Kaesler Old Bastard Shiraz is one of the Barossa Valley's most coveted reds, drawn exclusively from a single block of dry-grown Shiraz vines planted in 1893 at the family's home property in Nuriootpa. For more than a century these venerable vines quietly supplied other Barossa producers with super-premium fruit before Kaesler bottled them under their own label, and today the wine is recognised as a benchmark of old-vine Barossa power.
The fruit is hand-picked at full ripeness, fermented in open-top vessels and matured in a careful mix of new and seasoned French oak hogsheads. The result is a wine of remarkable density and concentration, balanced by the freshness that very old, deep-rooted vines tend to bring even in warmer Barossa seasons.
The nose offers blackberry, blueberry and dark plum, layered with mocha, cured meat, licorice, violet, baking spice and a touch of incense. The palate is full bodied and densely packed, with creamy fruit, fine spicy tannins, layers of dark chocolate and earth, and a long, savoury finish built for the cellar.