Schild Estate has a well-earned reputation for producing premium, estate grown wines of incredible quality and character.
Its wines have been turning heads among wine reviewers, collectors and drinkers increasingly over the last few years, none more so than for the Limited Release Moorooroo Shiraz.
The 2017 vintage of this wine has recently been released and has already received 99 points from Australia’s premier wine writer, James Halliday.
By itself this is an impressive score, but under the guidance of chief winemaker Scott Hazeldine, the Moorooroo Shiraz has consistently scored an illustrious 99 James Halliday points for three vintages in a row (2015, 2016 and 2017).
“Our primary aim is to make wines that provide genuine interest and enjoyment to the drinker. The reward for us is knowing that people are looking forward to its release each year and are excited by the wine that lands in their glass,” said Hazeldine.
“Garnering this recognition from someone as respected and eminent as James has been a lovely affirmation for all the team that the work we are undertaking both in the vineyard and the winery has us on the right path and is yielding wines of the quality we aspire to.”
The winery is quietly situated in Lyndoch with eleven estate owned vineyards scattered throughout the southern Barossa.
The four rows of Ancestor Vines which make the Moorooroo Shiraz are situated in Rowland Flat and have been in the Schild Family since 1984 making them only the third custodians of these vines since being planted by the Jacob brothers in 1847.
It is the relationship between vineyards and winery that ensures that the best of each vintage is captured at every stage of the process.
“Everyone knows that a good wine is made in the vineyard,” quips Michael Schild, head vigneron and third generation Schild.
It’s a statement that winemaker Scott Hazeldine doesn’t disagree with.
“If we get it right in the vineyard, the calibre of the raw materials here means that we genuinely have to do very little in the winery and so often that seems to be the key to our best wines,” he said.
The Moorooroo Shiraz is handpicked before being sorted and destemmed using state-of-the-art equipment and an expert team that specialise in producing wines from precious old vines.
It is traditionally open fermented before being matured in new and seasoned French Oak. The reputation of the Moorooroo Shiraz has steadily grown momentum among wine collectors and enthusiasts with each vintage consistently displaying a refined quality that reflects a sense of time and place.
With anticipation building prior to each vintage becoming available the Moorooroo Shiraz often sells out within a few months of being released.
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