Peter and Jennie Easterbrook are significant figures in the McLaren Vale wine industry. They own 85 acres of vineyards and, as well regarded Vignerons manage and harvest vines for other local growers through their company Southern Viticultural Services.
The bulk of their crop goes directly to local wine makers ranging from the biggest names in the Australian Wine Industry like Rosemount, Southcorp and BRL Hardy to small boutique makers like the legendary Wayne Thomas and Simon Hackett.
Modern and thorough viticultural techniques, state of the art machinery, and absolute attention to detail ensure Easterbrook vineyards are impeccably presented and the fruit from them receives top prices including bonuses under a grape payment system rewarding excellence.
Until 2001 all Easterbrook production was sold as grapes. Since then, small parcels of the best fruit have been reserved for the family label Colville Estate.
Peter selects rows in his vineyards with grapes showing optimum ripeness and harvests these for his own label. They are then entrusted to a local maker like Wayne Thomas, Tim Geddes or Simon Hackett to be nursed into classic McLaren Vale red wine.
In 2001 only 500 cases of Shiraz were made and these were sold very quickly. In fact before a local (domestic) Australian agent could even be appointed the wine was snapped up in Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland.
The 2002 was equally quickly taken up and the reserve stock held in bulk was so good that local producers prevailed on the Easterbrooks to sell it before bottling under the Colville Estate label.
In 2003, a little more was made and some 600 cases were bottled in July 2006. The wine has again destined to be consumed overseas rather than in Australia with over half reserved for the Canadian market and some more allocated to Ireland and the U.K. It all went within 6 months.
This 2004 is really the first commercial release from Colville Estate. It is a typical McLaren Vale Shiraz: big mouth filling flavours of power packed, juicy Shiraz fruit showing excellent integration with a mixture of new and seasoned American oak. Drink now or cellar for as many years as your patience will allow.
The 2004 vintage saw 1000 dozen (2000 x 6 bottle cases) of Shiraz was made at the local state of the art Boars Rock facility. Released in late 2007 it is a worthy successor to the dynamic 2003 vintage.
Enjoy Colville Estate !!