Dave Powell is a Barossa legend, having cut his teeth at Rockford before founding Torbreck in 1994, the label that defined a whole era of Barossa Shiraz. He now owns Neldner Road; a return, by his own account, to the instincts that shaped his earliest and best work.
Named after the road on which his Marananga winery sits, Neldner Road draws fruit from two places Powell knows better than almost anyone: the warm Western Barossa and the cooler, high-altitude Flaxman’s Valley in the Eden Valley.
The 2022 Neldner Road Barossa and Eden Valleys Shiraz is a blend that brings together the western Barossa Valley and the Eden Valley, from vines ranging 40 to 70 years old on brown loams over ironstone and dark schists over clay. Each parcel vinified separately in open-top concrete vats, then basket pressed and transferred to 4,500 litre French oak foudre for 18 months. Bottled without fining or filtration.
Kirsch, lavender, sage and charred meat on the nose, with a dark, brooding complexity. The palate is dense and deep, with ripe black fruits, plum, blackberry compote and a savoury cured meat character.
"95 Points. Dark and inky red in the glass. Lifted aromas of blueberry, blackberry, sweet spice, dried flowers, licorice and iodine. Fleshy, full-bodied, deliciously dark fruited and with plenty of nutty, creamy oak shaping it all. Smart length and shape - very drinkable gear."- Aaron Brasher, The Real Review.
