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Right around the time that Frank Potts was planting his nascent Bleasdale Vineyards during the 1850s, an eccentric Prussian named Herman Daenke established a homestead along the banks of Bremer River, which he called Metala. The site was planted to viticulture by Arthur Formby in 1891 and became one of Langhorne Creek's most productive vineyards, it continues to supply fruit for a number of prestigious national brands. Legendary winemaker Brian Dolan took the radical step of bottling Metala under its own label in 1959 and won the inaugural Jimmy Watson Trophy in 1962. Two generations later, the brothers Tom and Guy Adams took a similar leap of faith and branded their Metala fruit as Brothers In Arms. The quality of wine re established Metala as a vineyard of global significance and claimed George Mackay Trophy as Australia's foremost export. Cohorts of the stately Langhorne Creek style will be pleased by the palate weight, structure and seamlessness of Brothers In Arms, grown, crafted and bottled by a family who have been supplying Australians with the most memorable vintages for six generations... The goodly farms of brothers in arms»

John Duval Annexus Grenache CONFIRM VINTAGE

Grenache Barossa South Australia
John Duval grew up amongst some splendid old vineyards and has an encyclopeadic knowledge of the finest Barossa sites. Grenache from a 150 year old Eden Valley ancestor parcel, assembled alongside a harvest from an ancient block in northern Barossa. A combination of whole bunches and stemmed grapes are treated to a traditional vinification in small open top fermenters, followed by transfer to seasoned French oak hogsheads for a year's maturation. Approachable in its youth, but with the sound structure and profound depth of palate to evolve magnificently.
Available in cases of 6
Case of 6
$359.50
Bright red purple hues. Lifted red fruit aromatics, rose notes, anise and the savouryness of fragrant spice. A juicy medium bodied palate, laden with an array of vibrant cranberry and raspberry flavours, offering impressive purity of Grenache fruit character and intensity of flavour, all framed by a core of ripe fresh acidity and supported by a seamless length of the finest tannins.
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