Shiraz “8 Songs” Barossa Valley 2017 – Peter Lehmann Masters

The grapes to produce the Shiraz “8 Songs” Barossa Valley Peter Lehmann Masters were fermented and macerated on skins for up to two weeks with some partial barrel fermentation. Following pressing and clarification, the wine was matured for approximately 18 months in French oak hogsheads (25% three years old, 25% one year old and 50% of which were new).

Grapes for this Shiraz were sourced from old, low yielding vineyards in the Light Pass, Nuriootpa and Bethany districts of the Barossa Valley. ‘Eight Songs for A Mad King’ was one of Peter Lehmann’s favourite vocal ensemble musical works, loved for its soft harmonies, inspiring Peter to emulate their art in a wine unlike anything else he had made before. ‘Eight Songs’ was first made in 1996 with the aim of producing a decisively soft and stylish style of Barossa wine.

Peter Lehmann started his own winery in 1979, partly as a means of helping with the glut of grapes then afflicting the Barossa. “I’ll take your grapes and turn them into wine,” he told the desperate growers, many of them conservative farmers of Silesian descent who regarded their old vines as part of their patrimony. “But I’ll only be able to pay you when I sell the wine.” They gratefully accepted. Without this deal, it is widely thought that the Barossa would have lost a large swathe of its old vines. The crisis passed, in large part thanks to Peter’s energy and vision, and the Lehmann winery became one of the Barossa’s – and Australia’s – outstanding wineries.