Home Australia The Torbreck RunRig Components Tasting: An icon of the Barossa Valley

The Torbreck RunRig Components Tasting: An icon of the Barossa Valley

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Torbreck RunRig: An icon of the Barossa Valley

Australia‘s Barossa Valley rose to prominence in the mid 1990s. Primarily known for its Shiraz, the region was celebrated for a combination of flavor concentration, supple tannin and mouthwatering acidity. Robert Parker‘s attention on the wines of the region ushered in a new era for the Barossa complete with a rush of new plantings and the advent of exports to the United States. The changes included too the possibility for more hands on attention to wine quality and a rise of boutique level wine producers and iconic wines.

Iconic among them stands Torbreck‘s flagship wine, the RunRig.

Like many of the Barossa’s top wines, the RunRig is an assemblage, blending from multiple sites across the Valley. Torbreck roots its winemaking primarily in the assemblage approach, offering only four single vineyard wines, with the belief that blending across microclimates allows them to showcase the best of the Barossa Valley through the production of more complete wines. In the case of the four single vineyard wines — The Descendent; The Laird (delicious); The Pict (my favorite); and Les Amis — the Torbreck team found that completeness in the site itself.

With the goal of showcasing the range of the Barossa Valley while exploring how we experience a sense of place in assemblage style wines, Torbreck decided to offer RunRig components’ tastings for the first time with their 2012 vintage. The tasting included the 2012 RunRig itself alongside six vineyard specific wines included in the final RunRig blend but also bottled in small quantities on their own only for the components’ tasting.

Torbreck RunRig Components Tasting

Torbreck 2012 RunRig Components Tasting

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The Barossa Valley as a region stands similar in size to the Napa Valley, with 11 subregions within regarded each as a unique microclimate. Sites from six of those microclimates are brought together to produce the RunRig assemblage.

Torbreck bottles RunRig only in the best of vintages, wishing to preserve its role as their flagship wine in terms of quality as well as prominence. In the year 2000, for example, the weather proved both too hot and too cold for even ripening; 2008, too hot; 2011 too wet. 2012, however, was regarded as a normal vintage in terms of temperatures with a dry growing season coming after a wealth of rain before it. The conditions, then, proved an advantage with vines having ample water while fruit remained relatively disease free.

The 2012 RunRig includes a blend of six vineyard sites each grown in a different microclimate of the Barossa Valley, as well as 2% Viognier from the 2014 vintage to lift the aromatics and stabilize the color. It spent 13 months in 55% new French oak. Following are descriptions on the wine and its individual components (named by microclimate), as illustrated in the drawing above.

RunRig – With notes of dark fruit carried by a bright lift and hints of dried blossom, the RunRig offers accents of molasses, sweet baking spice and a nip of ruby red grapefruit. This is a young wine enveloped by structure and a bit of baby fat. The 2012 offers supple tannin with mouthwatering acidity, a long finish and the stuffing to age.

The Components:

Lyndoch – Lyndoch’s Hillside Vineyard serves as 35-40% of the RunRig blend. Originally planted in the 1890s, the site grows from rich red clay over limestone mixed through with ironstone and quartz. Torbreck has been shifting the site to biodynamic farming.

Offering concentrated red and black fruit with a floral lift, the Lyndoch carries fine while dense tannin and high tone acidity with drive. Of the components, the Lyndoch seems the most complete on its own and could serve as an individually bottled wine.

Rowland Flat – The Phillipou Vineyard in Rowland Flat composes 15% of the RunRig blend. Planted in the late 1800s, the site gently slopes, grown in sand over yellow clay.

With herbal accents and a mix of cigar, smoke, and salt the Rowland Flat carries concentrated and lush black fruit and molasses. This component is all about concentration, with less backbone than the Lyndoch while still showing ample length.

Seppeltsfield – The Renshaw Vineyard in Seppelsfield offers the youngest vine component of RunRig carrying 10% of the final blend. With its natural richness and concentration, the Seppeltsfield fruit is housed entirely in new French oak. Planted in the 1960s, the Renshaw soils are red clay loam over sandstone with a sprinkle of ironstone mixed through.

With the darkest, richest notes of the components, the Seppeltsfield offers notes of coffee, blackened toast, bloody meat and olive brine accented through by sweet spice. This wine includes ample tannin and an ultra long finish.

Greenock – Planted in the 1860s, the Materne Vineyard of Greenock proves the oldest vineyard component of the RunRig. It is also one of the highest altitude sites of the components. The Materne soils are a shallow, sandy loam over yellow clay. RunRig includes 8-9% of the Greenock.

Carrying black fruit and notes of squid ink with graphite, the Greenock carriess vibrant intensity with fruit sweetness, dense tannin and a lot of persistence.

Moppa – The Moppa Vineyard was one of Torbreck’s first at its start in the mid-1990s. It was also one of the first selected to be part of the RunRig blend. Planted at the start of the 1900s, Moppa is grown in sandy loam over terrarossa red earth with bands of ironstone.

Full of sweet, dark fruit, terra-cotta dustiness, and iron accents, the Moppa includes lots of concentration with powdery, dense tannin, and tons of mouth stimulation. The acidity here is moderate but a mineral-sapidity throughout waters the palate into a medium-long finish.

Ebenezer – The Dimchurch Vineyard of Ebenezer composes 25% of the final blend and is the most Northerly of Torbreck’s sites. Planted at the start of the 1900s, the Dimchurch site grows in red and brown earth over dark red clays with a layer of chalky limestone.

With sweet fruit in a mix of frozen raspberries and fig, the Ebenezer includes salty brine accents and pepper hints throughout its robust and spicy frame. There is a lot of complexity to this component with a touch of caramel and ruby red grapefruit accents on strong tannin with good density.

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With thanks to Dan Fredman.

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