-Mike Bennie, March 2016 t’s a typical, bolshy, open and honest Dave Powell that I’m speaking to. Resplendent in ‘fucks’ and ‘shits’, he’s speaking from a he’s been working in all morning, shouting at the horizon, celebrating his new found head of steam. “I’m pretty I fuckin’ good – for a couple of years I hid under a rock, but, I’ve surfaced and am pretty into all this. The Torbreck shit, the life before, it’s all ancient history, I’m glad to be out of the past”, Powell offers. He details some of the back history of what went down from his side of the fence. I’ve known him for a generation, almost, and it seems that the muddy waters run deep, but we move past it pretty quickly. “I made a bit of in 2014 with my older son, I’m happy as a pig in shit, back to pruning vines, working with Callum is great. Working with is a big part of what we do – it feels right again and I’m enjoying that we’ve now got plenty of time to do what we want when we want”. The is at Riverside Vintners in Lyndoch. Powell & Son shows all the DNA of his past, but there’s a freshness and vitality to the that seems to lift them, “the great thing about these wines is you can see the thread with my . I’ve made the wines like I always have, but here I’m aiming to maintain purity and freshness. Callum’s been big on that too – keeping the wines a bit brighter, fresher feeling and less made to order, let’s say”, offers Powell. “I’m the happiest I have been in years, having a life, working with son and friends, not dealing with bullshit. I don’t want to build a new Torbreck, and I’ve had people offering me shed loads of money. I just said I’m not interested, I don’t want to do it, this is the place I want to be”. The new range comprises one white in an Eden Valley and a suite of reds that span both Barossa and Eden Valley. “I love the Eden Valley and about half our fruit comes from Eden now”. The flagships are old vine, single vineyard, $100 and $750 respectively. Heady stuff, but it’s Powell power all the way.

Powell & Son Barossa Valley Powell & Son Eden Valley

Shiraz 2014 Riesling 2015 This wine, the entry level , is Barossa Valley in its “Ive always loved Eden Valley riesling, always wanted essence. Shiraz from oldish vines, sent to bottle unfined to work with it. The vineyard needed a fair bit of work and filtered, poured in glass with heartiness of place. so we really worked the site, it needed some help, but Made by Powell & Son. it’s a beauty of a site; the vines are 85 years old”, offers It’s a great drink, black in colour, scents of briary winemaker Dave Powell. New beginnings. Fruit is from berries, violets, roast meat and earth. In the palate it the Steinert vineyard, which also forms the shiraz wine sloshes around with red fruits, meaty notes, black olive that sits at the top of the Powell & Son releases (2014, tapenade savouriness offering creamy texture and a $750). fleshy finish. It feels unadorned, vibrant, even with its Pure, crisp, refreshing. Delicate and driving. Has bright dense, mouth-filling ways. It’s tattooed with Powell and fruit, fine lacy acidity, really tangy but succulent and Barossa. A legion will love this. energetic. Fragrant of florals, citrus, wet pebbles and just-ripe green apple. Really good drinking. Rated : 92 Points Rated : 92 Points Tasted : FEB16 Tasted : FEB16 Alcohol : 14.5% Alcohol : 12% Price : $30 Price : $30 Closure : Screwcap Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2016 – 2024 Drink : 2016 - 2025+

Powell & Son Barossa Valley Shiraz Mataro 2014 Winemaker Dave Powell is typically casual in his description of this wine, “Mataro is out at Koonunga Hill, grenache comes from a few sites, some older stuff, shiraz from usual places. You know, it’s made to be serious, a step up, but also a good drink. And its got the varieties that go well here”. Powell and his son Callum are using a lot of large format barrels, foudres typcially, and opting for wood that has been previously used. Bold wine of concentration, meatiness and spice. Reeks of roast meats, mocha, maraschino cherry, briar and clove-like spice. In the palate, more of that slick, rich texture you’d expect from a Powell wine, imbued with more roast meat, smooth dusty tannins, liquid spice, orangey acidity and a firm, puckering finish. It’s serious and yet shows drinkability in youth. That said, give it a year or so before approach. Good, hearty wine. Rated : 93 Points Tasted : FEB16 Alcohol : 14.5% Price : $50 Closure : Cork Drink : 2017 - 2028+

