Mr Barval Fine Wines

2023

2023 PRIMA ALBA

Sauvignon Blanc (100%)

13.0% Alc

Prima Alba, meaning ‘First Sunrise’ in Italian. The second release of this wine continues the story of working to make a not so typical Margaret River Sauv Blanc. A re-imagining of a Margaret River white varietal classic of Sauvignon Blanc, but not as you would know it. Hand harvested fruit, gentle whole bunch pressing, wild fermented in old French oak barriques with 3 months on light yeast lees.

A bone dry, medium/light weight wine with lifted tropical and lime aromas, fresh mineral acidity and a hint of texture to balance the palate. This wine treads an intriguing line between light delicacy and profound complexity and is bottles unfined and unfiltered and a harmless sediment may remain. 

880 Bottles

2023

77% Viognier 23% Marsanne

13.3% Alc.

Production: 3067 bottles (screw cap)

Pronounced and intense floral perfume, ripe stone fruit and sweet spice notes are displayed as well as the hallmark texture of these varieties with wonderful balance and fresh acidity. This wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered and a harmless sediment may remain. 

This wine is inspired by the white wine blends of the Northern Rhone Valley in France. Originating in Switzerland, the Rhone river flows west towards Lyon before turning south down the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean coast. The strong, cool wind known as the 'Mistral' blows down the Rhone Valley from the Alps and has a profound impact upon all of the agriculture in the valley, viticulture being no exception. This is the inspiration behind the name of the wine.

Perhaps the most famous of the Rhone white varieties is Viognier (pron. Vio-n-yay). The bronze tinted, thick skinned, hardy white grapes typically produce a medium weight, dry wine with characteristic bright floral and apricot notes. This is often blended with either or both of Marsanne and Roussane, to produce a vibrant, complex, floral wine, capable of being enjoyed in its youth as well as to be cellared and enjoyed with several years of bottle evolution.

The Vineyards:

The Viognier for the 2023 Mistral was sourced from two separate vineyards. The first is located in the Walcliffe sub-region of Margaret River, with a northerly exposure and around 4km from the Indian Ocean on the banks of the Margaret River itself. Sitting high on this hillside, the vines grow in gravelly, well drained soil and experience fantastic exposure to the warm summer sunshine and regular, cooling sea breezes.

The other portion of Viognier comes from the north of the Margaret River region, on the border between the Yallingup and Willyabrup sub-regions. This site is very exposed to both our regular winds and full summer sunshine, and the Viognier thrives in this site.

The Marsanne portion of the blend is grown at one of the most southerly vineyards in the Margaret River region located in the Karridale sub-region, some 4.5km West of the Indian Ocean and 6km North of the Southern Ocean.

The Season:

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where the whole bunches of grapes were placed gently into an old-school basket press to extract the juice. Whole-bunch basket pressing is the most gentle way to extract the juice from the fruit and is a process common to the world’s highest quality white wines. No additions, subtractions, fining or filtration of any sort was conducted on the juice.

From the press the juice was run directly into 3 and 4 year old French oak barriques for fermentation. The wine was fermented utilising the indigenous yeast which came in on the grape bunches from the vineyard. The wine fermented to absolute dryness and was left in contact with its fine lees for 4 months.

The 2023 Mistral spent 9 months in barrel before being racked via gravity to tank pre-bottling. This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered and displays the possibility of producing elegant, pure, bright and clear wines, in this very natural way.

The Wine:

As always with these blends it is the nose that strikes you first. The typical lifted aromas of white flowers, apricot, and an array of sweet spices and perfume are even more abundant than usual for this wine - a direct reflection of the hot year. This melange of intense summery aromas carries directly over to the palate where the typical interesting texture of this wine is also supercharged. Somehow this wine achieves a feeling of softness and textural amazingness whilst still being light a fresh! Enjoy it in its first 2-3 years to make the most of this veritable bazaar of exotic flavours and aromas or cellar for 5-10 years to witness the evolution to a more savoury and subdued delight.

