Johanne Christiane Wine Company

2008 Belly Up Shiraz

2008 Belly Up is a single vineyard Shiraz from the Barossa Valley, South Australia.

Belly Up Shiraz

Since 2006 seventh generation Barossans Tania, Stephen and Paul Schrapel have produced a Shiraz from the same 1 hectare vineyard sited along the Tanunda Creek, close to the Barossa Ranges. We aim to make a wine that is fruit driven, elegant, and expresses the character of the vineyard.

The 2008 vintage is exceptional. Only 1,000 bottles were made.

The fruit for this shiraz is sourced from 60 year old vines planted in alluvial clays overlaying a base of limestone - good for storing the Barossa winter rains.

The vines are trellised on a two wire "over-and-under" system including a separate wire to manage the leaf canopy during ripening. At fruit set the leaf canopy wire is lifted to achieve good sun exposure and berry maturation.

The 2007/8 season was the most difficult in the 3 years of Belly Up production.

Although the climate leading up to vintage was mild, ongoing drought conditions in the Barossa created a few concerns. The timing of when to pick was critical. An unprecedented heat-wave gripped the region the second week of March but fortunately the fruit was already fairly well ripened. Picking started before it was sun damaged.

As a result, the production was low but excellent quality with small berry sizes. This has produced a wine that is deep in colour and rich in fruit flavours.

The fruit was crushed and put into three open fermenters and every 6 hours during fermentation the cap was hand plunged. After seven days on skins the resulting ferment must was pressed in a basket press and racked into hogsheads.

Aged 11 months in new French and American oak. Bottled March, 2009.

Tasting Notes

2006 Belly Up Shiraz

Written by Paul
Saturday, 07 July 2007 19:24
The Belly-Up label is based in the Barossa Valley. Our family has a seven generation history in the wine growing and wine making industry in the Valley. In 2004 our father tempted us a small 1 acre shiraz vineyard with which we could experiment to make our own label. The vines are about 60 years old. We have a fairly common philosophy in the wine making. What we attempt to achieve is a well-balanced, fruit driven expression of this tiny vineyard. Most importantly a wine that can be enjoyed with food. 2004 was the first vintage of which there was 360 bottles. We drank it with family and friends. In 2005 we made 720 bottles – again most of which was enjoyed and loved by friends. By 2006 we made 1080 bottles and had enough interest to start to sell the wine commercially. 2006 was a great year for shiraz in the Barossa. Aside from a short very hot spell, the summer was mild and the fruit developed in an even ripening. We picked and crushed the fruit in late February. The must was transferred into three open fermenters. Cultivated yeast and refrigeration were used to keep the ferment in the optimum temperature range for colour and tannin extraction. Every 4-6 hours it was hand-plunged. The ferment finished in 7 days and the must was hand pressed with a basket press. We racked the wine into two new French hogsheads and a one year old American. We have found that the mix works well. The French oak brings out more fruit expression, while the American provides background tannins. For what-ever reason the 2006 year was a particularly difficult year for malo-lactic fermentation. Talking with other winemakers, this issue was across the board in the red wines. The delay was attributed by some to higher alcohol wines in 2006. As a consequence Belly-Up stayed on lees for an added three months, adding greater complexity to the wine. We kept a very careful eye on the wine during this period such that no oxidation occurred. Malolactic fermentation in July and we racked the wine off the lees, returning it to barrel for 12 months maturation. The result is a stunning Shiraz wine – rich in spicy fruit flavours that are balanced with mouth filling fine tannins and finishes a good level of acid, a sign that it will age well into the future. Chef Mark McNamara, of the highly awarded Barossa Appellation Restaurant, matched the 2006 Belly-Up with a butter poached breast of chicken with shallots and red wine butter sauce. Tasting Notes
Last Updated on Wednesday, 04 August 2010 11:48

About Us

The Johanne Christiane Wine Company was created in 2004 by seventh generation Barossans: Tania, Stephen, and Paul Schrapel in the Barossa Valley, South Australia with the aim to produce exceptional wines utilising traditional techniques.

We started in 2005 with 1 tonne of shiraz fruit from a single low-yielding vineyard located at the foothills of the Barossa Ranges. From this tiny amount of fruit we created the now well-known "Belly-Up Shiraz" label.

Each year we have continued to produce a modern style shiraz from the same 1ha vineyard, which rarely yields more than 1000 bottles.

"Belly-Up" Shiraz is highly prized by restaurants and wine collectors. Its modern style and characteristic fruit flavours make it a great food wine.