Description
This wine marks Ricky Ponting’s milestone innings of 127 vs. England at Headingley, Leeds UK in 1997. This was Ricky’s first Ashes Test and his maiden test century. It was the beginning of a test career that over the ensuing 15 years, would add another 40 Test hundreds, though Ricky considered few were better than his first-up 127.
“That day I probably played as well as I have in any test innings, and that made it even more pleasing. That’d be as close as any to my best.” – Ricky Ponting
The Region: The best Barossa wines sit comfortably alongside the great wines of the world. Barossa incorporates both the Barossa Valley and Eden Valleys, making it one of the only wine regions in Australia to have neighbouring warm and cool climate growing conditions. The soils vary widely, but fall in a family of relatively low-fertility clay loam through to more sandy soils, ranging through grey to brown to red.
Vintage: Another challenging vintage for Barossa, with yields 50% below the 10-year-average. Low and late rains delayed growth, with frosts impacting flowering, resulting in few bunches of small berries. Although in short supply, the fruit quality remained high. A hot, dry Summer-burst prevented vineyard disease, mellowing into slow-ripening, producing concentrated fruit of intense colour and flavour.
Wine: Small batch and open ferment, the wine is barrel fermented and aged for a further two years before release. The ‘127’ Shiraz is made in a traditional style, reflecting the best of the Barossa. Hand selected parcels of fruit, including a batch from a vineyard planted over a century ago, were blended to create this Milestone Shiraz.
