Cooper Burns is a winemaking partnership of Mark Cooper and Russell Burns, dedicated to producing tiny amounts of handcrafted, small batch, artisan wines from the Barossa Valley. Their aim is to make wines with soul, individuality and personality that express the qualities of the vineyard, vintage and passion that went in to making the wines. Mark and Russell met during vintage 2003 in California, where, being like-minded individuals, they struck up an immediate friendship. As the days and weeks of a Californian summer and fall went by, it become apparent that Mark and Russell had similar dreams for making their own handcrafted wine. A night of margaritas and tequila in Paso Robles saw the basic framework for Cooper Burns take shape. Details of that night remain hazy, but essentially revolved around low yielding super premium fruit from the Barossa Valley, traditional winemaking methods with minimal intervention and attention to detail, and a belief in what they wanted to do and achieve with the wines. After reaching an accord with their partners, Rachel and Tracy, (lots of begging, pleading, promises and a tantrum or two was required to reach this accord, mind you), it came to pass that Cooper Burns was up and running for vintage 2004.

In 2006 Cooper-Burns co-fermented Shiraz (95%) and Viognier (5%) to produce our first Shiraz Viognier. The Shiraz for the 2006 Shiraz Viognier was sourced from Kalleske’s Vineyard in between the Kalimna and Koonunga Hill at the northern end of the Barossa Valley. This vineyard is a few miles south from the vineyard that they use for their single vineyard Shiraz. The fruit from the vineyard is intense and powerful, typical of fruit from the northern end of the Barossa Valley. The tiny parcel of Viognier was sourced from a vineyard in the gentle hills just south of Angaston on the eastern edge of the Barossa. The Shiraz was hand picked, destemmed and gently crushed to an open fermenter with whole bunch Viognier added to the fermenter. Hand pumpovers twice daily ensured maximum color and flavor extraction during fermentation, with the ferment temperature controlled to retain the vibrant fruit character. The wine was gently basket pressed to seasoned French oak hogsheads, where it matured for about 20 months. The wine was carefully racked several times throughout the maturation process, allowing gravity to clarify the wine. Finally, the wine was bottled, unfiltered and unfined, in February 2008. Only 200 cases of this wine were produced.

Tasting Notes

The color has a glossy deep red/black core with vibrant red hues. The nose is lifted and aromatic, displaying blueberry, black cherry, tar, floral notes of lavender with a mere hint of apricot marmalade. The palate is fresh, vibrant, powerful and elegant with sweet dark fruits flooding the palate. The wine is supremely balanced with wonderful length and persistence, finishing with soft, silky, sexy tannins. The wine has the structure and balance to be cellared for up to 10 years. A perfect pairing with a slow cooked rich red meat dish.

Alcohol: 15.2%, pH: 3.73, TA:6.5, R/Sugar: 1.21g/l.

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