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

2023

100% Chardonnay

13.6% Alc.

Production: 3123 bottles 

Three parcels of Chardonnay were hand harvested from the Wilyabrup and Karridale sub-regions for this wine. Each parcel was separately whole bunch basket pressed directly to barrel, wild fermented with indigenous yeast, underwent partial wild malolactic fermentation and batonnage to build complexity. The wine was aged for 10 months in French oak barriques, 18% of which were new. 

 This wine is a wonderful expression of the near perfect 2023 growing season. Great complexity and length yet precise and elegant t its core. This wine is bottled unfined and unfiltered and a harmelss sediment may remain. 

The Vineyards:

Three diverse and select parcels of Gin Gin clone Chardonnay combined to produce this wine. Gin Gin clone vines were used exclusively as I believe that this clone more so than any other expresses the exceptional and unique Margaret River and sub-regional terroir.

The first 2 plots of vines lie in the famed Wilyabrup sub-region. More examples of Margaret River’s most famous Chardonnays and Cabernets originate from fruit in this subregion than anywhere else in the district. Whilst only being around 150m apart, the two blocks behave drastically different and produce very different qualities in their fruit. 

The second plot of vines is in the far south sub-region of Karridale - the most southerly of Margaret River’s subregions. The vineyard is in close proximity to both the Indian and Southern Oceans leading to typically far lower growing season temperatures.

The Season:

The Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where the whole bunches of grapes were placed gently into a traditional basket pressed to extract the juice. Whole-bunch basket pressing yields around 20+% less juice than a conventional airbag press, but the juice quality is second to none.

The juice was run into a mix of brand new and seasoned oak. 1 brand new French oak barrel was used, giving the wine a new oak percentage of 13%. The remainder of the barrels were a mix of 2 and 3 year old oak. The wine was fermented dry utilising the indigenous yeast which came in on the grape bunches from the vineyard.

Following alcoholic fermentation the wine was encouraged to undergo malolactic fermentation, a process whereby the malic acid naturally present in the grapes is converted into  the softer and more textural lactic acid. As with the alcoholic fermentation, this occurred through bacteria which were naturally present in the juice and winery environment. Following 100% completion of Malo the wine was sulphured and the wine racked off its heavy yeast lees. The wine has rested and developed in oak for 10 months during which time it underwent the process of bâtonnage (stirring of the yeast lees in the bottom of the barrel) for 4 months to encourage development of more complex, savoury aromas and flavours.

This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered, with our aim being to showcase the amazing fruit which went into making it in the purest way possible.

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

2023

100% Nebbiolo

13.6% Alc.
Production: 2540 bottles

This wine is inspired by the early release Langhe Nebbiolo and Nebbiolo d’Alba styles of wine produced in the Barolo and Barbaresco zone of Italy. I have been living and working between Margaret River and this most famous of Italian fine wine regions since 2009. For this wine I wanted to make a great introduction to this esteemed grape variety which is totally foreign to most Australian consumers. As with all of my wines I sought to promote a purity of varietal expression and not take any aspect of the wine ‘too far’

The Wine:

A flawless pale garnet in colour, this wine displays all of the typical colour notes of the Italian Nebbiolo grape but from a hot vintage. Vibrant, bright and ripe red cherry notes, dense yet lifted fresh violet and dark rose petal perfume are all on display. As is typical from the Nebbiolo grape the wine has a fresh, high level of acidity and plenty of nutty, dusty, dry tannins. It is unashamedly a more simple expression of the Nebbiolo grape which will reward cellar for the short to medium term, but is tailor made to enjoy in its youth and always with food, in particular anything with protein. 

Salutè

Rob

Once again the Vino Rosso arrives to continue the humble story of this wine which is really to provide a bit of a guilty pleasure for you. Wonderful mixes of florals, fruit and spice but with a generous, soft structure and low tannins, this wine was made for enjoyment.

