Dutschke - Barossa Valley - Willowbend

2003 Willowbend

Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon

WillowBend, our blend of Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, is produced from our Merlot vines planted in 1980, Cabernet planted in 1978 and Shiraz in 1975. The vines grow on our "St. Jakobi" family vineyard, the property purchased by my grandfather Oscar Semmler in the 1930s. The blend of these three varieties were chosen for our first WillowBend back in 1990 and has been a consistent full, flavoursome wine over the years. The idea has always been to produce a wine by blending those varieties that perform best in our vineyard.

The Merlot (43%) and Shiraz (35%) provide the ripe sweet fruit palate and the Cabernet Sauvignon (22%) gives the firm tannin structure.

After years in the bottle the older "WillowBend's" have also shown great complex characters while still maintaining their fresh fruit flavours. They have been typically very good wines to drink now or to lie down for a few years.

We trust you'll enjoy it!