Looking fine! Vintage 2009

Vintage 2009 came and went in what seemed the blink of an eye. We were struck with an early heat wave and thought here we go again, repeat of '08. Thankfully the heat subsided and vintage went smoothly. Ferments were healthy, fruit quality was excellent, despite some yield losses our 'Plains, Bibaringa and One Tree Hill fruit had great colour and flavour depth.
Undoubtly the standout is the '09 Grenache, picked a little earlier than previous vintages, during ferment and basket pressing the flavours were off the Richter Scale.
Pictured from top left: relaxing with a beer after a long day crushing. Grenache grapes from the Gagliardi vineyard and horses take an interest in harvest at Uleybury

2008 USA Range Tasting

The USA importer of Old Plains & Longhop wines, Vine Street Imports hosted their first ever range tasting in Philadelphia in September 2008. With 20 plus Australian and New Zealand winemakers in attendance, Vine Street sent out invites across the 'States to distributors, retailers and trade punters.
With approx 120 wines on offer and approx 400 attendees on the day, they were treated to possibly the most diverse "list" of wines ever shown in USA.
Old Plains launched Raw Power Shiraz with great success, described as the wine of the tasting for delivering value for money, quality and a sharp marketing edge, consumers in the US have since embraced Raw Power for its sheer quality.
Tim Freeland in attended for Old Plains, went onto Wichita in Kansas, for trade tastings, before attending the annual Corks for Kids charity event in North Carolina. A series of dinners, tastings and gala auction night combined to raise approx $75,000 for the North Carolina Childrens Hospital.

True Blue - Big Red

Labeled as the ONLY guide for red wine drinkers in Australia the newly released "Big Red Wine Book" by renowned author Campbell Mattinson hit book shelves this week.

All we can say is check out No. 12 in the top 100 red wines at $20 or less.

Longhop Shiraz 2007
Released May 1st
"I thought the 2006 was good but this is a significant step up. Its a classy wine. Its rich with flavours of toast, blackberry, raspberry and kirsch, raisiny sweetness helping to plump out the core of it. This is one juicy little sucker. 92 points" Campbell Mattinson

Goto Wines Page (link)

Great News for Longhop fans

New release wines now available, including our first ever white.

World Premier of our "La Quattro" an old vine white from four varieties planted on the Adelaide Plains as early as 1953, fruit driven, dry, spice, citrus whilst great mineral acidity provides plenty of length.

Longhop shiraz, even better than last year, lobbed at No. 12 in Cam Mattinson's new book, need we say anymore apart from jump in.

Also our favourite, Old Vine Grenache, hot on the heels of last years success our baby will be turning more heads than Linda Blair. This one is limited in supply jump in quick

Go to Wines Page (link)

Squashed grapes = vintage 2008

Adelaide Plains shiraz, first press 2008. And what great juice it makes. The vintage has been kind with cooler temperatures, grape yields are up, timely rains really helped things along.
We're seeing peppery notes from some of the old vine fruit, great colours and smooth ferments. Also pleasing to note we haven't blow up the truck carting fruit and the new basket press is our new best friend.

Cellar Door sell out
Thanks to the great support of the wine buying public 2006 Longhop Shiraz is now sold out from our online cellar door.
For a small winery just entering the market, the wine was well reviewed by critics and the public alike. Showcasing what the Adelaide Plains can do year-in year-out producing a value packed wine, that oozes dark fruit flavours.
Stay tuned for the next installment due for release in May 2008.

Retail availability
Not all is lost, there are still retailers around the country with the wine in stock. Some of the Dan Murphy's stores, Edinburgh Cellars at Mitcham and a bit of sniffing around online retailers may unearth a few bottles. Good luck.

