2015 Hartenberg 'The Stork' Shiraz

Currently OOS 19 Nov

"Home of the Worlds Best Shiraz"

"... decadent, almost ostentatious bouquet of macerated dark cherries, creme de cassis, plum and glycerine...palate is full-bodied with silky smooth, seamless tannins and layers of luscious red fruits. For hedonists, this is the perfect Shiraz!" (NM) Robert Parker

Nose

Voluptuous aromas of ripe dark and red fruit combine with spicy notes on the bouquet. 

Palate

The palate shows an abundance of berry flavours, smooth, silky tannins and a bold finish.

History

The Stork Shiraz honours the late Ken Mackenzie, pilot, businessman, farmer and benefactor.  Stork was Ken’s Second World War nickname (as he was tall with long thin legs and a Spitfire pilot) and Shiraz was his preferred red wine.

This limited volume wine represents a vineyard selection of Shiraz from a specific site that is planted solely on clay–rich "terra rossa" type soils. The vineyard ripens a full month later than our Gravel Hill Shiraz site.

Shiraz is the cultivar that has made Hartenberg famous, and The Stork will ensure this reputation continues.

Accolades

Tim Atkin MW released his 2019 South Africa Special Report having spent the last few months tasting over 2000 wines and his scores are highly regarded as a result of his in-depth knowledge of South Africa and its wines. We are delighted to have retained our status as a First Growth and have three of our estate wines listed in Tim’s Wines of the Year.

The Stork 2015 and our Estate Shiraz 2016 were both awarded Gold in the internationally acclaimed Syrah Du Monde, with The Stork placing in the Top 4. Hartenberg scooped 2 of just 4 Golds awarded to South Africa (only 15 Gold medals were awarded internationally in the 2019 competition). Incredibly this is the third time a vintage of The Stork Shiraz has listed in the International Top Ten. The other vintages were 2008, which placed 1st (in 2012), and the 2005, which placed 3^rd (in 2007).

The Wine Merchant Top 100 Wines for 2019. The Stork 2015 rated as only one of five SA wines to make the Top 100. Panel Chair, Angela Reddin remarked, ”The quality is really coming through here and the styles were extremely well–defined as South African, which is brilliant. When it [The Stork and another] comes you knew it was a hand of a master making them“.  

This news comes hot on the heels of the Sommelier Wine Awards who awarded a Gold medal to The Stork 2015:
 

Annamaria Juhasz of The Fat Duck was a big advocate of this unanimous Gold Lister, saying: ‘The wine shines with a nose of black fruits and eucalypatus; this feels young, vibrant and very complex with notes of citrus peel and bramble, and with blackberries on the palate. It’s a beautiful example of South Africa – still at the youthful stage but with lots of potential.’ Team leader Angela Reddin was also a fan, praising the ‘lifted, bright, plummy fruit cordial notes; the liquorice spice’, and adding: ‘Still the fruit holds itself; layering over the tannins and riding the acid like a racehorse.’ A wine of ‘subtle and elegant power’ concluded Joseph Lunn of Suave Wine.