The Wine:

A unique blend of aromatic Petit Verdot, rich old vine Merlot and luscious, mouth filling Malbec, all from the Wilyabrup sub-region. All fruit was hand harvested, wild fermented with indigenous yeasts hand plunged and gently basket pressed to used French oak barrels in separate batches. The wine was aged for 21 months in barrel before bottling without fining or filtration. 

A round, soft and smooth wine with wonderful complexity and drinkability in youth that will reward cellaring for 5-10 years. A true guilty pleasure. 

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

2021

67% Cabernet Sauvignon 25% Malbec 5% Merlot 5% Petit Verdot

13.8% Alc.
Production: 3460 bottles   50 Magnums (natural cork closure)

The Wine:

Cabernet Sauvignon from Wilyabrup and Wallcliffe sub-regions, plus luscious Malbec, old vine Merlot and intense Petit Verdot from Wilyabrup come together in this classic Bordeaux Blend. The fruit was hand harvested, destemmed without crushing and fermented with wild vineyard yeasts, hand plunged and gently basket pressed. The wine was aged for 20 months in subtle French oak barriques, 30% of which were new, and bottled unfined, unfiltered and unadulterated. This wine exhibits the restraint yet high complexity it is possible to achieve from these classic Bordeaux varieties in Margaret River when coupled with he Mr Barval old-world wine making techniques. Full bodied with youthful elegance and precision that defines our Mr Barval style. This wine will drink well immediately and will also reward careful cellaring for many years to come. 

The Vineyards:
The Cabernet portion of this wine came from five select vineyard sites. Three of these lie in the real ‘Dress Circle’ of Margaret River viticulture in the heart of the Wilyabrup sub-region. This area of Margaret River has shown year after year that it can deliver consistently incredible fruit quality and the finest of our fine wines are produced from fruit grown here. The other two Cabernet vineyard blocks are located in the Walcliffe sub-region of Margaret River, with a strong northerly exposure and around 4km from the Indian Ocean overlooking the coastal end of the Margaret River itself. Perched high on this hillside, the vines grow in gravelly, well drained soil and experience fantastic exposure to the warm summer sunshine and regular, cooling sea breezes.

The Merlot portion of the blend is from a very special old vineyard. One of the oldest and most historic in the entire Margaret River district, this Wilyabrup site displays all of the most sought after vineyard characteristics. Of particular note is that the vines are old – around 46 years old and un-irrigated, which leads to production of a Merlot wine with amazing depth and complexity.

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed and not crushed, directly into their small fermentation vessels. This allowed the ferment to start with what were almost totally unburst, undamaged individual berries. The wines were fermented in their separate batches utilising indigenous yeasts unique to each vineyard site.

The must underwent a slow, steady ferment with gentle hand plunging twice each day. The individual batches spent 14-22 days on skins after which the fruit was basket pressed into French oak barriques, with a small portion (19%) being new, and was left to complete malolactic fermentation in barrel utilising the activity of indigenous bacteria. The wine was left to mature for 21 months in barrel during which time it was  and racked via gravity one time and topped regularly.

One day before bottling the wine was racked out of barrel to tank and was then bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

The origins for this wine’s story lie in the amazing Margaret River region and it’s proven history for producing some of the greatest Cabernet based wines in the world. This is the third vintage of our flagship Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva and continues the strong albeit short story of superior quality which is fast becoming a hallmark of this wine. 

The Vineyards:

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes came from 3 incredible vineyard blocks all in the real ‘Dress Circle’ of Margaret River viticulture in the heart of the Wilyabrup sub-region. The wonderful Forest Grove soils – gravelly/stoney, free-draining loams over moisture holding clay which predominate in the Wilyabrup sub-region and the favourable climatic conditions which occur here result in the production of some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world. These qualities have been on show year after year and result in consistently outstanding fruit quality with the finest of our fine wines being produced from grapes grown here.

