Kaesler Stonehorse Shiraz

The first Kaesler vineyards were planted by Silesian pioneers who came to the Barossa Valley in the 1840s and took up 96 acres in 1891. They focused on Rhone varieties such as Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro (Mourvedre) planted as Bush Vines. In 1893 the Kaesler family took charge of these vines and added more Grenache in the 1930’s and Shiraz in the 60’s and 70’s. In 1999, renowned agribusiness entrepreneur, Ed Peter and established winemaker Reid Bosward, seized the opportunity to purchase this historic property. They immediately set about regenerating the famous old vines with over 70% of the red wine vines having an average age of 40 years or more. It is this premium old vine material which produces intense styles of Shiraz such as the “Old Bastard” which takes it name from the difficulty of maintaining these characterful vines. Winemaking is now overseen by Tim Dolan, who joined from Peter Lehman in 2022. Tim is a 3rd generation Barossa winemaker, who understands the importance of regenerative farming. Kaesler has a partnership with ‘Trees for Life’ which saw up to four hectares of saline land revegetated with native plants in an aim to reduce further degradation to the soil.