Jacob’s Creek launches whisky-cask aged wine in UK

Jacob’s Creek has launched its premium whisky-cask aged wine into the UK market.

The Double Barrel Matured Shiraz which was launched in Australia in 2014, in Canada last year and in the USA in April/May, goes on shelf with Sainsbury’s this week(RRP: £12.99).

Winemaker Ben Bryant, Jacob’s Creek said the innovation was about being creative about the expression of the wine rather than trying to “mimic” other drinks. The Double Barrel sits above the brand’s Classic and Reserve ranges within the wider portfolio and is targeting premium red wine drinkers.

“The brand is one of the key leaders of Australian wine and it is one of the most exciting projects we’ve worked on for some time, a real innovation in wine,” he said. “The concept is intruiguing as it overlays a new layer of intrigue, texture and expression to it. We generally much older vines so you get more concentration, richness, density in the tannins, and generally from super-premium red producing regions.”

The wine is made from grapes from older vines in specific regions which is aged for 15-18 months in traditional barrels before being blended, and finished for its second maturation for three months in casks. The American white oak whisky barrels, which have a coarse grain and “extreme” forced toasting, infuses the wine with oxygen more rapidly, imparting a richer, deeper smokier flavour, Bryant said. As a result, one of the key components is to maintain the vibrancy of the fruit to avoid any hint of burnt-out flavour in the final products.

The project started four years ago with trials experimenting with different varietals, regions and casks to find the right combinations and the optimium length of time for secondary maturation. Primarily focusing on red wines, the team found the full, rich fruit profile of the Shiraz from Barossa paired well with the “savoury saline assertiveness” of Scotch barrels, while the Coonawara Cabernet Sauvignon was better suited to the softer, smoother Irish whiskey barrels. The brand also produces a Shiraz Cabernet blend finished in Scotch barrels in the domestic market, but has decided to focus on the Shiraz in export markets as it seeks to grow – currently around 100,000 bottles are produced.

“Internationally, people associated Australia with Shiraz, and it gives us a single-minded purpose,” he explained. “We are now playing with other varieties and barrels as we see it as a massive opportunity for wine drinkers and wine lovers to experience more than a traditional wine process.”

“We have been caught off-guard by its success, which has been driven more by the Shiraz, although the Cabernet Sauvignon has also done well.”

Ongoing experiments include a Chardonnay, which Bryant said had produced “interesting and unexpected” results.

“We reversed the process by fermenting the wine in casks and finishing in traditional wine barrels, expecting this to impart more flavour, but we found this wasn’t the case. There was a big difference due to the presence of the yeast, which absorbs much of the flavour, so it only expresses texture.