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed and not crushed, directly into their small fermentation vessels, a procedure which allowed the ferment to start with what were almost totally unburst, undamaged individual berries. The wines were fermented on skins utilising the indigenous yeasts, which arrived on the grape skins when the fruit arrived at the winery.

The must underwent a slow, steady ferment with hand plunging twice each day. The fermenting grapes remained on skins for 16-21 followed by gentle basket to French oak barriques, with a small portion (33%) being new. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel utilising the activity of indigenous bacteria. The wine was left to mature for 23 months in barrel during which time it was racked via gravity one time and topped regularly.

1 day before bottling the wine was racked out of barrel to tank and was then bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The Wine:

This wine displays all the hallmarks of classic a European Cabernet. The classic fruit profile of cassis with black cherry as well as some floral hints and herbal savouriness that characterise the cooler growing conditions of the season. The wine is super-elegant on the palate with ripe and well-resolved young tannins, great length and complexity. The overall structure of the wine at such a youthful age allows it to be enjoyed right now upon release. This wonderful structure and poised balance of the wine at this stage also promises of future rewards for those who allow a few more years of development in the bottle.     

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

If you would like to order less than 6 magnums, please email us or call us.

2020

77% Cabernet Sauvignon 18% Malbec 5% Merlot

14.4% Alc.
Production: 4547 bottles   50 Magnums (natural cork closure)

Select parcels of grapes from the famous Wilyabrup and Walcliffe sub-regions are brought together in this classic Bordeaux blend. Elegance and delicacy combined with great complexity and length result in a real wine of substance.

The Vineyards:
The Cabernet portion of this wine came from five select vineyard sites. Three of these lie in the real ‘Dress Circle’ of Margaret River viticulture in the heart of the Wilyabrup sub-region. This area of Margaret River has shown year after year that it can deliver consistently incredible fruit quality and the finest of our fine wines are produced from fruit grown here. The other two Cabernet vineyard blocks are located in the Walcliffe sub-region of Margaret River, with a strong northerly exposure and around 4km from the Indian Ocean overlooking the coastal end of the Margaret River itself. Perched high on this hillside, the vines grow in gravelly, well drained soil and experience fantastic exposure to the warm summer sunshine and regular, cooling sea breezes.

The Merlot portion of the blend is from a very special old vineyard. One of the oldest and most historic in the entire Margaret River district, this Wilyabrup site displays all of the most sought after vineyard characteristics. Of particular note is that the vines are old – around 46 years old and un-irrigated, which leads to production of a Merlot wine with amazing depth and complexity.

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed and not crushed, directly into their small fermentation vessels. This allowed the ferment to start with what were almost totally unburst, undamaged individual berries. The wines were fermented in their separate batches utilising indigenous yeasts unique to each vineyard site.

The must underwent a slow, steady ferment with gentle hand plunging twice each day. The individual batches spent 14-22 days on skins after which the fruit was basket pressed into French oak barriques, with a small portion (19%) being new, and was left to complete malolactic fermentation in barrel utilising the activity of indigenous bacteria. The wine was left to mature for 21 months in barrel during which time it was  and racked via gravity one time and topped regularly.

One day before bottling the wine was racked out of barrel to tank and was then bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The Wine:
A step in a new direction for Mr Barval Fine Wines, this wine is the coming together of 5 parcels of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Wilyabrup and Walcliffe sub-regions, luscious Malbec months in old vine Merlot from Wilyabrup. The fruit was hand harvested and fermented with wild vineyard yeasts, hand plunged and gently basket pressed. The wine was aged for 20 months in subtle French oak barriques, 25% of which were new, and bottled unfined, unfiltered and unadulterated. Elegant, pure and with great complexity, length and depth of palate, this wine reflects the cooler 2019 vintage. This wine will drink well immediately and will also reward carful cellaring for many years to come. 

