In 1997 a couple of starry eyed shiraz-lovers—the Talbots—surrendered to the beauty of the Clare Valley and bought a block of wine country. We dreamed of some day making our own wine to share with friends.

The block had formerly been part of a large sheep grazing property, but local viticultural and wine experts confidently assured us it was a prime site for development of a shiraz vineyard. And so it has turned out to be.

Since planting in the late 90s the vines have matured to produce grapes with powerfully concentrated flavour year after year. Due to the particular characteristics of the vineyard site and a lifetime of restricted watering the vines are low yielding, producing meagre crops that are typically associated with gnarly old vines whose fruit is earmarked for high-priced ultra premium brands.

These days our home is perched high on the block, which not only gives us glorious views across our vineyard but also provides unlimited opportunity to monitor and tend the vines whenever we please. This means we have an exceptionally intimate knowledge of our vineyard—so important in bringing out the best in each section of vines every year.

Inspired by our friends who marvelled at our early test batches of wine we started the Talbots Block wine business in 2011. And since we grow only shiraz fruit we decided that we should dedicate ourselves to producing only shiraz wine.