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NOTES
In 1999 Darren and Suz Westlake were given the privilege to manage land that had been in the Kalleske family for 3 generations in the Moppa region of the Barossa by Suz’s parents, John and Barb Kalleske. It is a small family owned business and quality will not be compromised for quantity on demand. With 75 acres of vineyards, it gives them the luxury of being able to choose the best parcels of fruit for their own label. Cropping levels are brutally low at around 1.5 tonnes to the acre. Their aim at Westlake is to produce wines of concentrated and complex flavours, that are balanced, full bodied and persistent, with the ability to develop further complexities and age gracefully. All the fruit for the wines are estate grown and are produced using traditional methods and new ideas. All the wines are fermented in open top fermenters, basket pressed, undergo malolactic fermentation, are matured in new and old oak and are bottled without filtering or fining.
TASTING NOTES
Much darker than Albert's Block, with more tar, leather and savoury notes; loaded with fruit, and there is a brooding quality that needs time to be fully realised; a heroic wine that carries itself with poise.
REVIEWS
Deeper, more purple colour than Albert's Block; a more savoury, denser wine, with blackberry and liquorice, and tannins to match; carries is heavy alcohol load without flinching. High quality cork. Cork. Drink to 2026. 95 Points James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2010
The top of the Westlake range from low yielding vines in the north of the Barossa, ELEAZAR sports a blanket of new French and American oak. But the richness of fruit - shown in layers of texture on the palate - shows as the wine opens up in the decanter and glass. There is lovely balance about this wine that ensures a couple of years in the cellar will develop into a very fine Barossa or richness and complexity. Grab some of the already charming (and half the price) Albert's Block for now and open this after 2011. Cellaring 2011-2020. Eat & Drink, June 2009
Well, the big Barossa wines bring it on with the wine! It is big, glossy and smooth in the mouth with ripe fruit and chocolate and coffee. BUT - it does not stop there. A nice clove and pepper assortment and a real chewy finish that carries for days allied with a classy 'centre' to the wine that carries it through the mouth means that this is a serious contender amongst the best Barossa has to offer. Looks - Black. Big. Smells - Black and dark toned, briary almost with all the glossy fruit and big choc in there as well. – Wine Without Wank, June 2009
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