Hayes Family Wines Tasting

 Hayes Family Wines is a certified organic winery in the heart of the Barossa. A recent tasting showed some strength, but also some easy pitfalls of winemaking in the Barossa.

Hayes produces a large number of different wines. The first wine I tasted was the 2021 Koonunga Creek Block Grenache. The Koonunga subregion is famous for its sandy soil, and therefore well suited to Grenache. The grapes for this wine come from 130 year old vines, but as can easily be the case with Grenache, this wine is too alcoholic (15%). The old 500l oak barrels cannot tame the alcohol. The raspberry flavours are very ripe, and although the wine seems balanced otherwise, the hot finish takes the pleasure out of this wine (88/0 points).

This contrasts with the 2021 Glengrae Old Bush Block Grenache from Ebenezer. The vines grow on the famous red-brown clay, and deliver a darker wine. Raspberry, black cherry, mocca flavours, and some spice vie for your attention. This is an attractive and elegant wine with a medium finish. Alcohol is 14.5% (94/++ points).

Then there is the 2021 Prayer Garden Grenache, also from Ebenezer. The soil is sand over clay, and the wine is more red fruited. It is not a bad wine, but the mouthfeel is not very distinct (91/0 points).

The first Shiraz is the 2019 Estate Reserve Shiraz from Stonewell. 2019 was a drought year, and it shows in this wine. It has a sweet core and a very oaky flavour (86/-- points).

The 2018 Ancestor Shiraz is a better option. This wine is also intense and quite big, but the blackberry and vanilla flavours deliver a much more elegant and balanced mouthfeel (92/0 points).