The Barossa Valley continues to prove its calibre for high-quality harvests. Recent cool harvests allow us to create pure, energetic, balanced wines and give us the flexibility in the winery to schedule perfect picking dates and gentle, controlled maceration. 2023 was a great harvest with excellent vineyard health and fruit condition with superb wines released from this vintage.
The Wines
2023 Izway Three Brians Grenache
I am often asked which is my favourite Izway Wine and I never hesitate to answer that it is the Three Brians Grenache. As an artisan winemaker, I am emotionally attached to each of the wines I make, this wine is named after my dad and he used to love drinking this wine. The old vines that craft this wine have always intrigued me and caring for them provides a deep connection to the cycle of vintages that came before me. Grenache is one of the original varietals grown in the Barossa Valley, with vast plantings of bush vines still scattered across our region, many surviving here since the 1850’s.
Perfectly structured and balanced, the wine gracefully evolves in the glass with each sip, meandering through a range of fruit driven characters. I have always loved the texture of Grenache from this vineyard, and the mouth feel is silky and plush, juicy, and intriguing. The season has delivered a profoundly balanced wine with flow and elegance that is an absolute pleasure to drink.
This wine is from our 122-year-old vineyard, organically grown, made and hand bottled at Izway at our off-grid winery. The first time the wine will leave the site is when it makes its journey to its new home in your cellar. Only 560 bottles were produced.
Read more, buy some
2023 Izway Field Blend (64% Grenache, 21% Shiraz, 15% Mataro)
After working a harvest in France in 2002 and visiting Chateauneuf-du-Pape, I returned to the Barossa with many eccentric ideas, one of which was to make a wine using all 13 varieties from this famous Rhone region. Over the last decade, we have been propagating and planting new vineyards at our Seppeltsfield Home Block beginning with some close planted Mataro in 2012 (about 0.25 acres), then Shiraz in front of the cottage (0.35 acres) and Grenache in front of the winery (1 acre) in 2016. More recently we planted Cinsault and we’ll see where this slow and considered ode to the Rohne takes us next. These block sizes have been specifically mapped to create a Field Blend in the proportions that I believe best showcase our site.
The second release of this wine is a darker and more restrained profile than the inaugural release, the 2023 Field Blend showcases a balance of the three most famous Barossa varietals. Shiraz and Mataro have a more definitive influence on the wine that is still Grenache dominant, and the advantages of co-fermented integration are on full display.
Like the Three Brian’s Grenache, the fruit has been organically grown, made and hand bottled at Izway at our off-grid winery. The wine has at no stage left the growing site. The first vintage release and only 600 bottles were produced.
Read more, buy some
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Craig Isbel
Winemaker