Rolf Binder and Veritas WinesWines are listed in the order which we place them in our wine hierarchy. REDSThe 'Hanisch' ShirazThis is our premium wine - very special and somewhat rare. We make it from a single section of our Chri'ro Estate we have called the Hanisch Vineyard. There are just over four acres of vines and the yield, and therefore production, varies from year to year. The wine is released in August / September and is available for tasting during this short period before all stock is sold. There are limits on the quantity that can be purchased.
'Heysen' ShirazThis second wine in our hierarchy is made from a very select group of single vineyards where the vines tend to grow on sandier soils than normal in the Barossa Valley. Alas due to trademark issues this wine cannot be sold in Australia and is therefore an export only wine that is not available for tasting.
Bull's Blood - Shiraz Mataro Pressings or 'Hubris'
This is a wine we have been making in the same style since 1967 when my father set out to replicate the Bikaver (Bull's Blood) wine of his homeland Hungary. The blend has always been a Shiraz-Mataro with the Mataro coming from a small patch of 100 year old vines growing behind our winery and the shiraz from our Western Ridge vineyard. During pressing the free run juice is bled off and only the heavy 'mat' is used in the wine - the so called pressings. Normally released, and available for tasting, in April/May.
'Heinrich' - Shiraz Mataro and Grenache
Named after Rolf Heinrich Binder, the founder of the family winery and father of current winemakers Rolf and Christa, because of his love of the combination of shiraz, mataro and grenache. Heinrich is an estate wine with the shiraz coming from the Stephanie vineyard, the Mataro from the Chri'ro vineyard planted in 1972 and the Grenache from the Western Ridge vineyard planted in the early 1950's. Normally released, and available for tasting, in July/August.
Cabernet Merlot
This approachable combination of cabernet sauvignon and merlot is carefully blended from grapes selected from the Binder family vineyards and the best of our long standing grower suppliers.
'Hoary' Barossa Valley Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon
This wine is made from grapes grown on old Barossa vines cared for by the Schiller family for generations. That makes the name 'hoary' (extremely old according to Webster's) vry appropriate. The Schiller vines are made to struggle and from that struggle comes a ripe wine of superb flavour. A wonderful combination of soil, climate, viticulture and winemaking skills. Released in April.
Christa Rolf Barossa Shiraz Grenache
Christa Rolf Barossa Shiraz
Our Christa Rolf wines are made in slightly bigger quantities than the five wines listed above which enables us to provide you with a best of the Barossa taste at a more affordable price. The Shiraz Grenache blend is made from grapes we select to give a 'juicy' structure and presence to the wine. As our own young vineyards mature we are using mostly estate grown shiraz combined with small batches of grapes we buy in from neighbours. The Grenache comes from our prize 'Western Ridge' vineyard on the edge of the Marananga bowl. For the Christa Rolf Shiraz the warmth of the Barossa comes through in a wine made from grapes from vineyards along the western edge of the Barossa Valley. Available from September onwards.
Cellar Selection Shiraz
Cellar Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
As part of our drive to keep learning and keep getting better, each vintage sees us making parcels of wine from our own and neighbouring vineyards where we treat the grapes and or the juice just a little differently. We keep the parcels separate and invariably we come across a small lot that is way too good to blend away in one of the labels we make for others under contract. It is these wines that become the Cellar Selections that we release for cellar door sales every December.
WHITES
'Mrs Binder' Barossa Riesling
Fruit from the winery vineyard and a nearby vineyard, both planted in the early 1970s, to which 25% of high Eden wine is added to give more power and length. Normally released in July.
Christa Rolf Barossa Semillon
Christa Binder Deans makes this wine from fruit sourced from an area we call the Marananga bowl which extends from our winery vineyards, up over a rise heading west down Seppeltsfield Road and rests against the grand old Seppeltsfield winery. The palate has been lengthened with minimal use of one, two and three year old French oak. Normally released in April.
FORTIFIEDS
We continue a tradition of 50 years by continuing to make fortified wines in the style begun by Rolf Binder senior who founded the Veritas winery in 1955. They are only available for tasting and sale at the cellar door.
