Sons of Eden Stauros Mourvedre 2016

Established in 2000, Sons of Eden is intimately involved in all aspects of crafting wines of unquestionable quality, from the vineyard right through to the bottle. Varieties that the Barossa produces to a world standard are hand-picked from 30 unique vineyard sites and handled through Sons of Eden’s minimal intervention small-batch winery. As a result, the wines have a strong sense of individuality. With a combined 50 Barossa vintages amassed between the Sons’, Corey Ryan and Simon Cowham, their focus on crafting world class wines is uncompromising.

Stauros is a Mourvedre made from a unique old vine single vineyard and released only in years of exemplary quality. The vineyard site is near Moppa Springs in the northern Barossa Valley and is set on ancient soils that have been home to naturally occurring, but rare, stone crosses known as Staurolite. This mineral takes its name from the Greek word stauros, referring to cross.

The 80+ year old, dry-grown vines were hand harvested and the fruit destemmed and crushed into a small 1 tonne rotating oak barrel fermenter. A slow and controlled ferment with extended skin contact ensured great extraction and integration. Pressed after 50
days on skins into a large 900 litre oak vessel for a 20-month maturation period. Maturation occurred on full press lees, which provided for enhanced mouth-feel and palate texture. Prior to bottling the wine was naturally clarified, and packaged without finings or filtration.

Corey Ryan and Simon Cowham’s flagship, single-site mourvèdre from the Schulz family vineyard in Moppa. It’s immediately broody and meaty from first sniff. Black cherry and deep-black plum fruits cut through with notes of exotic spice, veal jus, cassis and earth. There is initially a soft, open-knit fruit attitude that swells and compacts with great meaty purity, with layers of complexity and firm, superfine feathery tannins providing a sound frame for the savoury, spiced plummy fruits. Complex and enchanting drinking. - James Halliday Wine Companion, 95 Points.

This parcel is from Moppa and offers amaro-like herb notes, raisins and plums, as well as woody spices. There’s a concentrated dark-herb and licorice edge to the palate, together with dark chocolate and cassis. Dried herbs, too. Really unique. - Nick Stock, JamesSuckling.com, 94 Points.

Dark and engaging yet refined and stylish, this glorious rendition of the variety shows blackcurrant, spiced plum, thyme, cake spice and roasted nut characters on the nose, leading to a sumptuous palate that is wonderfully weighted and firmly structured by fine, chalky tannins. The wine is up front and flavoursome with velvety mouthfeel, finishing persistent and expansive. - Wine Orbit, 96 Points.

The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Mourvedre
Country - Australia
Region - Barossa Valley
Vintage - 2016
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 14.5%
Cellaring Potential - Optimum 2030