In the hot, dusty, northerly wind, Liam and I have just washed down the last press cage to officially close the 2019 Harvest. These conditions are be fitting of those that we experienced all year, and it is astounding that we have made some incredible wines despite everything we faced. That we have made such stunning wines is a direct reflection of the experience, expertise and dedication of our growers, and the 2019 Harvest at Izway should be considered a reflection of the families that we purchase our grapes from. In years like this we pay our growers a little more than usual to show them just how much we appreciate their hard work; without them the Vintage wouldn’t have existed.
During the 2018/2019 growing season, the Barossa was affected by frost, strong wind, heat and parched soils, yet once the fruit started to arrive in the winery all these difficulties were forgotten as it was obvious that we were in for yet another great Vintage. The lower yields resulted in deep, rich colours, fine tannins and high tone aromatics and the cold nights meant that the wines have purity, freshness and great acid balance. It will certainly be a Vintage for the lovers of powerful Barossa Shiraz, and the ripeness of the fruit is something that I am comfortable handling. The harvest seemed to flow effortlessly for us in the winery and the stresses of the build-up evaporated with every pump over.
2019 marked the seventeenth harvest at our winery and I think it will go down as a classic Izway Vintage, with dark, powerful, soulful wines crafted from tiny berries and bunches. There would be very few, if any other appellations in the world that would be able to make wines like the ones we have made from this harvest. That uncommon and extraordinary trait is one of the reasons why we chose this part of the world to be our home and one of the reasons why lovers of Barossa wine buy vintage after vintage. It is also what draws visitors from around the world to our region and it is something that we should be proud of. New discoveries in flavours and textures is why we obsess so much about wine and the Barossa certainly provides us with rare and distinguished wines in all kinds of conditions. We look forward to releasing our 2019 wines in the coming years.
Cheers
Craig Isbel