Agricola has released its four flagship shiraz wines – each an outstanding example of the 'New Barossa'

With his latest 2024 wines, Agricola Vintner's Callum Powell is showing why he is as a leader of the ‘New Barossa’. He’s struck gold with these four shiraz wines – the 2024 Flaxman Valley, 2024 K’ Sands, 2024 Ebenezer and 2024 Helen – with Halliday taster Dave Brookes awarding them all either 96 or 97 points.

These wines encapsulate the 'New Barossa', balancing richness while maintaining fruit purity and acknowledging a sense of place.

To achieve this, Callum has a few tricks. He shares, “I try not to pick overripe and limit using too much new oak. Fermentation is long, gentle and cold and without inoculated yeast strains. The barrel cellar is very cold and all of the wine movements from vintage to bottling are by gravity.

“When you take your time and use gentle handling, the wines tend to come out this way. These are all of the nuanced aromatics and flavours that have already been produced from these vineyards during fermentation, just preserved through gentle practices."

Callum sources his fruit from vineyards that will be familiar to those who know and love the Barossa – the Hoffman Dimchurch and Dallwitz blocks, Three Rivers and the 1864-planted Asbroek vineyard in Kalimna.

But he isn't simply sourcing fruit from top-tier vineyards and then getting hands on with the winemaking. He has strong relationships with the teams at each of the sites, getting involved with different aspects of vineyard management.

Callum noted, "To varying extents, I am involved in the grape-growing with all of the vineyards I deal with. This could include pruning, shoot-thinning, mid-row slashing, under-vine management and I am always there for the pick on the day of harvest. 

"We have some vines as well at home in Flaxman Valley and are continuing to plant more vines here this Spring.”

A new wine has also entered the fold with this 2024 release – the Helen – which is made in memory of Callum’s grandmother Helen Powell.

Callum shares, “She was a very creative person and while we were kids, we spent quite a bit of time with her while my parents were planting vines and working in the vineyards on weekends. The artwork for this wine is a pastel painting of hers from the 90s in the Western Barossa.”

Callum has only been making wines under the Agricola Vintners brand for a few vintages now, but he is already establishing himself as a leader amongst Barossa’s next generation of winemakers. For scores and notes on his latest 2024 release, click through to Dave Brooke’s detailed reviews below.

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