2023 Estate Grenache Block 2
($38.25 Wine Club price)
A 100% Old Vine Grenache grown on our Certified Organic home vineyard in Stone Well on the Western Ridge of the Barossa Valley. Block 2 is a special Grenache Block, planted in the 1940s, and is going from Strength to Strength.
A classic Barossa Grenache that carries the hallmarks of our special patch of old vines in Stone Well in an excellent vintage year.
This wine is bright, lifted red fruits, medium bodied pallet supported by long fine tannins. A wine that is drinking very well on release and will continue to do so for many years.
($38.25 Wine Club price)
A 100% Old Vine Grenache grown on our Certified Organic home vineyard in Stone Well on the Western Ridge of the Barossa Valley. Block 2 is a special Grenache Block, planted in the 1940s, and is going from Strength to Strength.
A classic Barossa Grenache that carries the hallmarks of our special patch of old vines in Stone Well in an excellent vintage year.
This wine is bright, lifted red fruits, medium bodied pallet supported by long fine tannins. A wine that is drinking very well on release and will continue to do so for many years.
($38.25 Wine Club price)
A 100% Old Vine Grenache grown on our Certified Organic home vineyard in Stone Well on the Western Ridge of the Barossa Valley. Block 2 is a special Grenache Block, planted in the 1940s, and is going from Strength to Strength.
A classic Barossa Grenache that carries the hallmarks of our special patch of old vines in Stone Well in an excellent vintage year.
This wine is bright, lifted red fruits, medium bodied pallet supported by long fine tannins. A wine that is drinking very well on release and will continue to do so for many years.
Technical Tasting Notes
2023 ESTATE BLOCK 2 GRENACHE
GROWING SEASON
The 2023 Barossa Valley vintage will be remembered as one of the latest vintages in recent memory. After a wet winter the rains continued well into November, it was certainly unlike any other. This meant the growing season was off to a slow start. The Barossa season from this point on was almost perfect. Warmer than the 2022 vintage, but cooler than the long term average.
A vintage that will have a split personality, the great vineyards with the best growers truly excelled; the best wines will be up there with the best we have ever produced. Characterised by the wonderful fruit expression seen in the 2021 vintage combined with the crisp acids seen in the 2022 vintage.
TASTING NOTE
Our Single Block Estate Grenache from the cool 2023 vintage comes from Block 2 of our Estate Vineyard in Stone Well. . The Vineyard was planted in 1948 and is Certified Organic and Certified Sustainable. The soil in this section of the vineyard is deep gravelly loam over red clay and mottled white clay. The wine has all the hallmarks of old vine grenache in cool vintage - bright purple red hue, lifted florals, red fruited, light to medium weight with fine tannin. Text book grenache in a cooler season.
SPECIFICATIONS
Region: Barossa Valley
Sub Region: Stone Well
Variety: Grenache
Alcohol: 14.5%
Production: 1300 bottles
Cellaring: 5 years+
Winemaker: Andrew Seppelt
Download Technical Tasting Notes 2023 Vintage ➝
Download Technical Tasting Notes 2022 Vintage ➝
Download Technical Tasting Notes 2021 Vintage ➝
Reviews
2023 Estate Grenache Block 2
Steve Leszczynski (Qwinereviews.com)
93 Points - Hayes Family Wines has a vast array of Grenache wines with fruit sourced from all over the Barossa, but it's this Estate block which I have always enjoyed. There is something about its flow and presence that I gravitate to. With a flurry of good years of late, this 2023 backs off a notch from the stellar 2022. Notwithstanding, it's still a delicious wine in its own right.
From sustainably farmed and certified organic survivor vines (70 years+) planted in the 1940s, give this some time to compose itself and show its true persona.
Pretty scents of violets and purple flowers offer an inviting introduction. Squishy blueberries, baked blueberries, mulberries and juicy purple fruits take the lead with a little grape bubblegum arriving late. Calm and measured, the flicker of milk chocolate slides into the background. Super fine tannins tense up and partner delicate spices that run long and offer a moreishness. I suspect this will improve with a little more bottle age which makes it that little bit more seductive.
Drink to five years+
2022 Estate Grenache Block 2
Not Yet Reviewed
2021 Estate Grenache Block 2
Vintage Journal (Andrew Caillard)
96 Points - Medium-deep crimson. Intense yet reserved musky plum, dark cherry aromas with herb garden notes tinged with truffle and spice. Richly concentrated and buoyant plum, dark cherry, boysenberry fruits, fine slinky al dente textures and integrated juicy acidity are all superbly balanced with lovely mid-palate volume and density to finish.
Now–2028
Steve Leszczynski (www.qwinereviews.com)
95 Points - The brilliance of the Barossa 2021 vintage is front and centre with this sublime Grenache. Coming off the Hayes sustainably farmed organic vineyard, damn this is impressive. Let it breathe and then let it seep into your veins. Raspberry and red fruits consume you. Delicate touches of purple flowers and super smooth spices waltz through the mouth. Dangerously moreish, its weight and mouthfeel are pitched perfectly. Medium-bodied red wines are very much on-trend at the moment and this Grenache zeros right in on that sweet spot. Admittedly, I kept drinking the darn thing rather than taking note - enough said really. A beautiful wine that ensures the top-ups keep coming, it's irresistible really. Go here.
The Hayes Family Wines Estate Shiraz, Mataro and Grenache are due for release 1 June 2022.
Drink to eight years.
Huon Hooke (therealreview.com)
92 Points - Deep red colour with a tint of purple and a dark-plum, blackberry and subtly herbal aroma. The wine is sweet and juicy with a jammy overtone, the tannins backing up have just the right amount of grip but without greenness or astringency. Very ripe and almost opulent flavours and a final touch of chew. Smart wine.
2020 Estate Grenache Block 2
2022 Wine Companion (Tyson Stelzer)
92 Points - The lowest crop on record yielded just 400 bottles of this signature Barossa grenache. It encapsulates the full sweep of grenache fruit purity, from bright cherries and strawberries to deeper allusions of mulberries and blueberries, even black-jube suggestions. Fine-grained tannins frame a juicy, fruity, plush mid palate. For all it promise, it concludes a little short.
2019 Estate Grenache Block 2
2021 Wine Companion (James Halliday)
96 Points - Bright colour; a fragrant wine with lifted fruits and rose petal aromas, then an elegant, light-bodied palate of red fruits and a waft of spice. The balance is exact, the tannins fine, the finish long. 50 dozen made.
Huon Hooke (therealreview.com)
92 Points - Deep, bright red/purple colour, with spicy and dark-fruit aromas, edged by some oak and alcohol warmth. The wine is full-bodied and quite firm, with grip and structure. It's full-bodied, hence the alcohol and grip are not out of balance. Very good, and it would take some age happily. 21/3/2020
Drink 2020 to 2030
Steve Leszczynski (www.qwinereviews.com)
95 Points - A super Grenache to get you in the mood. This Hayes Family Block 2 comes from a certified organic vineyard planted in the 1940s.
Sitting metres from the winery, it crops at under one tonne per hectare. Dainty fruit, delicate spices great acidity and super fine tannins all scream for your attention.
It feels leaner than the stated 14% alcohol. On opening, bright red fruits salute with a slight crunch. But that crunch subsides with time and the fruit goes deep on day two off tasting. A wine that is sturdy through the mouth, yet it gracefully waltzes at the same time. A touch of blueberries shift to dark berries. Soft spices and faint licks of licorice wrap themselves around a moreish finish that is hard to ignore. Super fine tannins roll through sealing the deal. Winemaker Andrew Seppelt has nailed it.
Release date - June 2020
Drink to eight years+
