2021 Lost Penny
Fire Cart
Grenache
$35.00
Historically, a standard part of the vineyard management was to burn the winter vine cuttings in a fire cart. A horse would pull the cart between the vineyard rows, and cuttings were thrown into the continuously burning cart. The Grenache vines are some of the oldest plantings on our family estate, so this special Grenache pays homage to this time-honoured vineyard practice.
Reviews
2020 Vintage Reviews
The bouquet is a little flat and stale, lacking fruit and freshness, some coconut and chocolate, the palate gritty and slightly rasping in texture. Full-bodied and edgy, with a touch of astringency. There’s a little portiness here and lots of sweet fruit.
– 88 Points
Huon Hook – The Real Review
1960-planted grenache from the Riebke home estate in Ebenezer, matured in old French oak barrels for 18 months. The colour seems a bit deeper this year, perhaps? The aromatics are tightly coiled, too, but still show ripe plum and dark cherry fruits on a bed of Asian spices, licorice, earth, cola and lighter tones of scattered herbs. Some gingery spice flows in on the palate, which shows fine, sandy tannin and a bright acid line.
– 88 Points
Halliday Wine Companion
2019 Vintage Reviews
Grenache, planted in 1960 and sourced from the Riebke home estate in the northern Barossa sub-region of Ebenezer. Pinot-esque in hue. Wonderfully fragrant and perfumed, with crunch red plum and cherry fruits underscored with exotic spice, sous bois, ginger cake and softly spoken oak. With a brisk cadence and spacious air, the Fire Cart trails off nicely with a brisk, acid crunch and a spicy red-fruit tail.
– 91 Points
David Brookes – Halliday Wine Companion
Deepish red to brick-red colour, slightly forward-developed. The bouquet is reserved and shows some herbal, possibly whole-bunch characters, and a hint of mint. The wine is medium-bodied at most and has abundant tannins which add firmness and a little astringency. It’s quite drying.
– 85 Points
Huon Hook – The Real Review
Tasting Note
Alcohol
14.5% vol
Barrel Maturation
Matured in seasoned French oak barrel for 18 months.
Vintage Notes
The 2019 vintage started out with the growing season being dry and it continued that way, with below average rainfall for all of the months. Budburst and early vine growth were delayed in September with below average minimum temperatures, but then caught up during October and November with warmer than average days. January and December resulted in above average maximum temperatures. With February closer to average maximums and below average minimums, making it made for the ideal timing, and resulted in the perfect conditions for ripening the smaller crops. By the end of the second week in April we had finished harvest, which was one of the earliest on record.
Winemaker Notes
Colour: Tile red with purple hue.
Nose: Cherries, spicy and touches of liquorice.
Palate: A mediums structure with mouth-filling cherry and plum flavours. Sweet spice finish to fill and complex.
The Fire Cart Grenache is a light to medium-bodied wine with dominant fruit character and no harsh edges. The smooth cherry ripe flavours along with the spice makes this wine very enjoyable to cuddle up to around a fireplace.
