The Schild name has a long history in the Barossa Valley, going back to 1952 when Ben Schild purchased the Three Springs Farm property in Rowland Flat. Today, three generations on, it is a beacon of sustainable agriculture and premium quality wines and is one of the largest privately owned vineyards in the region. The vineyards are in the Southern Barossa, which is cooler and has a longer, slower ripening season allowing the fruit to develop elegance and intensity. The vineyards are a tapestry of different soil types and care is taken, even within a single vineyard, to vinify the plots separately and thus Schild’s renowned wines are a skilful lesson in micro blending. The Schild wines truly deserve their by line as ‘pure Barossa’ and have become regular features in the Wine Spectator top 100 wines and frequently score 90+ points from James Halliday.
Location
Barossa Valley
Australia
Key facts
Established: 1952
Size: 161 ha
Schild Estate
The Chardonnay and Riesling are unwooded and stainless steel vats are used to maintain the aromatics and flavour depth of the wines. The Alma Chardonnay is dedicated to Alma Schild, who raised a family of eight children while supporting her husband Ben establish the Schild family vineyards. Harvested from the finest parcel of Chardonnay from the Three Springs Farm vineyard, it is an elegant, fresh and vibrant wine with complex fruit that is beautifully integrated with the smoky oak and rich creamy depths.
The red wines from Schild are unmistakably Australian, rich and fruit-driven, but always maintaining elegance, restraint and freshness. They are aged in a combination of new and old barrels from a selection of French, American and Hungarian oak. The GMS shows classic notes typical of the generosity of flavours that are purely Barossa, juicy fruit with hints of white pepper. Through careful selection of the best fruit, this blend of 55% Grenache, 25% Mourvèdre and 20% Shiraz was harvested from vineyards with an average age of 70 years. The Shiraz is soft and elegant with ripe cherries, plums, dark chocolate and Christmas cake spice on the nose and a vibrant, dark berry, well defined palate. The Ben Schild Shiraz is dedicated to Ben Schild who purchased the Three Springs property in 1952 and started the family’s long association with viticulture and winemaking in the Barossa. The 2008 has an intense, creamy perfume of lifted violets with vibrant fruit flavours of blueberry, dark plums and restrained black pepper spice on the palate with a fine soft tannin framework and a persistent finish. Finally, at over 165 years old, the Moorooroo Shiraz vines are some of the oldest in the world and there are only four rows of these ancient vines left! This is a rare and complex wine that offers aromas of blueberries, mulberries and savoury characters of rich meat and worn leather that continue onto the palate. There is both subtlety and elegance at play here, a quality only found in wines of the very highest quality. For optimum drinking, decant at least four hours before serving.
Awards
Schild Estate Shiraz 2009 - Outstanding, 92 Points, Wine Spectator; Silver Medal International Wine Challenge 2011
Ben Schild Shiraz 2008– Gold Medal Syrah du Monde 2009; 94 Points Wine Spectator; 91 Points James Halliday; Best Dry Red Wine of the Year Mundus Vini Great International Wine Awards 2009
Moorooroo 2007 - Gold Medal Syrah du Monde 2011; 93 Points, James Halliday