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Discovered by Dr Bertel Sundstrup in 1987, after a long search for the perfect site, the amphitheatre known as Dalrymple is a mere twelve hectares of sun drenched bucolic idyll, at the very heart of superior viticulture on the beauteous Apple Isle. This is Piper's Brook central, a place of auspicious winegrowing climes, long hours of sunlight and extended ripening seasons, which yield fruit of remarkable succulence, gracious acids and satin tannins. Dalrymple are a small, unincorporated winegrowing concern, whose accord with the elements and devotion to the land, are best articulated by the leisured pursuits of their chief vigneron, whose favourite pastimes are sheep herding, river fishing and making smoked goose sausages. The wines of Dalrymple Estate have established a quiet repute.. The verdant nook on pipers brook»
Graeme Melton and a mate were travelling across South Australia in 1973, their EH Holden was in dire need of maintenance and Graeme took up casual work at a passing winery. The site supervisor was Peter Lehmann and young Graeme had his epiphany on the road to Barossa Valley. Lehmann suggested that Graeme change his name to Charlie and take the pilgrimmage to Vallee Rhone. Charlie became prepossessed with the culture of old vines Grenache, Shiraz and Mourverdre. He returned to the Barossa, at a time when old vineyard fruit was made into flagon Port and growers were destroying their historic sites in return for government grants. Charlie emabarked on a crusade to conserve and restore the ancient vines, establishing his cellars at Tanunda along Krondorf Road. He has since retained the most.. Melton makes a mean mourvedre»

John Duval Plexus MRV CONFIRM VINTAGE

Marsanne Rousanne Viognier Barossa South Australia
Behind every great winemaker is a great winemaker's wife. Robert recounts how he finally gave in to Mrs Duval's pleas and created his first white wine. An artisan may spend decades refining his skills but a woman's intuition rules. Duval's Rhone styled cepage of Marsanne, Rousanne and Viognier has been a runaway success. Duval's aim with Plexus MRV is to promote a vibrant expression of fruit aromas from the interaction of the three varieties, to build structure and texture on the palate, rather than the blend's familiar acid crispness.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$173.50
Two thirds of Plexus MRV is Marsanne grown to splendid vineyards in Marananga and Seppeltfield. A quarter of Roussanne is sourced from Kalimna and the balance of Viognier from Eden Valley. Gentle pressings of the fruit are combined with free run juices and cold settled. Vinification is initiated in fermenters, portions of Marsanne and Viognier complete their course in barrel where they remain until August. The remaining batches of Marsanne and Roussanne are aged on lees to enhance structure and infuse textures into the completed wine. A total of half the components are matured in a selection of mostly seasoned, fine grain French oak barrels for six months.
Attractive pale straw with lime hues. Fresh lifted aromas of stone fruit, honey suckle and citrus. Medium bodied with superb texture and mouthfeel. Flavours of mandarin and pear, fennel and Asian spice. Finishes on a note of citrus with minimal acidity. Drinking beautifully on release with the certainty of waxing wonderful complexity, toasted honey varietal characters as it continues to evolve.
John Duval
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John Duval
John Duval is one of the world's best known winemakers, the poud heir of a family tradition that boasts four generations of South Australian vignerons

He has been saluted many times on the world stage, notably International Winemaker of the Year 1989 and twice Red Winemaker of the Year in 1991 and 2000. After 29 years as a winemaker with Penfolds, one of the world's most famous wineries, John Duval embarked on his own wine label in 2003. John believes he has indeed been fortunate throughout his career, graduating in agriculture and winemaking in 1973 at Adelaide University. John has followed in the footsteps of some of the greats of Australian winemaking such as Max Schubert, the creator of Penfolds Grange and Don Ditter, another famous Penfolds winemaker of the 1970s and early '80s.

John Duval

There was of course a family precedent to all of this - the Duval family had for many years run a world famous sheep stud and quality vineyards south of Adelaide, coincidentally supplying Shiraz grapes and vine cuttings to Penfolds. So John Duval was never a newcomer to wine. He was appointed Chief Winemaker at Penfolds in 1986 and was lucky enough to oversee one of the most dynamic periods of change in the Australian wine industry.

With the support of a dynamic winemaking team in the Barossa, John secured a number of awards for the company - Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London in 1989; Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London in 1991 and again in 2000; and seeing the 1990 Penfolds Grange named the Wine of the Year by the prestigious US magazine Wine Spectator in 1995.

Toward the end of 2002, John retired from Southcorp after a distinguished career of 28 years, including 16 years as Chief Winemaker for Penfolds. John embarked on the development of his own label in 2003 using old vine Barossa Valley fruit and has created two stunning wines that reflect the terroir of the Barossa and the hand crafted attention of John Duval.

John Duval

Since leaving Penfolds John Duval has consulted to a number of international wine companies in Europe, South America and Australia, including vintner partner in the Long Shadows venture at Washington. The inaugural 2003 Sequel Shiraz was released in late 2005. In Chile John has helped to produce Pangea, highlighting the premium Syrah of the Apalta Valley. In Australia John has consulted to a project using old vine McLaren Vale Shiraz to produce Songlines Shiraz (sold in UK and Australia) and Oriel Sygnet (sold in the US).

Today, John rarely gets enough time to spend at home back in the Barossa, but he does insist on securing at least four uninterrupted months around vintage to make his own branded label wines. John clearly loves working with the fruit that comes from the old vines of the region, so he launched his namesake label with 'Plexus', a Rhone style blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre, closely followed in 2006 released with his first pure Shiraz, 'Entity'. John also plans to release small quantities of a reserve Shiraz, further highlighting the premium quality fruit from the Barossa.

"John Duval Wines will never be another Penfolds - it is simply my chance to express my 30 odd years of premium winemaking knowledge using some of the best fruit in the world. I hope you enjoy the wines."

John Duval