By Christine Salins.
Hemley Vineyard
Organic farming accentuates flavour in natural produce such as fruits and vegetables, and it is the same for wine too. Wines made from organically grown grapes tend to have more intense and evocative flavours.
De Bortoli recently released its first Organic Shiraz. A field blend from the NSW Riverina region, it effectively means that different parcels of grapes are blended together before fermentation, rather than being fermented separately and blended together just before bottling.
This accords with De Bortoli’s philosophy that great wines begin in the vineyard. The 2020 De Bortoli Organic Shiraz Field Blend was sourced from the Hemley vineyard in Riverina, which has met Australian Certified Organic standards. Each grape that went into the 2020 De Bortoli Organic Shiraz Field Blend was deemed to be instrumental for varietal purity.
The wine highlights De Bortoli’s journey in sustainability to ultimately be a “Zero Waste Wine Company”. The Shiraz is packaged in lightweight recycled bottles and is vegan friendly.
De Bortoli’s commitment to sustainable winemaking led the company to seek certification from Sustainable Winegrowing Australia for its winery and vineyard in Bilbul, NSW. As of 2020, more than 6.2% of De Bortoli’s Riverina vineyards were organic with the goal of increasing to 10% in 2025.
Although this is the first Organic Shiraz the company has released, its commitment to sustainability stretches way back. One of its first sustainability projects in 2008 was “17 Trees” in which it planted 17 trees for each company vehicle to offset the carbon effects of its fleet. The initiative went on to plant at least 56,000 more trees.
2020 De Bortoli Organic Shiraz Field Blend, $17.50: This medium-bodied dry red is bright crimson red in appearance. It has equally enticing fragrant aromas of red fruits and white pepper. The palate exudes rich red fruits and blackberry notes, set against a full and generous structure, refined tannins and long finish. The wine is vegan friendly.
