Pirathon by Kalleske Shiraz 2012

Expert reviews

"Full, deep crimson-purple; an incredibly rich, dense, full-bodied shiraz with a velvety mouthfeel to its layers of dark fruits; despite all this, it has perfect balance, its tannins especially good, its future unlimited. For the record, it spent 18 months in a wide range of new and used oak. Drink by 2032.”  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points

"Sourced from a bunch of growers in the Barossa's north west, a favoured sub district for full-powered shiraz, this is pure Valley essence of dark, ripe, fleshy fruit compote-plum and spice. It's at once fresh and vital while showing background oak notes of coconut and chocolate in the finish. Delicious, great value and spot on with high-flavoured flare."  Tony Love  ★★★★(★)

"From the moment this one hits the glass, you know it's a wine of substance. A deep glass-staining purple in colour, this handcrafted beauty has a heady aroma reminiscent of a Black Forest fruit cake. This wine is full-bodied and rich with flavours of ripe dark fruits, plum and blueberry in particular. It's complex and very nicely structured with a lovely lengthy finish.”  Geelong Advertiser – 93 points

Troy Kalleske

In South Australia’s Barossa Valley, the Kalleske family have been farming and growing grapes since 1853 near the village of Greenock. They are one of the region’s leading grape-growing families consistently growing some of the Barossa’s best quality grapes. After six generations of growing grapes, winemaker and seventh generation family member, Troy Kalleske, together with his brother Tony, established the Kalleske label and in 2002 bottled the first estate wines in their near 150-year history.

Troy grew up amongst the vines and from a young age was picking and pruning the vines planted by his great-great-great grandfather. He knew he wanted to be a winemaker since high school and studied winemaking at the University of Adelaide. Following Graduation in 1999, Troy was part of the winemaking team at Penfolds, Veritas, Seppelts, Miranda, Lindemans, and Kendall-Jackson.

In 2002, only three years after graduating, Troy ushered in a new era by establishing the Kalleske winery. After 149 years of farming and grape-growing, the Kalleske family bottled their first estate wines.

In partnership with wine enthusiast Stephen Ho, Troy established the highly successful Pirathon brand which released their first wine, the 2005 Pirathon by Kalleske, in 2007. The grapes are sourced from low-yielding grower vineyards from the most sacred Barossa spots; the north-western Barossa districts of Greenock, Moppa, Belvedere, Stonewell, Seppeltsfield, Koonunga and Ebenezer. The brand hit the ground running, the 2005 Pirathon winning a plethora of awards and being named No. 13 in the 2007 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines Worldwide. Although the wine is entirely vintaged at the Kalleske winery at Greenock, it cannot be released under the Kalleske label as it is not made from estate-grown grapes.

Since releasing his own wines, Troy has rapidly gained national and international recognition as one of the Barossa’s and Australia’s best young winemakers. Troy has received numerous accolades, including the inaugural 'Young Gun of Wine People’s Choice' winner in 2007 and the '2008 Barossa Winemaker of the Year' awarded by the Barons of Barossa.

The text below is taken from an article that appeared in Young Gun of Wine: Troy Kalleske was a Finalist in the Top Winemaker of 2007 & 2008

With a Barossan grape-growing heritage as deep as they come, Troy Kalleske was always destined to make his name in wine. But bucking the family history of contract growing, Kalleske made and labelled the first wines under the family name after nearly 150 years of growing, and he did so with organic fruit from their vineyard that had recently been converted to biodynamic practices. His wines are writ large with a traditional Barossan sensibility, but there’s always sense of balance, a lightness of touch here, too, with more experimental bottlings continually testing new waters. Kalleske was the inaugural Young Gun of Wine People’s Choice winner, in 2007.

There are different routes to becoming a winemaker, from late career shifts to youthful passions kicked off over a transformative glass of wine to a deep vein of history pulsing through ones being. Troy Kalleske is firmly in the latter camp. He is a seventh generation Kalleske, with his grape-growing forebears marking their lineage in the Barossa back to 1853. The vines that he first picked fruit from were planted by his great-great-great-grandfather. There’s some little history there, that’s for sure.

Kalleske studied winemaking at the University of Adelaide, and he did quite well, too, being awarded a raft of scholarships along the way. His family were primarily growers, who sold their fruit to some of South Australia’s most vaunted names, so his on-the-job winemaking apprenticeship was away from the family farm. Straight from university, Kalleske entered the Southcorp Graduate Winemaker Program, working at Seppelt Great Western, Lindemans, Penfolds and Seppeltsfield. He also worked with Rolf Binder at Veritas, and a bit further afield as harvest oenologist for Kendall-Jackson at Vinwood Cellars in Geyserville, Sonoma.

In 2002, he took the Kalleske name from a footnote to the front label, bottling the first estate wines in their near 150-year history. Along with his brother Tony, Troy had built a winery a few years earlier on the property in Moppa, Greenock, and the vineyard had already been converted to organic and biodynamic practices, with the 50-hectare vineyard certified since 1998 – a landmark achievement for the time, not just for its foresight, but also for its scale.

It’s no surprise that viticulture underpins Troy’s approach to winemaking, with soil health and resultant berry health of utmost primacy. “Farming the vineyard organically and biodynamically is the truly natural way of farming, ensuring ultimate sustainability, authenticity and quality. Careful environmental practices continue to be at the core of our Kalleske farming, grape-growing and winemaking,” says Troy.

In the winery, additions are eschewed, excepting sulphur, with ambient yeasts and natural malolactic bacteria employed, and no enzymes, tannin additions or fining agents added. Traditional open-top fermenters are used, and the reds are all basket pressed. Oak use is primarily neutral, with some new oak for the flagship wines, and all a predominance of hogsheads, both French and American.

About the winery

In partnership with wine enthusiast Stephen Ho, Troy established the highly successful Pirathon brand which released their first wine, the 2005 Pirathon by Kalleske, in 2007. The grapes are sourced from low-yielding grower vineyards from the most sacred Barossa spots; the north-western Barossa districts of Greenock, Moppa, Belvedere, Stonewell, Seppeltsfield, Koonunga and Ebenezer. The brand hit the ground running, the 2005 Pirathon winning a plethora of awards and being named No. 13 in the 2007 Wine Enthusiast Top 100 Wines Worldwide. Although the wine is entirely vintaged at the Kalleske winery at Greenock, it cannot be released under the Kalleske label as it is not made from estate-grown grapes.

"Pirathon is an ancient word for pinnacle and we believe Shiraz is the pinnacle grape of the Barossa and that the north-western Barossa is the pinnacle sub-appellation for Shiraz. We came up with the idea of putting a map of North-Western Barossa on the label and using an arrow. In the original design, the arrow was pointing North but we decided an arrow turned 45 degrees to the left so that it was pointing to the North-West would suit Pirathon better. We then put all the components together to form the final Pirathon label – a map of North-Western Barossa highlighted by the stylised arrow pointing to the North-West."  Kalleske

The Kalleske family sold the Pirathon brand in late 2017. The new owners aim to build on the excellent foundation laid by Kalleske to ensure the business grows organically and sustainably over the long term.