Huge congratulations to Artisans of Barossa’s Purple Hands Wines for taking home not one, but TWO trophies at the 2021 Royal Adelaide Wine Show.

The 2019 Purple Hands Planta Circa Ancestor Vine Grenache trumped the Grenache classes to take home the trophy for Best Grenache in Show, plus the Governor’s Trophy for Best South Australian Red Wine in Show. A huge accolade for Purple Hands’ proprietors Mark Slade and Craig Stansborough, with the winning wine granted the additional honour of being served at Government House to international, interstate and local visitors for the next 12 months.

Any capital city wine show is a major affair, and this being Adelaide – the capital of Australia’s wine state – the numbers involved are impressive. 350 exhibitors, 2,756 wines from 6 states and over 30 different wine regions, judged by 24 judges over 4 days. That’s 110 wines a day for each judge. And then to cap it off, a 5^th day where the Chair of Judges convenes a conversation with the judging panel about which of the very best wines should be elevated to trophy winning status.

“What a day for Purple Hands. We were pumped after winning the trophy for Best Grenache, and when they called out our name for the Governor’s Trophy for Best South Australian red wine, you could have knocked us over with a feather. It’s probably the highest accolade any of our wines has ever achieved” said Mark.

The wine is sourced entirely from the Woodlands Vineyard at Lyndoch managed by Jordan Zerk in the southern Barossa. Planted circa 1880 by P.F. Zimmerman on his family property ‘Woodlands’, the site is amongst the oldest Grenache vineyards in the region and arguably the world on their own roots. Winemaker Craig Stansborough has this to say about the wine.

“Bright crimson colour leads to aromas of raspberry, cherry, earth, sweet spice with herbal hints from the whole clusters. The palate is lively and fleshy with tannins giving a crunchy texture. Excellent flavour with persistent sweet red berry flavours combined with a soft gentle finish that gives a wine that you can enjoy now or over the next 10 years.”

A limited quantity of this wine is available to Friends of Artisans in a special 6 pack.

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