Torbreck tasting with Ian Hongell

Torbreck’s Barossa old-vine story

This wine masterclass and tasting centres on Torbreck, the Australian winery whose mid-1990s arrival was linked with reviving neglected old-vine sites in the Barossa Valley through share-farming agreements. The program follows that producer story from early attention around RunRig and The Steading to a present-day identity still rooted in old vines and Rhône-influenced Barossa wines.

RunRig, The Steading and the poured range

The tasting list spans white, red, single-vineyard, Eden Valley, Barossa Valley, and magnum-served wines from Torbreck. Named pours include The Steading Blanc, Hillside Vineyard Grenache, The Steading, The Gask, The Struie from magnum, Descendant, Factor, and two RunRig pours, one of them from magnum.

Several wines have a defined place in the producer’s development: RunRig is the Shiraz-Viognier blend from Torbreck’s early years, The Steading is a Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro blend, Gask is an Eden Valley Shiraz, Descendant is a single-vineyard cuvée, and Steading Blanc is a white Rhône blend.

Ian Hongell at 67 Pall Mall

Ian Hongell leads the session. He is identified as Torbreck’s chief winemaker and general manager, took on the chief winemaker role in 2017, and oversees numerous old-vine plots across Torbreck’s five estates on the western ridge of the Barossa Valley.

The event is hosted at 67 Pall Mall in London, with 67 Pall Mall also named as the organizer. The format is a wine masterclass and tasting focused on Barossa Valley wines and the producer’s heritage around old-vine sites.