John Duval began working with old vine Barossa Shiraz when he commenced his winemaking career at Penfolds in the early 1970’s. Through the 1990’s he played a leading role in trialling maturation of old vine Barossa Shiraz in new French oak hogsheads, contrary to the established winery convention of blending Shiraz from multiple regions and maturation in American oak.
These early trials led to the first release of the Penfold’s RWT Barossa Shiraz from the 1997 vintage - a wine that marked a step change moment in the style evolution of Barossa Shiraz.
In 2003, John Duval established his eponymous label, with a focus on old vine Barossa Valley Shiraz, along with some select other Rhone varietals.
John’s approach to making Barossa Shiraz continues unchanged, and maturation of selected parcels of old vine fruit in French oak is fundamental to producing Entity; an elegant Shiraz that is true to the Barossa.
