Alcohol: 15%
Grape(s): 91% Shiraz, 9% Viognier
Localization: Barossa Valley, Barossa, South Australia, Australia
Tasting Notes: Wonderfully lifted aromatics, perfumed fresh black and red fruits complemented by spice and floral wafting from the glass. Blackcurrants, mulberry, cassis, and satsuma plum intertwine with potpourri, dried apricots, cloves and star anise. The palate shows the integration of dark Barossa fruits and second use of RunRig French oak barriques balanced by trademark viscosity. A firm mouthfeel of fine-grained tannins balanced by dense yet creamy-like texture extolling the vineyard pedigree.
96 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: The Descendant is a Shiraz Viognier blend, co-fermented. This year, the 2020 Descendant comprises 91% Shiraz and 9% Viognier; the vineyard is in Marananga and was planted in 1994 from cuttings form the RunRig vineyard. It matured for 20 months in second fill French oak barriques, previously used for the RunRig. In every way (price, vineyard source, cepage, maturation), this wine is a baby RunRig, although there remain some stylistic differences in the mouth. For one thing, this 2020 Descendant has been matured (as mentioned) in older oak, so the imprint of oak flavors is more subtle. While there is no denying that the texture has an extreme slick and polish (it is almost thick in the mouth, truly plush) from the high percentage of Viognier, the wine is pure and glossy and exuberantly fruit driven. The tannins, which exist very much within the wine, are savory and exotically spiced: star anise, clove, hints of cardamom, licorice, red dirt and iodine. This is very good, luxurious, enveloping, sybaritic, with lots going on.
Food Pairing: Pair with forest game, mushrooms or truffles.
The Domain: Torbreck, founded in 1994 by David Powell, is situated at Marananga on the western ridge of the Barossa. Since that time, he has produced some of the world's finest 'Rhone varietal' wines, exclusively from Barossa fruit; this has been acknowledged by the wine press in Europe, America, and Australia. The overwhelming majority of his vines are dry-grown. Nearly all are 80 - 125 years old and are tended and harvested by hand.
The wines have an extraordinary combination of power, intensity, complexity, and great finesse, and bearing in mind the age of the vines and the laughably low yields, no Torbreck wine could ever be accused of being heavy, cloying, or over-extracted.