JJ HAHN WINES
The J.J.Hahn wines are made by us from grapes grown by the Hahn family to meet our exacting standards. The family vineyard is situated in the middle, flat part of the Barossa Valley floor and it produces a different taste than the Rolf Binder/Veritas wines which mainly come from vines on the Western Ridge of the Valley. The Hahn family arrived in the Barossa in 1846 and the 7th generation is now on the farm. Wines are listed in the order which we place them in our wine hierarchy.
REDS
JJ Hahn Nineteen Fourteen Shiraz
One of the unique reds of the Barossa, named after vines planted in 1914. Because the vines are old they produce a small crop and they only receive water if they become stressed late in the growing cycle. The wine shows a more spicy, complex, peppermint type of character than you will find, for example, in the Hanisch. It spends two years in oak of which 25% is new American. Normally released in limited quantity at the same time as the Hanisch.
JJ Hahn Reginald Barossa Shiraz Cabernet
The shiraz in this blend is from vines planted in 1969 and 1976 while the cabernet plot was planted in 1979. Vines of this maturity might be low in yield but they produce wines full of depth and flavour.
WHITES
JJ Hahn 'Riverflat' Barossa Semillon
A rich, full bodied wine. The source is a rich alluvial flat next to the North Para Creek which was planted in 1962. It is one of the few areas in the district where old vine whites remain. Normally released in July.
MAGPIE ESTATE WINES
The Magpie Estate is a joint venture, which began in 1993, with the English wine merchant Noel Young. Noel, based in Cambridge, has a passion for the Rhone varieties that matches our own. The grapes do not come from Veritas vineyards and this allows us to buy from further a field. Noel also likes more new oak than you will find in Rolf Binder wines. The Magpie on the label changes expression from label label in a gentle fun poke at wine pretensions.
REDS
'The Election' Barossa Valley Shiraz
This wine is the top of the Magpie Estate range. A high proportion of the wine is aged in new American oak and the result is a big wine although beautifully balanced. The wine is released along with the Hanisch in August / September and is available for tasting during this short period with a limit on the quantity that can be purchased.
'Gomersal' Barossa Valley Grenache
Running along the Western side of the Barossa Valley are a parallel series of ridges and valleys. The southernmost expression of what can be loosely termed the Western Ridges is a very small area we call Gomersal. This wine is made from fruit from the heart of this area that comes off low yielding vines that are 40 to 50 years old. The wine is aged in new French oak in very limited quantity. Released in August/September with limits on sales per customer.
'The Sack' Shiraz
A blend of old vine shiraz from many sources. We get a tonne here and a tonne there from old school friends, long time suppliers and more recent friends to create a wine designed to cellar well. Released in July.
'The Fakir' Barossa Valley Grenache
This wine is a serious attempt to push Grenache to its taste limit by severely limiting the yield in the vineyard. That might make the grapes expensive but it results in a wine that dances across the palate and is a perfect luncheon red that packs a powerful wallop. Released in September.
'The Thief' Barossa Valley Mourvedre Grenache
The free run juice that flows off the old vine mourvedre (Mataro) which goes on to make Bulls Blood is combined with some old vine Grenache treated in the same way to make this wine that is on the lighter side of the red colour spectrum. But do not be fooled as it is high in alcohol and packjs an amazing flavour. Released in December.
BINDER MITCHELL WINES
Rolf Binder has joined with Kevin Mitchell of Kilikanoon in the Clare Valley to develop a new range of wines from outside the Barossa.
Baroota Shiraz
The fruit for this warm and generous wine comes from Baroota in the Southern Flinders Ranges region north of the Clare Valley. Both winemakers like using ripe fruit to make sleek, powerful reds and that shows in this rich, bold style that can be consumed with pleasure on release while having the structure to develop further with bottle age.
UNLABELLED WINES
We find it best to make wine in full vat lots which means bottling runs are often larger than a customer's order. We always have on hand for purchase and tasting at the cellar doors a range of these unlabelled wines.
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Red Wines
