From one of the poster children of new-wave Barossa, forget everything you thought you knew about shiraz from this region. This is a mind-bending, paradigm-shifting expression of the variety — incredibly svelte, and utterly its own thing.
Black cherry, ripe plum and blackberry, with a cooling herbal edge and a savoury dash of white pepper and tobacco running underneath. The tannins are fine and so silky. The wine feels refreshing on the palate, but delivered with substance to the fruit. From the warm climes of Barossa, this is something that will please cool climate wine lovers.
Yelland & Papps has become one of the defining names of new-wave Barossa, the loose movement of producers reworking a region long associated with big, ripe, oak-driven shiraz into something fresher, lighter-framed and more site-specific. This single-vineyard release comes from grower Pete Sonntag’s block in Stone Well, planted in 2000 on heavy loam over red clay scattered with quartz — a small, half-hectare parcel.
The fruit is entirely hand-picked and fermented with a healthy portion of whole clusters, then left on skins for a patient thirteen days before ageing for ten months in seasoned French oak — oak chosen deliberately for its neutrality, so it frames the wine rather than flavours it. The result leans into restraint over power: gentle handling throughout, aimed at letting the Stone Well site speak clearly rather than layering the wine with winemaking artifice. Production is tiny, at just 540 cases.