Note: Stelvin Capsule, Label Deterioration due to Humid Underground Cellar, per pictures

Very seductive, and quite possibly the finest Steading yet.

Torbreck The Steading is a decadent blend of three traditional Barossa varieties. Grenache and Mataro from old bush vines provide wonderful richness and fruit flavours with only free run Shiraz used to allow the Grenache to shine through.

The Steading is very much the heart and soul of Torbreck, the wine that exemplifies our philosophy and beliefs - protecting and nurturing the old vine resources of the Barossa Valley is paramount to Torbreck and this wine.

It is sourced from Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz vines that survived the worldwide phylloxera outbreak of the 1880s, and a century later, the vine-pull scheme in the Barossa in the 1980s.

The wine is a result of the serendipitous discovery of small remnant patches of withered ancient vines, some well over a century old, that have been carefully nurtured back to life. The protection of this old vine resource of the Barossa Valley is central to the Torbreck story and this wine, more than any other, is an indication of what is possible from these historic cultivars.

The Steading is a collection of 45 different sources of fruit, some from our own vineyard estates as well as from growers on a share-farming basis. These precious grapes are vinified separately and blended once their individual virtues have been assessed.

The Steading’s generous and supple flavours combine with its silken texture in a wine that defines what is possible only in the Barossa.

Torbreck is the name of a forest near Inverness, Scotland. You’ll find more than a passing nod to the Celts in our wine naming conventions including The Steading, a traditional name for a farm and its collection of barns, stables and outbuildings.

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2010 The Steading
The 2010 Steading is composed from the traditional Barossa cultivars of
Grenache, Shiraz & Mataro. It has long been a favorite wine within the Torbreck
stable because of the old, gnarled ‘bush vines’ that produce its core.
Deep ruby with flickers of violet, its delicate aromas of truffle, five spice and
spring flowers are supported by a rich core of licorice, saddle leather and
Provencal herbs. Very ‘Burgundian’ in style, the palate is elegant and pure with
subtle notes of crushed cherries, earth and cedar all neatly wound by a taut spine
of acidity and ripe supple tannins.
The 2010 Steading will continue to unfold with time in the cellar & shall provide
those with the patience great enjoyment for many years to come.
‘On a highland farm the collection of barns, stables and outbuildings
is known as a steading. The varieties Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz
all stand in their own right. However, in blending, their strengths
create a complex wine of solid earthy structure.’

VARIETALS: Grenache (64%), Shiraz (18%) & Mataro (18%)
REGIONS: Marananga, Greenock, Moppa, Seppeltsfield, Gomersal & Ebenezer
HARVEST: April 2010
pH: 3.65
ACID: 5.52
ALCOHOL: 15.35%

VINIFICATION:
Each of the individual blocks (many were picked in different stages to ensure perfectly ripened fruit) were de-stemmed separately into both wooden & concrete open top fermenters where the juice was gently pumped over the skins twice a day for 6-7 days. After basket pressing the wine was gravity fed into underground cement vats where it naturally settled and was later racked into older French Hogsheads. Following 24 months maturation the wine was assembled and bottled in August 2012 without the use of fining or filtration.