Powell & Son Loechel Eden Powell & Son Barossa and Valley Shiraz 2014 Eden Valleys Shiraz 2014 The premier tier of Powell & Son wines is focussed Barossa Valley and Eden Valley meshed for on single vineyards and applying all new oak to the essence of Barossa, or something like that. fruit sourced from them. The rest of the range relies Vineyard sources are 60-plus and 40-plus on mostly foudre, and mostly used oak. It’s a years old, respectively. Loechel vineyard separation in ideology. At this level, maybe more shiraz happens to be the Eden component, Dave than son Callum Powell, whose influence which makes up the second-to-top wine (2014, seems to have been a tethering down of the oaky $100). Callum Powell, or Powell junior, impact one might have seen in the past from wines suggested to his dad Dave Powell that the wine under Powell senior’s guidance. should spend time in foudre to pump up the The Loechel vineyard is an exceptional site, fruitiness and freshness. Job done. according to Dave Powell. It’s about 50 years old Slippery, rich, dense, slurpy hit of shiraz. Big and not far out of Eden Valley township. It needed scents of black currants, figs, dates, faint to be sung from the rooftops, he says. eucalyptus, pepper and game meat. In the It’s a wine that shows impact and concentration but palate, concentrated, dark fruited, meaty, never feels dense and heavy. The bouquet is trimmed with thick, suede tannins, finishing attractive in currants, figs, faint sage notes and a perky on spicy orangey acidity. Stains the clove-like oak character. The lush, controlled flow palate, but feels pure in ripe, bold fruit. Impact, of fruit sit high in the palate on crushed rock tannins but drinkability. It’s seductive and balanced for and pomegranate acidity, though there’s plenty of its ilk. slippery-slidey dark berries, warm roast meatiness, sweet spice and lightly herbal accents. Impressive wine; weight and poise married. Good mouthful of Rated : 93 Points complex . One for the cellar too. Tasted : FEB16 Rated : 94+ Points Alcohol : 14.5% Tasted : FEB16 Price : $50 Alcohol : 14.5% Closure : Cork Price : $100 Drink : 2016 – 2024 Closure : Cork Drink : 2018 - 2028+

Powell & Son Steinert Flaxman’s Valley Shiraz 2014 From a 120-year-old, dry grown vineyard in Flaxman’s Valley of the Eden Valley. Flaxman’s feels a bit like dress circle Eden, when you take a look around. Beautiful part of the world, some serious winemakers/winegrowers/vineyards staked out in claims there. The price tag is $750. It’s taking on the top of the Australian tree. Why not? (adult language warning) “It’s got to be good enough”, growls Dave Powell, “the wine has to be fucking good, or people will say you’ve got to be fucking kidding”. Right on. “It’s got everything to make epic wine. Best wines. From a 120 year old, dry grown vineyard at 480 metres, facing south east. From that, you’ve got a pretty good chance of making fucking good wine, so if you cant make a half decent wine you should have a look at yourself”, explains Powell. It spends 18 months in pretty serious wood too. The wine groans with its heft, dark, foreboding, meaty, gravelly wine, but there’s still a lift and undercurrent of pure fruit, despite the work of spicy wood and chomp of tannin. It feels like an echo chamber in the palate; thick ricochets of dark fruit and meatiness bobbing through the mouth, then firmed up with cedary-oak spice, and chewy dark chocolate-coffee powder tannins. Flickers of garrigue and bouquet garni appear, and they’re seen in the dense bouquet too. To inhale, the wine is full of dark fruit, figs, dates, warm earth, char and herbal spice. It’s a palate staining mouthful, but finds a rise. It’s foreboding, but draws you in. Pretty epic. Rated : 96+ Points Tasted : FEB16 Alcohol : 14.5% Price : $750 Closure : Cork Drink : 2018 - 2029+