Clarry’s Barossa Red is named in honour of winemaker, Troy Kalleske’s, eighty six year old Grandfather, Clarence “Clarry” Kalleske, who farmed the Kalleske vineyards from the late 1920s until his retirement in the 1990s. Clarry was the fourth generation member to tend the vines on the Kalleske family farm, established by his great grandparents who migrated from Prussia to South Australia in 1838 aboard the Prince George. Many years were spent by Clarry pruning, hand-picking and nurturing the Kalleske vineyards.

Clarry’s is a blend of Grenache and Shiraz, with all grapes from the Kalleske farm. The Grenache is from low-yielding sandy soils while the Shiraz is sourced from the Greenock Shiraz vineyard.

The 2005 growing season started with a wet winter and spring, providing excellent moisture for the vines. A cooler than average summer with no heat waves resulted in gradual ripening and natural acidity was retained in the grapes. A dry, mild to warm autumn with sunny days provided ideal ripening conditions to finish the grapes to maturity. A good vintage with intense flavours.

The Grenache was harvested in mid April, about one month after the Greenock Shiraz component. The Grenache was fermented warm in open top fermenters with hand pump overs twice a day during fermentation. After ten days on skins the Grenache was gently basket pressed. To preserve the superb fresh fruit flavours of the Grenache, it was only aged in very old oak hogsheads and only for a limited time of ten months. On completion of maturation, a component of Greenock Shiraz was blended with the Grenache for added complexity. The wine is bottled un-fined and unfiltered and is sealed with a screw cap closure to retain fresh fruit vibrancy.