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Josef Chromy OAM escaped from war torn Czechoslovakia as a penniless 19 year old in 1950, he fled across minefields, evading soldiers and killer dogs, ultimately finding a new home in the lucky country. Chromy has been a long standing principal in the Tasmanian food and wine industry, he established Tasmania's leading brands, including Bay of Fires, Jansz, Heemskerk and Tamar Ridge. At 76 years young, he launched his namesake label, planting one of the apple isle's most stately vineyards and gazetting Tasmania's most compellingly stylish range of wines. Chromy's sensational vintages are as conspicuous for the uniqueness of their character as they are for their sublime and articulate charm. They divide the industry press and excite all adherents of engaging, eloquent & decidedly.. Tasty treats from the apple isle»
Legendary Penfold winemaker John Duval began his apprenticeship in 1974 under the tutelage of the late great Max Schubert. Duval's family had been supplying Penfolds with fruit and root stock for generations, many of South Australia's most prestigious vineyards were sown with cuttings from Duval's family property. Duval was awarded International Wine & Spirit Competition Winemaker of Year and twice London International Red Winemaker of Year. He now focuses on releasing painfully limited editions, assembled from precious parcels of elite Barossa vine, hand crafted by one of the world's most accomplished and peer respected winemakers... Ancient barossa hamlet vines»

John Duval Plexus GSM 2007 CONFIRM 2007 VINTAGE

Shiraz Grenache Mourvedre Barossa South Australia
Excellent Langtons Classified. John Duval's aim with Plexus is to express the wide spectrum of red fruit flavours from Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre, but also provide structure with a seamless balance and long finish. A low percentage of new oak adds complexity without dominating the berry fruit. Grenache is sourced from old bush vines fifty to sixty years of age from the Stockwell, Light Pass and Krondorf regions. Mourvedre is collated from old bush vines, some over a century old, grown to precious little sites in the Light Pass and Krondorf regions.
John Duval was Penfolds chief winemaker for many years, his family provided Penfolds with wine grapes and rootstock which was planted to the distinguished Magill Estate Vineyard. Old vine Shiraz 51%, Grenache 28% and Mourvedre 21% treated to traditional, low intervention winemaking techniques, allowing the wine to be approachable in it's youth, but also have great potential for improvement in the bottle under good cellaring conditions. Vinified with submerged cap in old open top tanks and small steel fermenters. Barrel matured for sixteen months in 10% new fine grain French 300 litre oak hogsheads, the balance in older mostly French oak. Some Shiraz finished fermentation in new oak. Alcohol 14.5%
Colour is a vibrant, deep crimson red purple. A combination of lifted aromatic red fruits with a touch of savoury spice, and subtle complexing oak. Youthful aromatic red and black fruits combine well with an array of spices. Shiraz and Mourvedre provide good backbone tannins and structure, which is balanced by the aromatics and softness of Grenache. Good depth of flavour, without being heavy or over-ripe.
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