Peter Lehmann Wines works with over 140 growers across the length and breadth of the Barossa Valley region, with access to over 750 individual vineyard sites. The Black Queen is made from Shiraz grown on old, low-yielding vines in premium vineyards in the Nuriootpa, Light Pass and Ebenezer districts of the Barossa Valley.
Intensely flavoured sparkling Shiraz wine inspired by the groundbreaking ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ of the 1950s – one of Australia’s unique contributions to the wine world, named after the Queen of Sheba.
Sourced from four long term growers of premium Shiraz; Schrapel, Hampel, Gladigau and Grope planted in the Ebenezer and Light Pass districts. Fruit for the Black Queen is selected based on a silky tannin profile and sweet red berry fruit expression. Fermented on skins for 10 days, pressed, clarified and then matured for 12 months in older French oak hogsheads. The base wine was then bottle-fermented and aged on its yeast lees for 36 months. After disgorgement, a small percentage of The King Vintage Port was used as expedition liqueur to build complexity and enhance the rich Christmas cake fruit characters.
Deep crimson in colour with red and purple hues. Lifted chocolate, vanilla, dark fruits and a touch of Christmas cake on the nose. Soft supple and silky tannins, the wine is abundant in rich dark blue fruits with a lovely mouth filling generosity. Gentle beading and delicate, soft mousse makes the palate luscious. A brooding, savoury dark chocolate backbone of flavour balances with sweet-perfumed oak notes leading to a great length of blackberry jam and satsuma plum conserve. The fruit sweetness is apparent, but balanced by the complexity of fruit-weight and time spent on tirage prior to disgorgement.
Best enjoyed now, however, will comfortably develop further in the cellar for a further 5-10 years.