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

The origins for this wine’s story lie in the amazing Margaret River region and it’s proven history for producing some of the greatest Cabernet based wines in the world. This is the third vintage of our flagship Cabernet Sauvignon Riserva and continues the strong albeit short story of superior quality which is fast becoming a hallmark of this wine. 

The Vineyards:

The Cabernet Sauvignon grapes came from 3 incredible vineyard blocks all in the real ‘Dress Circle’ of Margaret River viticulture in the heart of the Wilyabrup sub-region. The wonderful Forest Grove soils – gravelly/stoney, free-draining loams over moisture holding clay which predominate in the Wilyabrup sub-region and the favourable climatic conditions which occur here result in the production of some of the finest Cabernet Sauvignon wines in the world. These qualities have been on show year after year and result in consistently outstanding fruit quality with the finest of our fine wines being produced from grapes grown here.

The Season:

The 2018-19 growing season perhaps harked back to conditions more prevalent when the star of Margaret River fine wines was only beginning to rise many years ago. A spring with many showery / wet days interspersed with well timed sunny days around key flowering times led to great fruit set and what shaped is the first season of good crop levels in what seemed like years of low yields. Summer was overall quite a cool one with nice warm days and only one real hot spike. An interesting characteristic right through summer this year was the nights stayed very cool, with several runs of days where the mercury plummeted to less that 10C which is well cooler than our typically summer night time temperatures of around the 15/16C mark. With a couple of rain events throughout summer, this had us shaping up for a late harvest. Fortunately after a couple of big rain events in January we only had a few showery days in February and March and the grapes were able to mature and ripen slowly and steadily into autumn. We picked the Cabernet for this wine in the 2nd and 3rd weeks in April which is the latest I have picked fruit in the 16 years I have worked down here. 

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where they were gently de-stemmed and not crushed, directly into their small fermentation vessels, a procedure which allowed the ferment to start with what were almost totally unburst, undamaged individual berries. The wines were fermented on skins utilising the indigenous yeasts, which arrived on the grape skins when the fruit arrived at the winery.

The must underwent a slow, steady ferment with hand plunging twice each day. The fermenting grapes remained on skins for 23-28 days followed by gentle basket to French oak barriques, with a small portion (33%) being new. Malolactic fermentation occurred in barrel utilising the activity of indigenous bacteria. The wine was left to mature for 23 months in barrel during which time it was racked via gravity one time and topped regularly.

1 day before bottling the wine was racked out of barrel to tank and was then bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The Wine:

This wine displays all the hallmarks of classic a European Cabernet. The classic fruit profile of cassis with black cherry as well as some floral hints and herbal savouriness that characterise the cooler growing conditions of the season. The wine is super-elegant on the palate with ripe and well-resolved young tannins, great length and complexity. The overall structure of the wine at such a youthful age allows it to be enjoyed right now upon release. This wonderful structure and poised balance of the wine at this stage also promises of future rewards for those who allow a few more years of development in the bottle.     

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

2022

100% Chardonnay

14% Alc.

Production:  50 Magnums (natural cork closure)

The Vineyards:

Three diverse and  select parcels of Gin Gin clone Chardonnay combined to produce this wine. Gin Gin clone vines were used exclusively as I believe that this clone more so than any other expresses the exceptional and unique Margaret River and sub-regional terroir.

The first 2 plots of vines lie in the famed Wilyabrup sub-region. More examples of Margaret River’s most famous Chardonnays and Cabernets originate from fruit in this subregion than anywhere else in the district. Whilst only being around 150m apart, the two blocks behave drastically different and produce very different qualities in their fruit. 

The second plot of vines is in the far south sub-region of Karridale - the most southerly of Margaret River’s subregions. The vineyard is in close proximity to both the Indian and Southern Oceans leading to typically far lower growing season temperatures.

