Small Gully Winery

Established in 1999, Small Gully was founded by vignerons, Robert Bader and Darren Zimmermann and winemaker Stephen Black. In 2002 a winery was built at Darren's Marananga property, situated in a 'small gully' on Roennfeldt Road, Greenock in the Barossa Valley.

The people of Small Gully bring passion, experience and history to their winery. Robert started in the wine industry in 1981working with the Zimmermann family, which has been growing grapes in the Barossa Valley since early last century. Darren and Robert have established superb low yielding Shiraz vineyards, producing super-premium fruit. Small parcels of Grenache, Mourvédre and Cabernet Sauvignon are also carefully selected from other local vineyards for the Small Gully wine range.

Stephen Black entered the wine industry in 1992 after a successful career in the pharmaceuticals. Stephen worked for well known winery Barossa Valley Estates. In he 1993 embarked on the post graduate winemaking course at Roseworthy College. In 1999 he began the creation of the Small Gully brand.

Little Book

This is a powerful wine, but with real definition, that has maintained its strong following for nearly 15 years. Those that have tasted it can attest to its spiritual abilities. Ever wonder about one person’s secrets that are safely stowed away in a ‘little black book?’ Well that is the idea behind Small Gully’s ‘Mr. Black’s Little Book’ Shiraz. Sourced from prized vineyards (that Stephen’s partner is involved in, thus the ‘house discount’) in the northern part of the Barossa and the Adelaide Plains. This is a blend of 65-year-old fruit from Zippy’s Block in the Barossa Valley and ‘younger vines’ from Robert’s Vineyard in the Adelaide Plains.

Very little intervention is used in making this wine. The fruit is picked according to taste when Stephen feels that it’s at its optimal ripeness. The fruit is then destemmed and crushed and left to start fermenting which is done without inoculation. Pumpovers and punchdowns are both used with the latter used earlier in the process to really get at the tannins and color and the former later on for a more gentle extraction. After two weeks the wine is basket pressed off gently and then racked into barrel. In classic Stephen Black fashion the wine ages for a long period but in old barrels, 24 months in 5-10-year-old barrels in this case. It was bottled in the late summer without fining or filtration and with a small addition of sulfur.

Reviews:
Price:
 
Robert's Formula

The Formula is the entry into Small Gully’s world. This wine is sourced primarily from a vineyard that Robert Bader owns (hence the name – Robert’s Shiraz) located on the outer reaches of the Adelaide Plains. There is a small dollop of Zippy’s Block in the Barossa Valley. This is a big, full flavored Shiraz produced from 50+ year old vines.

The grapes are were picked via both machine and hand-harvesting and fermented in open-top stainless-steel outdoors for seven days on skins. The wine was nearly dry after a week on skins and was basket-pressed to old American hogheads for maturation. It was racked in the summer and hit with a dose of sulfur then rested for another 17 months, or a total of 24 months in wood. The wine was then racked to tank to settle and bottled without fining or filtration and just another small addition of sulfur.

Reviews:
Price: