Laughing Jack Jack’s Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre 2020 (6 Bottles) Barossa Valley

$160.00 GST Included

AUSTRALIA WIDE SHIPPING INCLUDED

Shawn Kalleske’s 2018 GSM comes from Estate fruit sourced from the Moppa Hill and Greenock vineyards. This year’s blend is 62% Grenache (old-vine Moppa), 23% Shiraz (mainly Greenock Creek along with a little Moppa) and 13% dry-grown Mourvèdre (also from Moppa). Each variety adds its own characteristics to the blend: Grenache the aromatic red fruits, boiled lollies and spice; Shiraz the dark fruits and mid palate weight; and Mourvédre completes the balance by adding structure and complexity to the finish.

As the note below from Mr Walsh makes clear it’s unashamedly classic Barossa although it’s not at all heavy, rather it’s a bright, juicy expression of that old-school style and very fairly priced.

“Xmas pudding with plenty of sweet spices, raspberry and brandy custard; all the trimmings. It’s soft, ripe and come-hither, supple tannin, balanced acidity, and a pleasant richness, maybe a few dried herbs thrown in on the finish, and a lick of tannin to clean it up. It’s what you might call ‘a Friday night football’ wine, and very easy to enjoy in that way.” 92 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front

“Complex, complete and crafted. 58 year old vines bring a distinctly savoury edge to grenache (62% of the blend), amplified by mourvèdre (13%, the balance shiraz) playing a stronger role than its respresentation suggests. Firm, fine, mineral tannins, tomato tones and dried herbs create a distinctly classical and distinguished mood and promise medium-term potential.” 93 points, Tyson Stelzer, Top wines of 2020 under $25, tysonstelzer.com

Description

About Us

Laughing Jack Wines was established in 1999, when Shawn made his first release of Laughing Jack Shiraz (now known as Greenock Shiraz). A total of 355 dozen was bottled and released to the market in 2002 – Laughing Jack Wines had begun!

Laughing Jack History
While Kalleskes have been growing and selling grapes since Eduard and Rosina Kalleske settled in the Barossa Valley in 1847, it wasn’t until 1999—when sixth generation Barossan Shawn Kalleske crushed his first vintage—that Laughing Jack was born. Shawn’s first wine was crafted from five tonnes of fruit, in a tool shed he had converted into a makeshift winery.

For the first few years Shawn had help from ex-Penfolds winemaker Mick Schroeter, along with Colin and Ben Glaetzer—who processed some of the Laughing Jack fruit at their winery down the road. By 2011, Shawn along with his brothers and parents (it’s a full-on family affair) had outgrown the tool-shed winery, and in 2011 a new facility was built on Stonewell Road at Marananga.

It was a steep learning curve and Shawn readily concedes that in those Parker-era days, like others in the Barossa at the time, the wines were being picked on sugar ripeness. As Shawn told us recently “sugar ripeness doesn’t come into it at all now”. Today the focus is placed squarely on picking grapes that are flavour-ripe, with great tannin and acid balance. The emphasis is in the vineyard, with hard pruning to keep the already naturally low yields in check, planting cover crops and managing weeds by cultivation without the use of chemicals.

In the winery, traditional méthode Barossa holds sway. The reds are all fermented in open-top fermenters, basket-pressed and bottled without any fining or filtration. The use of wood these days is well-judged, with a mix of older and new French hogsheads and puncheons, together with a little American oak.

Most of our clients will know the great work of this grower through Laughing Jack’s no-brainier entry label, Jack’s Shiraz. As you will read below, the story goes so much deeper. This is a beautiful set of new single-vineyard wines, including some extremely limited 2016s—a fabulous vintage in the Barossa. With some great sites and old vines in both the Greenock and Moppa sub-regions, we’re excited to be shining a light on these classic, vineyard-driven Barossa wines from a humble and under-exposed producer.

Fine Wine Cellars

On the one hand, our role as a merchant of all things wine & spirits could not be simpler. We aim to source the most delicious, the most authentic, and the highest quality products possible from Australia and around the world in order to offer them to our clients. We live or die by how well we perform this task. Of course things are rarely as simple or as easy as they seem. Hunting for wines & spirits is no different. Apart from the months spent travelling, countless days and evenings spent tasting and the outrageous wine expenditure in the name of ‘research’, sourcing quality wine and spirits requires expertise and experience. Understanding the potential of a producer and their products is much more than just a slurp and a spit.