Nov 8, 2015

Torbreck and Simon "Fish" Fisher Shiraz



Recently I was at Torbreck having an amazing taste of some iconic wines when I was told the story of Simon "Fish" Fisher. A heart breaking and heart warming story all in one. A story that breaks your heart and renews your faith in humanity at the same time. It will bring you to tears, because of tragedy and triumph simultaneously.

I simply could not, not buy a bottle. This is just another reason to love this industry.

This is from the Torbreck Blog and website...
2008 Blog post...Simon Fisher was a top bloke. A larrikin musician with a cheeky smile, he was our Assistant Cellar Door manager until his untimely passing in August.
I thought it would be appropriate to name our newest vineyard in his memory. Planted to various clones of Shiraz that I have taken from our best vineyards, it will be a nursery of sorts to the best young Shiraz talent in the Barossa.


From the Torbreck website... Planted into the deep red loams of Marananga in the area immediately surrounding our new winery facility. I am sure that these vines in time to come, will produce some of our best grapes; and I know that during budburst every season they will be a reminder to us all at Torbreck of our lost but never forgotten friend Fish and his larrikin smile.



The Fish’s Shiraz, is named after Simon “Fish” Fisher who worked at our cellar door. His dry sense of humour and passion for wine endeared him to Torbreck staff and customers alike, until his unfortunate early passing in 2008.

This wine is a celebration of his life and is sourced from the vineyard bearing his name overlooked by the staff in front of the winery.

Torbreck Wine notes;

VARIETAL: 100% Shiraz

REGION: Marananga; Single Vineyard – New Winery Fish’s Block

VINES: Planted in 2007 – SAVII 56 clone

HARVEST: 4th April 2011 pH/TA: 3.79 5.49g/L ALCOHOL: 15%



FERMENTATION: Fish’s Shiraz is machine harvested and immediately transferred to the winery where it is destemmed into open stainless steel fermenters. It is inoculated with EC1118 yeast after 24 hours and then spends 6-7 days on skins. The juice is separated from the skins which are then basket pressed and transferred back to the free run tank. The wine is then transferred to well seasoned Hogs Heads for 16 months. The 2011 Fish’s Shiraz was bottled without the use of either fining or filtration on the 30th of July 2012. 0nly 120 Dozen produced.

All profits raised from the sale of this wine are donated to Fish’s favourite charity, The Royal Flying Doctor Service. To date they have raised just under $80,000 for this fantastic charity. This young mans passion for helping the Royal Australian Flying Doctor service is now carried on in his name by the good folks at Torbreck.

2014 Fish’s Shiraz is a bargain at $29.50 per bottle and available online - Torbreck Purchase Online
or as always at the Cellar Door. When you visit ask about this very special wine.

Happy Wine Adventures,
Cheers,
WineWalkabout

1 comment:

  1. What a great but also sad story. Will make a point to buy some next time in the Barossa. Cheers to you guys for telling the story and to Torbreck for the wonderful response to a tragedy.
    Mary

    ReplyDelete

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