Other Vintages

Where to buy

Online with Dutschke Direct

In Australia
Around the world

Downloads

2010 Tasting Notes

2010 St. Jakobi

Shiraz

In 1934 my Grandfather, Oscar Semmler, purchased a vineyard and grazing property across the road from where he and his brothers grew up. This property is located on the southern side of Lyndoch in the Barossa Valley alongside the St. Jakobi Lutheran church and school. It was in the St Jakobi church where my great grandparents, grandparents, parents, as well as Brenda and I have all been married.

The grapes for our "St. Jakobi" Shiraz come from a small 6-acre patch of 32 rows of vines planted in 1975 by Ken Semmler (Oscar's son & my uncle) on this family property. We've been blessed by having this patch of vineyard in a region that consistently produces good quality fruit year after year. The Shiraz from this special planting typically gives us wines that are rich in spice, dark cherry and chocolate characters, with fullness and wonderful structure for longevity in the bottle.

Conditions of the 2010 Vintage led to a slow ripening of the fruit and unrushed conditions for harvesting. This allowed us to harvest the small 32 row block on 3 separate occasions. The first pick was on the 25th of February from the 10 rows on the eastern side of the "75 Block". The following week on the 1st of March, the centre 10 rows were harvested. Three days later the remaining 12 rows on the western side of the block were picked. Harvesting on three separate occasions over an 8-day period and picking from East to West, resulted in three individual parcels of Shiraz.

Fermentation of each parcel of Shiraz was carried out in static fermenters at our winery on Gods Hill Road. Each batch of wine was transferred to a range of new and older French and American barrels, supplied to us by 9 different coopers. Using a wide range of different oak hogsheads gives us an opportunity to put together a wine of greater interest and complexity than if we were to use oak from only one supplier.

After 20 months of oak maturation we blended the wines from selected barrels to create the 2010 "St. Jakobi" Shiraz, a wine of complexity that shows the full potential of the fruit we grow on this "precious patch" of dirt.

More Information

Winemaker:
Wayne Dutschke
Vineyard:
Ken Semmler's St. Jakobi Vineyard
Region:
Lyndoch, Barossa Valley, South Australia
Harvest Date:
25th February, 1st and 4th March 2010
Alcohol:
14.8%
Oak Maturaton:
20 months in New and Older French and American Hogsheads
Cellaring potential:
Drink now to 2020.

Scores

Gold

- 2012 Mundus Vini Great International Wine Awards, Germany

“Very good purple-crimson colour; a complex bouquet with black fruits, spice and subtle oak that flow through to the medium-bodied, elegant palate, the tannins fine and ripe, the oak subtle. A lovely Barossa shiraz - 95pts

- James Halliday - Australian Wine Companion 2013

“St Jak is Dutschke's most important wine, and 2010 is as exactingly crafted and wonderfully generous as ever. It's packed with opulent layers of black cherries and plums of warm, supple concentration yet precise definition. The finish carries seamless and exact, with supportive dark chocolate oak meshing with fine, supple tannins, warming alcohol and lingering cherry liqueur - 94pts

- Tyson Stelzer - Wine Taste Weekly

Website by Caramel | Black and white photography by Craig Arnold: 0412 631 113 | Valid XHTML 1.0 | Valid CSS.