Dutschke - Barossa Valley - Willowbend

2005 Willowbend

Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon

WillowBend is where it all started for us. Back in 1990 Ken and I put our first red blend of Merlot, Shiraz and Cabernet together and packaged it under the WillowBend label.

The idea has always been to produce a consistently full and flavoursome wine by blending the varieties that perform best in our vineyard. We've done very little differently in putting this blend together since our first some 18 Vintages ago. Produced from 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 Merlot (44%) and Shiraz (29%) provide the ripe sweet fruit palate and the Cabernet Sauvignon (27%) gives structure and tannin support.

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

We trust you'll enjoy it!