Peter Lehmann Black Queen Sparkling Shiraz

Peter Lehmann, with 33 vintages already under his belt, started his own winery in 1979, partly as a means of helping with the glut of grapes then afflicting the Barossa. "I'll take your grapes and turn them into wine," he told the desperate growers, many of them conservative farmers of Silesian descent who regarded their old vines as part of their patrimony. "But I'll only be able to pay you when I sell the wine." They gratefully accepted. Without this deal, it is widely thought that the Barossa would have lost a huge chunk of its old vines. The 'Masters' wines are made from the parcels regarded by the winemakers as the best Semillon, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz of the vintage.

Shiraz,

Peter Lehmann Wines works with over 140 growers across the length and breadth of the Barossa Valley region, with access to over 750 individual vineyard sites. The Black Queen is made from Shiraz grown on old, low-yielding vines in premium vineyards in the Moppa and Light Pass districts.

The grapes were fermented on their skins for a week to 10 days, pressed, clarified and then matured for 12 months in French oak hogsheads. The base wine was then bottle-fermented and aged on its lees for two years.

Deep crimson in colour with red and purple hues. Lifted chocolate, vanilla, dark fruits and a touch of Christmas cake on the nose. Soft supple and silky tannins, the wine is abundant in rich dark blue fruits with a lovely mouth filling generosity. Gentle beading and delicate, soft mousse makes the palate luscious. A brooding, savoury dark chocolate backbone of flavour balances with sweet perfumed oak notes leading to a great length of blackberry jam and satsuma plum conserve. The fruit sweetness is apparent, but balanced by the complexity of fruit-weight and time spent on tirage prior to disgorgement.

This wine can be enjoyed at multiple times of day- accompanied at breakfast by a bacon and egg roll doused in tomato sauce- at lunchtime with Turkey and cranberry sauce, or dessert time with a dark and creamy chocolate mousse or brownies and whipped cream.