The greatest compliment you can offer is to refer our wines to your family and friends

2005 SHIRAZ GOOSE-YARD BLOCK

Wine Advocate - Goose-yard Block 2005 95 points Schubert Estate is situated in one of the prime spots in the Barossa Valley, Roennfeldt Road, made famous by the Greenock Creek winery. The 2005 Shiraz “Goose-Yard Block” was aged in a mix of new and used French oak for 12-15 months. Opaque purple-colored, it exhibits a fragrant bouquet of pain grille, pepper, crushed rock, tar, licorice, blueberry, and blackberry liqueur. Velvety, ripe, and seamless on the palate, the flavors are already complex, and the pure finish lasts for 60 seconds. While it can be enjoyed now, I’d opt for cellaring it for 5-7 years to allow the wine its fullest expression. For all Robert Parker points & The Wine Advocate tasting notes click here.

Schubert Estate. 2005 Goose-yard Block Shiraz Barossa Valley. Inky purple. A black hole of a nose, showing aromas of ripe boysenberry, blueberry, plum, espresso, black pepper and printer’s ink; aeration coaxes out graphite and iron notes. A massive mouthful of ripe, sweet dark berries, mocha, licorice and sexy baking spices. Unlike many other outsized examples of shiraz , this has real energy to complement its thick, weighty texture and liqueur-like fruit. Suave, velvety tannins add structure on the expansive, very long finish. This might be best served in homeopathic doses. 93(+). Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar July/August 2007 Issue #133 page 28 Stephen Tanzer has served as Senior Editor and wine columnist for Food & Wine magazine and wine columnist for Forbes. He wrote the 1998 and 1999 editions of Food & Wine Magazine's Official Wine Guide. Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar is a critically acclaimed bi-monthly journal read by wine lovers in 28 countries

Goose-yard Block 2005 wins at The International Wine & Spirit Competition which was founded in 1969 and is the premier Competition of its kind on the International stage. Its aim is to promote the quality and excellence of the world's best wines, spirits and liqueurs. This is achieved through a rigorous two stage judging process of professional blind tasting and detailed (chemical and microbiological) analysis.

Goose-yard Block 2005 wins at MUNDUSvini International Wine Award
The MUNDUSvini International Wine Award is a competition held in Germany for wines from all the wine-growing regions in the world. And record participation in 2007 shows just how important the competition has meanwhile become in Germany. 4925 wines were entered. Today MUNDUSvini is the largest officially recognised wine competition in the world.

Wine by David Sayce RED WINE OF THE WEEK Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block Shiraz 2005, Barossa Valley , SA, Opaque purple; terrific nose of raspberry and blackberry jam intermixed with cracked black pepper and tar; deep and full-bodied with a fabulous concentration of dark fruits and chocolate, finishing warm and spicy on the palate. Will age for 12-15 years.

FOR all James Halliday Reviews click here

Schubert Estate Goose-yard Block Tasting Notes by Ric Einstein

Sometimes tasting wine in an analytical fashion is hard work, and sometimes it's a joy. The Schubert Estate wine is sourced from a single block on a single vineyard. The block is located almost directly across the road from the famous Greenock Creek winery, and just down the road is the highly regarded Torbreck winery, so this is prime viticultural real estate. Most of the grapes are sold to Torbreck for one of their upper range wines, and according to Steve Schubert, The block was originally planted by Dave Powell in 1995 and the vineyard is basically managed to Torbreck specifications. When the average person wants a guard dog, they will go out and buy something like a German Shepherd or a Doberman Pinscher. Not the Schubert's. They didn't want a guard dog; they wanted a sook and wound up with an adorable Springer Spaniel named Paddy. However, they do have one of the most effective burglar alarm and theft deterrents possible, a flock of geese who are housed behind the L-shaped block where the grapes for this wine are sourced; hence the name Goose Yard Block. In 2000, they had family and friends over to help with the harvest. They picked eight of the shortest rows, located nearest to the house, and made one barrel of wine. They really liked it, as did their family and friends. As it was great fun, Cecilia and Steve decided to do it again the next year, only this time they picked enough grapes for a couple of barriques. In 2002, they procured a producer's licence and got more serious about production. In a blink of an eye, they had a following. The three vintages tasted, 2003-05 are remarkably consistent, but when they are coming from a single block, in many ways that is to be expected. They are stylistically consistent but one thing is evident, as each year goes on, the wines appeared to be improving. Tasting wines analytically, whilst trying to be fair, putting your prejudices and preconceived ideas aside, and judging what's in the glass is hard work, but when you are dealing with wines of this calibre, it's also a joy.

Schubert Estate 2003 Goose Yard Block Shiraz The wine is a back vintage and was provided for comparative purposes. The bouquet is appealing, almost captivating, with spicy nutmeg, sweet red berry, plum, vanillin oak, brooding mushroom and milk chocolate aromas. The balance is impeccable in the wine sits well in the mouth. Off-sweet with plums, blackberry, sour cherry, coffee and hints of oregano; it finishes dry with good persistence. Ample-weight with a firm consistency and solid structure, whilst it is harmonious now, in time it should become seamless and should also flesh out. Backed by fine, dusty tannins unobtrusive acid and pure, distinct fruit, it's rated as Highly Recommended but the rating should improve as the wine matures.

Schubert Estate 2004 Goose Yard Block Shiraz The wine is a previous vintage and was provided for comparative purposes. The perfumed bouquet was brooding; it's gone to sleep and shut for the summer holidays but its clean, and the mint and menthol list on the tail was noticeable. After twenty-four hours the aromas were a different story; it had opened right up and showed seductive, lifted perfumed plummy fruit and vanillin oak. Intense fruit was doing the talking; off-sweet on the uptake with some contrasting sweetness below, flavours of plum, blackberry, milk chocolate, and sour oregano finish with terrific persistence and excellent length. Ultra-fine, drying tannins, unobtrusive acid and deeply-seated persistent fruit combine to form an ample-wait, supple wine that is harmonious already and should become seamless in time. It is tight and shows some elegance. Rated as Excellent, it is in need of a big sleep so don’t waste it now.

Schubert Estate 2005 Goose Yard Block Shiraz The bouquet is youthful and primary, pogo sticking out of the glass in spectacular fashion. Blackcurrant fruit pastilles, faint hints of coffee oak, attractive spices including nutmeg and hints of pepper, with vanilla emerging; the glorious perfumed fruit perfumed is as clean as a whistle. After twenty four hours, the perfumed fruit characters were effusive and this bodes well for the future. The structure is perfectly counterbalanced between very fine, tight, dusty tannins, unobtrusive acid and pure, deep fruit. The components produced a muscular-weight, supple wine that is harmonious now but should become seamless in time. Driven by youthful, primary, juicy-fruit that is sweet on the uptake, with off-sweet characters below, the plum, rich chocolate, subtle pepper, oregano and complimentary charred oak flavours, linger beautifully on the long tannins. Not as clinical as the previous two vintages, it's all better for it. Rated as Excellent with *** for value, the rating should go up as the wine matures. The best wine to date from this winery .

Ric Einstein. Torbwine SA Tour Feb. 2005 click here for PDF of the tasting notes Torbwine SA Tour 2006

Boxed magnum 2005