for 14 days, before basket pressing in old French oak barriques. The wine was then matured for a further 12 months in the same oak, before bottling with a gentle fining and sulfur addition, but without filtration.
Vintage
Earth, rose petals, fresh and dried herbs; fennel and sandalwood, and – having said that – the faintest hint of older French oak bouquet. Peppercorns atop plummy, dark berry fruit flavors and cherry pith and a pastis/aniseed kick.
Tasting Note
Barossa Valley’s growing season rainfall was even lower than 2018, down 50% on average. Temperatures were cooler and drier than long-term average, and yields down 60–70%.
UPC
934216000052
Color
Red
Appellation
Barossa Valley
Certifications
ORGANIC
Farming
Organic
Alcohol
14.5%
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Legacy of Australia
The ‘Legacy of Australia’ is vigneron and lifelong champion of old vines and fortified wines, Carl Lindner, whose family has been making this wine since 1944. The grapes are picked at optimum ripeness and left to dry in the sun, after which the they're fermented and added to a solera system.
Lionheart of the Barossa
Lionheart Shiraz is aptly named after Barossa's lifelong champion of old vines and Dandelion's co-founder, Carl Lindner. These ancient, gnarled vines, many over a hundred years of age, are not only surviving but thriving on their own roots in some of the oldest soils on the planet.
Enchanted Garden of the Eden
The "Enchanted Garden" was planted in 1910 and thrives to this day, a seven-acre Eden Valley Vine Garden lovingly tended by Sue and Stuart Woodman. Free run and pressed juices were vinified separately in small, stainless steel tanks.
Pride of the Fleurieu
This Pride of the Fleurieu Cabernet was grown in the family’s pride and joy, the ‘Stranger’s Reach Vineyard’, where low rainfall and deep alluvial soils encourage Cabernet to ‘populate or perish’. Native fermentation, destemmed and crushed in stainless steel, 18 months in French barrique (20% new)
