THE ESTATE & WINEMAKING

Greg and Allison have lived next door to Chris Ringland since 1995. Chris, initially made their first few vintages and set them on the path to making their own wine. An outstanding winemaker, he has been their friend, next-door neighbour and consultant since, sharing and working together with the ideal of growing superb quality fruit to make great wine. The Hobbs’s have enjoyed many a long and animated discussion with Chris in the vineyard, as well as over good meals and a glass or two of wine blending thoughts and ideas that have helped form the individual styles of their wines. For the past 4 years Greg and Allison have worked alongside Chris to make the 1905 Shiraz and the Tango Shiraz/Viognier on their own estate.

Pete Schell from Spinifex Wines has been the Hobbs winemaker for the past 10 years. He

concentrates now on the Gregor, Tin Lids and Viognier as well as our semi dried dessert wines. Pete has made wine in both Australia and France. He was the head winemaker at Turkey Flat before starting out on his own. Hobbs believe Pete is one of the very best winemakers around. He has a sensational palate and nose and superb winemaking skills. He believes in the quality and power of fruit and has great integrity and honesty that comes through in his approach to winemaking.

Greg and Allison both have a fine resume of winemaking experience both in hands-on experience and in the finer art of studying wine science at the Wagga Wagga University.

The combination Chris’s and Pete’s skills, Hobbs belief in their own fruit, and their

desire to make only wines of exceptional quality, are fast making Hobbs one of Australia’s true premium labels. At Hobbs we make our wines from grapes grown in our own 15 acres of vineyard here in the Barossa Ranges. Our vineyard is old, and our yields are low. Nature and the seasons dictate our production; the amount of wine produced is limited by the yield of the vines. Each year we produce approx 1500 cases of wine.

OUR PHILOSOPHY IN MAKING OUR WINES IS SIMPLE; NURTURE THE VINES AND CONCENTRATE ON PRESERVING THE COMPLEX BALANCE OF FLAVOURS AND ACIDS AS THE GRAPES MATURE.

OUR VINEYARD

Hobbs vineyard is home to some of the Barossa’s oldest Shiraz, planted at the turn of the last century. The vineyard is nestled in the cool, beautiful Barossa Ranges, where the climate and distinct soil structure provide ideal conditions to produce fruit of unique quality. To taste any Hobbs wine is to savour the very essence of where we live.

We lavish care and craft on the grapes that we grow to make exceptional wines. Yet as much as considered winemaking counts towards the quality of our final products, soil and climate play a vital part in defining the character of each vintage even before the grapes are picked.

The coarse, yellow, podzolic soil here lies atop clay subsoil, mixed with decomposing rock. It may not sound very exciting, but it has a great

advantage for us - this strata stores water well, meaning our vines can be effectively dry grown.

A combination of wet, chilly winters and warm summers conspire with the unique local soils to produce grapes of rich character. Growing season temperatures in the Hobbs vineyard are comparatively low. The influence of these lower temperatures is significant, creating a longer ripening phase that results in very distinctive varietal flavour characteristics.

At Hobbs we have a strong belief in the balance of nature and strive to maintain this balance between nature and agriculture by embracing an organic and biodynamic approach to managing our vineyard. We hand-prune each vine and handpick the fruit.

The fruit for our Gregor is first handpicked then placed onto racks and semi-dried in the time-honoured ‘Appassimento’ method. This method concentrates the sugars and flavours of the fruit, creating a full bodied, well balanced Shiraz.

Named in honour of a very fond memory from early in Greg and Allison’s relationship - a skiing instructor who had a hard time pronouncing ‘Gregory’. This wine will always conjour fond memories for the Hobbs family.

GREGOR

Production is very limited, in fact the largest volume of any fine wine produced is 300 dozen; a drop in the ocean by today’s standards, but a very fine drop indeed.

1905

Hobbs’ magnificent block of gnarled old vines, planted in 1905 are low yielding and produce fruit of the highest quality. Some of the Barossa’s oldest Shiraz, these vines have stood the test of time, consistently providing fruit with complexity and distinct varietal characteristics.

The vines are hand pruned and the fruit is handpicked. Vines as precious as these deserve to be hand tended, and they receive all the love and care needed to produce wines built for the long haul.

Small yields and dry-grown, the 1905 block delivers wines layered with texture, flavour, complexity and length.

Hobbs place a strong emphasis on family within their business. Allison, Greg, and their kids - or Tin Lids, as they like to call them - moved to their historic 15 acre

vineyard in 1995, leaving behind the city for a new life amongst the vines. A testament to the winemaking passion and talent within the Hobbs family, this Tin Lids range of wines was crafted with each and every

one of them contributing to the process.

JAMES HALLIDAY 2017 WINE COMPANION

Winery Rating: 4.5 Black Stars - Excellent winery able to produce wines of high to very high quality, knocking on the door of a five-star rating.

Halliday Comments: “Hobbs of Barossa Ranges is the high-profile, if somewhat challenging venture of Greg and Allison Hobbs. The estate vineyards revolve around 1ha of shiraz planted in 1908, 1ha planted in ‘88, 1ha planted in ‘97 and 1.82ha planted in 2004. In ‘09 0.4ha of old white frontignac was removed, giving space for another small planting of shiraz. The viticultural portfolio is completed with 0.6ha of semillon planted in the 1960s, and an inspired 0.6ha of viognier (‘88). All the wines, made by Peter Schell (at Spinifex), push the envelope. The only conventionally made wine is the Shiraz Viognier, with a production of 130 dozen. Gregor, an Amarone-style Shiraz in full-blooded table wine mode, and a quartet of dessert wines, are produced by cane cutting followed by further desiccation on racks. The Grenache comes from a Barossa floor vineyard, the Semillon, Viognier and White Frontignac from estate-grown grapes.”

Gregor Shiraz 2013 - 95 points

“Thick with blacked-fruited flavour. Warm with alcohol. Pulled with flavour-drenched tannin. It’s a thunderstorm in a glass, rolling thunder and all. The power and length of it cannot be denied.”

1905 Shiraz 2013 - 93 points - ‘Highly recommended’

Tango Shiraz Viognier 2013 - 93 points - ‘Highly recommended’

Tid Lids Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon 2013 - 93 points - ‘Highly recommended’

AWARDS OF NOTE

Hobbs Tango Shiraz Viognier 2012 - 94 points - RP, Wine Advocate, 2015“very big, full bodied and buxom on the palate, the densely packed fruit flavours have lovely freshness and vitality”

Hobbs Tin Lids Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 - 90 points - RP, Wine Advocate, 2015“medium bodied the palate reveals lovely elegance and effortlessness, with plenty of fruit backed by grainy tannins and seamless acidity”

Hobbs Semillon Dessert Wine 2006 - 91 points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate “The 2006 Semillon is light gold-colored with exotic aromas of mineral, apricot, peach, and lemon meringue. It is medium-sweet, intense and lengthy on the palate.”

Hobbs 1905 Shiraz 2012 - 95 points - RP, Wine Advocate, 2015“full bodied and voluptuously fruited in the mouth, the multi layered flavours are well supported by grainy tannins and seamless freshness”

Hobbs Gregor Shiraz 2012 - 97+ points - RP, Wine Advocate, 2015“rich and oh-so-decadent, it fills the palate with spicy black fruited preserves and just enough freshness, finishing long”

AWARDS OF NOTE: