SCHUBERT ESTATE - 2002 SHIRAZ GOOSE-YARD BLOCK - BAROSSA VALLEY - ( $90.00 US ) - RED - 94 points & SCHUBERT ESTATE - 2003 SHIRAZ GOOSE-YARD BLOCK - BAROSSA VALLEY - ( $90.00 US ) - RED - 95 points - Two fabulous examples of old vine Shiraz , both of these offerings display a surreal combination of purity, elegance, and delineation with enormous concentration and intensity. Their black/purple colors are accompanied by aromas of espresso roast intermingled with blackberries, crème de cassis, melted licorice, bacon fat, and a touch of subtle oak. Both are ripe, full-bodied efforts, with the 2003 appearing to possess slightly more length and ripeness. It also had a slim edge in terms of elegance, but at this level of quality, to choose one over the other is splitting hairs. Both are well-endowed, super-concentrated Shiraz with more elegance and finesse than typical for these blockbusters from South Australia. Both should evolve for 12-15+ years. Importers: Vine Street Imports. Philadelphia , PA : tel.(216) 533-8463 and Joshua Tree Imports, Azusa . CA: tel. (626) 472 - Robert Parker Jnr - The Wine Advocate Oct 2005.

James Halliday Wine Companion 2005 Schubert Estate
BEST OF THE BEST AUSTRALIAN WINE 2005
SHIRAZ (page xxv)
96 points Schubert Estate Goose Yard Block Shiraz. The 2002 wine is utterly exceptional; Further on Page 463: … Goose Yard Block Shiraz 2002 Impenetrable colour; extraordinarily concentrated black fruits, dark chocolate, mocha and spice; almost viscous in texture, yet not extractive. Only 14 degrees alcohol. RATING 96 DRINK 2027

***** WINE EXCHANGE - CALIFORNIA, USA - Wine Exchange e-Stock Report for April 2005:
Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block 2002 "It was a pretty amazing afternoon tasting this month's crop of newcomers for the first time. But now we come to the coup de grace, end of the line, ne plus ultra in super-dense, pile-driving Barossa Shiraz. The Schubert family has been a long-time grower for Torbreck (their vineyard is right across the street) and, with the recent success Dave has been enjoying, the family thought they might want to make a few bottles of Shiraz with their name on it. You know, no big deal, mate. So they made a deal with Dave that they would take the 12 rows closest to the house (why walk all the way across the vineyard to pick the grapes for your own wine) and have the wine made across the street at Torbreck. The plan was simple, basket pressing, natural processing of the juice, minimal intervention, all to make a true vin de terroir Barossa style. After seeing the results, the only problem we foresee with this wine (as well as the Beer Brothers wines) is that Dave might be making wines just a little too qualitatively close for comfort to the likes of his own RunRig and Factor (though interestingly enough quite different stylistically) and potentially stop doing this sort of thing altogether. This wine is completely shameless, full of tried and true Barossa character, ultra-lush with a liquid chocolate/raspberry feel on the palate yet still with alcohol in the 14's, this essence of wine is pure decadence. We don't usually yadder on about wines in this price range, but this is quite special . ."

WE FEEL A CULT COMING ON - Australia Gourmet Traveller Spring 2004 page 13 (refer to text for The Gaggle)

James Halliday Wine Companion 2005 Page 463 Summary - Steve and Cecilia Schubert are primarily grapegrowers, with 14 hectares of shiraz and a little over 1 hectare of semillon, and almost all the production is sold to Torbreck Vintners. They purchased the 25-hectare property from a relative in 1986, when it was in such a derelict state that there was no point in trying to save the old vines. Moreover, both were working in other areas, and it was some years before they began replanting at a little under 2 hectares per year. In 2000 they decided to keep enough grapes to make a barrique of wine for their own (and friends) consumption, and were sufficiently encouraged by the outcome to obtain the necessary licence and venture into the dizzy heights of two hogsheads a year. The wine is made on-site, with wild yeast, open fermentation, basket pressing and bottling without filtration. The 2002 wine is utterly exceptional; the challenge will be to keep the quality in the years ahead.
Goose Yard Block Shiraz 2002 Impenetrable colour; extraordinarily concentrated black fruits, dark chocolate, mocha and spice; almost viscous in texture, yet not extractive. Only 14 degrees alcohol. RATING 96 DRINK 2027

Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block 2002 - A wine elevated to the heroic scale of 96 points and recognised to have exceptional quality... Rated 5 Glasses: 98 -100 point. Outstanding. Wines of the highest quality, usually with a distinguished pedigree.

Modest Schubert divertissement by James Halliday
In 1986, when Steve and Cecilia Schubert purchased their 26ha property at Roennfeldt Road, Marananga, in South Australia's Barossa Valley, they inherited the remains of an old vineyard. It had been owned by a relative who had effectively given up the struggle. For this was the time of the vine pull scheme and surplus production.

Although the idea of replanting was in their minds, it was not a priority partly because both Steven and Cecilia had other jobs. But in due course they removed the old vines, which could not be rehabilitated, and prepared the first 2.3ha for planting in the spring of 1994.

The impetus for planting came from Dave Powell of Torbreck, who was certain the soil and situation of the vineyard would produce grapes of high quality, putting his money where his mouth was by agreeing to buy the entire production once the vines came on-stream.

The Schuberts had planned a holiday to Bali, recognizing that once the vines went in, there would be little opportunity for such luxuries during the following years. "We were walking out the door," recalls Steve Schubert, "when the rootlings arrived early. We were stunned and dismayed, and rang up Dave Powell to tell him we wouldn't be going to Bali after all."
"Dave wouldn't hear of it. He insisted that we go, saying he and his wife, Christine, would plant the vines for us."

Anyone who has planted vines by hand will understand the Schuberts' gratitude and know that for as long as Torbreck wants to take the grapes, big-dollar offers from others will be ignored.

A roughly similar amount was planted during each year of the following five years; there are now 14ha of shiraz and a little more than 1ha of semillon.

But, like so many before them (and doubtless many after), the urge to make a little wine for themselves became irresistible, and with Powell's full knowledge they proceeded to do just that. Steve Schubert's retirement meant he had time to look after a little bit more wine than he and Cecilia could consume, so in 2000 they obtained a producer's licence and made their first hogshead of shiraz under the Schubert Estate label.

"I found out it's not so hard to make red wine," says Steve Schubert, and doubtless he has spent many hours watching Powell at work at Torbreck. The Schuberts acquired a little crusher, a small basket press and a 1 tonne open fermenter; with a couple of hogsheads, the space required was little more than the average suburban garage, and so their on-site winery came to life.

The one hogshead in 2000 became two in 2001-02; it was the 2002 Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block Shiraz (96 points) sent as a sample, along with a new winery form for my 2005 Wine Companion, that led me down the path of discovery. The wine's colour is virtually impenetrable; it is flooded with extraordinarily concentrated black fruits, dark chocolate, mocha and spice; and it is almost viscous in texture, yet in no way extractive.

By today's standards, the alcohol of 14 percent is relatively modest and part of the reason for the wine's exceptional quality. I believe the wines made by Bryan Dolan at Saltram in the second half of the 1940s, which some of us were privileged to taste several years ago, must have started life looking much as this wine.

Reproduced with kind permission by The Weekend Australian Travel & Indulgence, April 24-25,2004 and James Halliday.