We started taking fruit from the Wark Family’s vineyard in 2012, releasing the first Wark Family Shiraz in 2013.
That wine was an instant hit and each vintage release since has been a sell out. At the end of the 2013 vintage, James Wark and his vineyard guy Steve Schiller pointed out one section of the vineyard they reckoned to be fairly special, and the decision was made to treat it a little bit differently to the rest of the block to produce the very best Shiraz possible. With the aim of reducing yields to concentrate flavour, Steve mulched the vines and backed off on the irrigation and other inputs. The quality of the fruit harvested from this section in 2014 blew us away…and the Big Jim Shiraz was born!
This latest vintage of the Big Jim is sure to impress, packed with rich berry flavours and well balanced, classy oak. This wine is black in the glass and the rich Shiraz flavours are super concentrated courtesy of the low yields in the vineyard. 18 months ageing in a mix of 50% new French hogsheads and 50% seasoned oak has lifted the spice notes to a new level and given the wine really fine structure.
Marnie Wark was given the task of bringing Big Jim to life in a painting to grace the front label…a big, black, bold and impressive bird he is, just like the wine that bears his name. Here’s to Big Jim…the rooster and the red!
KYM TEUSNER, WINEMAKER
