The Contrarian 2025

Each vintage I like to express the Barossa in a contrary manner. ‘The Contrarian’ is my indulgent, creative winemaking outlet and challenges traditional concepts around Barossan Shiraz. This year’s wine was chosen from a small dry-grown section of the ‘Trial Hill’ vineyard at 480m altitude farmed by Joel Mattschoss. The site, the climate and the dry-growing allowed slower overall ripening, stem ripeness and retention of acidity bringing the true Contrarian style. Roughly 60-70% of the stems were left intact during the fermentation and then foot-treading on the grapes over a two-week wild fermentation. We mature the wine in larger, neutral oak (2 x 500L puncheons - 100doz) so the fruit & stem tannin can drive the complexity and experience with protein dishes at your table. 94Pts Ken Gargett - Winepilot