Orphan Bank Shiraz
2015
Chief Winemaker Paul Lindner aims to produce world class wines using Langmeil's own individual style while taking advantage of the distinctive hallmarks of the Barossa. Langmeil ensures that all vineyard sources offer variety as well as the highest quality. Techniques and Philosophies Paul has a passion for utilizing old world and new world technology, minimal handling and filtration techniques, to ensure the full potential of the fruit is captured, resulting in fruit driven wines with subtle...
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Good winter rains and warmer temperatures in early spring brought about slightly earlier bud burst and excellent shoot growth. A lovely growing season with no crazy, stormy or very windy northerly weather to affect flowering resulted in a great fruit set across all varieties. However, the northern Barossa, and a few other seemingly random patches of vineyard, were hit by late frosts resulting in a huge loss for that sub region. After a quite chilly Christmas and New Year the warm and dry weather was upon us, perfect ripening weather. An early and fast vintage for the Barossa Valley had Langmeil at full fermentation capacity for three and a half weeks meaning 75% of the grape intake in less than a month! The later ripening varieties like Grenache and Mataro still took their time and of course Eden Valley Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon are always late – so vintage soon wound down to a leisurely pace ending in the middle of April. Overall 2015 was an excellent vintage with great flavour, colour and intensity across the board.
Deep crimson with purple hues. A rich aroma of red and blue fruits, herbal and cedar notes, with hints of sage, chocolate and other savoury nuances. Juicy raspberry and plum fills the mouth, with a touch of oak sweetness adding to the mouthfeel. Well balanced with textured, fine tannins.
Vines planted 1860, 10 rows relocated after 150 years; basket-pressed, open-fermented, matured for 2 years in French oak. Unsurprisingly rich and layered blackberry/blackcurrant fruit with notes of earth and licorice, yet all this comes in a measured way. Excellent oak and tannin balance.
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The beauty of these relocated old vines is that they never seem to yield a wine that's too ripe or too heavy. The 2018 Orphan Bank Shiraz offers up scents of red raspberries and blueberries alongside hints of mint. The oak (all French oak hogsheads, 47% new) is well-balanced and integrated into the wine, barely noticeable in this full-bodied beauty. Supple and charming, it's a very pretty Shiraz—maybe not the biggest or baddest beast—but remarkably elegant and long-lasting on the finish.
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A strong release of the Orphan Bank Shiraz from the most excellent 2021 vintage in the Barossa. Deeply coloured with gorgeous aromas of macerated satsuma plums, blueberry, boysenberry and dark cherry fruits. Hints of baking spice, dark chocolate, light espresso notes, violets, licorice, panforte and earth. It's all about harmony, fruit density and flow here, tight, compact sandy tannins providing the base and a finish that lingers nicely with an array of dark plum fruits and spice.
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In 2006, Langmeil saved 10 rows of pre-1860s Shiraz from the developer’s bulldozer. He replanted the ‘orphans’ (which share a common ancestry with Langmeil’s Freedom 1843 block, the world’s oldest surviving Shiraz vines) in their new home alongside the original Langmeil vineyard on the banks of the North Para river. For Orphan Bank, the 2012’s mix of 78% Barossa Valley and 22% Eden Valley fruit, from vineyards averaging 88 years of age, was matured in 50% new and 50% seasoned French oak hogsheads for 24 months. Justin Knock MW: Perfumed aromatics, warm spices, grilled meat juices, easy blue fruits, fine salty tannins. A lovely wine, very much a Rhône style in a positive way. Multiple touchpoints of complexity. Tina Gellie: Savoury olive nose, seductive exotic spices and stewed plum red fruit aromas. Graceful and supple, lovely weight and body, more on the delicate side than some. Drinking beautifully. Roger Jones: Spiced, fresh, zippy acidity, dark but clean berries, perfumed and lingering. Fragrant, silky-smooth, elegant and refined.
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A very rich and classically styled shiraz that has a big, blackberry and red-plum fruit statement on the nose with chocolate and toasted spices. The palate is deep, plush and very vibrant with intense plum and blackberry flavors.
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I'm liking the recent releases of the Orphan Bank. They are less percussive ... crunchier and juicier in their fruit profile. Still with classic plummy, black-fruited goodness with layers of spice and an earthy resonance that could be nothing else but Barossan. The tannin architecture is fine and sandy, its acidity bright and fresh and the oak nestles into the fruit nicely with a slow fade.
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Savoury tobacco and cocoa aromas, with dried red plum notes and ripe tannins. Developing nicely, with a lovely texture.
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Shiraz with an average vine age of 70 years, sourced from the parishes of Lyndoch, Penrice, Stone Well, Tanunda and Light Pass. Aromas of red plum, blueberry and boysenberry are supported by hints of spice, violets, red licorice and medium cedary oak. Nicely weighted in the mouth with a sleek palate shape, bright acidity, a tight, fine tannin and a medium, red-fruited finish brushed with cedar and spice.
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Produced from 10 rows of vines planted pre-1860 that were about to be bulldozed, but saved and replanted at Langmeil, matured for 23 months in French hogsheads (40% new). Curiously 83% Barossa Valley, 17% Eden Valley. It's full-bodied, and the fruit flavours are slightly blurred by the alcohol.
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Some deep earthy aromas, as well as sweet-spiced oak and a layer of dark mulberries and plums. The palate is supple with a dollop of fleshy red fruit in the mid-palate, as well as long and fluid tannins...
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There's a distinct style happening at Langmeil—the fruit is supple and polished, always. This 2019 Orphan Bank Shiraz is littered with bright summer raspberries and exotic spice and shaped by sophisticated tannins. This is a beautiful wine. Concentrated and lush, it will live.
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