2018 Purple Hands Planta Circa Ancestor Vine Grenache

Here is your chance to drink in a little Barossan viticultural history. Back in the mid 1800s, one PF Zimmerman started a vineyard in Lyndoch, at the southern end of the Barossa. While exact details of planting dates are murky, the Shiraz, Grenache & Cabernet Sauvignon from this block date back to at least the 1880s, making them now at least 130 years of age - ancestor vines, that have lived through two world wars (and the rest). Grant Burge’s chief winemaker Craig Stansborough stumbled across this ancient block a few years ago and kindly asked the current custodians - the Zerk family - to take fruit from some of the remaining ancient old vines and Planta Circa was born. These ancestor vines (vines equal or over 125 years of age) are the inspiration for the Planta Circa label – the name literally means “planted around the region of” as no one can offer the exact date of the plantings. This started with the just the Cabernet and then, in 2018 Stansborough was offered the Grenache and Shiraz from this amazing vineyard, enabling the expansion of the Planta Circa range with 2 more single-vineyard Ancestor Vine wines. This first release of this incredible Grenache has taken our breath away. Such a velvety smooth wine with abundant ripe red fruit, gloriously balanced and with a lingering finish. This wine is a true testament to the power of old vines and to the winemaking talents of Stansborough himself.