The Long road - USA road trip

Being a small wine company, sometimes its hard to get the big picture. With this in mind, Tim Freeland recently made his first visit to the USA as a guest of Vine Street Imports. Vine Street are the newly appointed importer of Old Plains and Longhop wines into the USA.
"It was a great experience, from west to east across the states the hospitality was superb, we dined in some great restaurants and visited some of the best bottle shops the US had to offer." Freeland said.
"On top of that, people were genuinely interested in our wines, but the competition is fierce, there's a huge amount of French, Italian and Spanish wine on their shelves, Old Plains and Longhop is looking to deliver bang for buck compared to the Europeans in the market", he said.
The tour consisted of visits to distributors and retailers, in-store retail tastings, hosting a wine charity dinner, pouring at trade shows and pouring at the annual "Corks for Kids" charity auction to benefit the North Carolina Children's Hospital. Three back vintage bottles of Old Plains shiraz ('03, '04 & '05) sold for $190USD at this event, proceeds to the hospital..
Freeland visited Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee and North Carolina on the whirlwind 10 day tour.

Pictured Top: Left to right producers on tour: Peter MacDonald, Hunters; Tim Freeland, Old Plains; Ronnie Sanders, Vine Street Imports; Colin McBride, Some Young Punks; Billy Bowman, Bordeaux Fine & Rare Distribution; Kevin North, Hently Farm; John, First Drop; Stephen Black, Small Gully.
Pictured Middle: Signing bottles for charity auction in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Pictured Bottom: Trade tasting, Milwaukee.

Out Now - Latest Stephen Tanzer reviews
Internationally and critically acclaimed, Tanzer's International Wine Cellar is one of the foremost publications when it comes to wine reviews and advice, follow the link to our reviews page to read the latest from Tanzer on Old Plains and Longhop.

Shiraz Challenge at the Ed

Held recently at the Edinburgh hotel Mitcham, the annual shiraz challenge lived up to expectations. 700 punters through the door in scenes that resemble a mosh pit at the big day out for a great time. Possibly the best 20 bucks you could spend with over 200 wines on taste from producers big and small.
For Longhop and Old Plains the response was excellent, the Longhop shiraz is now available at the Ed Cellars, our first bottleshop listing in SA! And a great chance to meet some of our mail order customers face to face. As for awards top points for Torzi Matthews as they took best value wine under 20 bucks with Schist Rock Shiraz.

First Press 2007
We're underway! The first Old Plains shiraz fruit from the Adelaide Plains for 2007 has been picked, crushed, fermented and basket pressed this week. Hot weather has seen vintage arrive two weeks early on the Adelaide Plains. Despite the drought and November frosts the Old Plains and Longhop vineyards continue to produce outstanding quality fruits, plenty of chocolate, liquorice and blood fruit flavours to the fore.

94 points - Old Plains
"Power of One" Shiraz 2005

Old Plains Power of One Shiraz 2005. By Gary Walsh
This comes off vines planted in the 1950's. Talk about flavour! No wonder Domenic Torzi is a bit light on in the hair department. This nearly blew my toupee off! I nearly always spit the wine when tasting but found this one very hard to resist. It's that sort of wine.
Lifted aromas of blackberry/raspberry, cassis, pepper, bitumen and sweet toasty vanilla oak. The palate is power packed and positively rippling with flavours of plum, blackberry, raspberry, tar, vanilla and spice. Tannins are buffed, polished and smooth yet still appropriately grainy and mouthcoating for a wine of this size. No doubt hidden to a certain extent under the weight of all that luxuriously fat fruit. A golden glow of alcohol is present throughout. Dry savoury finish of great length. If you like them big, bold and beautiful then look no further for this could well be the wine of your dreams.
Rated : 94 Points. Tasted : Sep06. Alcohol : 14.5%
Closure : Screwcap. Drink : 2006 - 2012
Article from Winorama: http://www.winorama.com.au

Wine Australia - Sydney July 2006

Wine Australia held in Sydney during July lived up to all expectations. Producers, big and small from all parts of Australia showcased their wine to thousands of wine buyers from around the world.
Old Plains, Longhop and the Torzi Matthews labels were stand-outs during the show. People were blow away with the quality and price of the wines. The story behind Old Plains and Longhop was told many a time during the weekend. Meeting customers, putting a face to a name and sharing a glass made for an enjoyable weekend.

"...Campbell Mattinson talks it up."

Renowned Australian wine writer Campbell Mattinson talks to Domenic Torzi about "The Plains" and gives us an insight into where the Old Plains and Longhop labels began

"...read the Winefront article here."