The 2021/22 Season:

The Spring of 2021 was late to arrive with lots of cold days and nights, and plenty of Spring rain. Unfortunately the flowering period of Chardonnay was heavily effected by these spring rains with around a 30% reduction in typical crop levels. Then came the heatwave of late December and January. This was extreme heat for Margaret River and lead to a further 30% reduction in crops as the developing berries were literally cooked and within a handful of days were dry, desiccated husks. 

Although we ended up harvesting around 60% less grapes than usual the quality of the portion we did harvest was very high and has lead to a different Chardonnay, reflective of the hot season, but still unmistakably a Mr Barval classic.

Winemaking:

All of the grapes for this wine were handpicked into small 8kg crates and immediately transported back to the winery where the whole bunches of grapes were placed gently into a traditional basket pressed to extract the juice. Whole-bunch basket pressing yields around 20+% less juice than a conventional airbag press, but the juice quality is second to none.

The juice was run into a mix of brand new and seasoned oak. 1 brand new French oak barrel was used, giving the wine a new oak percentage of 13%. The remainder of the barrels were a mix of 2 and 3 year old oak. The wine was fermented dry utilising the indigenous yeast which came in on the grape bunches from the vineyard.

Following alcoholic fermentation the wine was encouraged to undergo malolactic fermentation, a process whereby the malic acid naturally present in the grapes is converted into  the softer and more textural lactic acid. As with the alcoholic fermentation, this occurred through bacteria which were naturally present in the juice and winery environment. Following 100% completion of Malo the wine was sulphured and the wine racked off its heavy yeast lees. The wine has rested and developed in oak for 10 months during which time it underwent the process of bâtonnage (stirring of the yeast lees in the bottom of the barrel) for 4 months to encourage development of more complex, savoury aromas and flavours.

This wine was bottled unfined and unfiltered, with our aim being to showcase the amazing fruit which went into making it in the purest way possible.

The Wine:

The extremely hot season is reflected strongly in this wine, something which we embrace with our traditional winemaking techniques not adjusting, fining nor filtering. The 2022 Chardonnay displays typical hot year aromas and flavours of ripe yellow peach, nectarine and quince with a sweet orange oil layer also prevalent. On the palate the wine has a lower acidity and slightly higher alcohol than typical for us, all of which is a direct reflection of the hot season and which add to an increased mouthfeel, texture and overall weight.  For such a young wine from such a hot year, the balance right across the palate and the length of the palate are impressive. This wine is drinking well upon release but will really hit it straps in another year or two in bottle and will reward extended cellaring of 8 + years.

Salutè

Robert Gherardi

2022

50% Syrah 50% Viognier

Co-Fermented

12.2% Alc.
Production: 880 bottles 

What was once a one-off experiment for the cellar team at Mr Barval has been re-vamped and re-born in the 2022 vintage. With lessons learned from the first small production run we feel we have hit the mark with this version.

Winemaking

After extremely soft basket pressing of Syrah for our Rosè and Viognier grapes, the pommace was hand shovelled into our destemmer which separates the grapes from the stems, and then the grape portion only was gently transferred to an open fermenter via elevator. The white and red grapes were fermented together, a technique called 'co-fermentation' using the wild yeast mix which arrives on the grape skins, hand plunged to mix the ferment, then basket pressed to old oak barrels where it undergoes a period of élevage where the wine rested in barrique in our cellar for 9 months. The wine was bottled unfined, unfiltered and completely unudulterated.

The Wine

As the name suggests, this wine is jam packed with a dizzying array of pronounced sweet spice notes, vibrant, light berry fruit notes, meaty undertones with a hint of smokiness, all of which transported winemaker Rob Gherardi back to his time exploring the souks of Marrakesh. The wine is light-medium bodied with fresh acidity and delicate, light dry tannins. This is a perfect light red, can be enjoyed slightly chilled even, and do not be afraid to add some chopped fruit, a splash of liqueur and soda and turn it into a 'Mr Barval Sangria'. 

Salutè

Rob