Original Blend

Grenache Shiraz

When Greg Trott released his first red wine back in 1972 he already had the name "Church Block" entrenched in his mind. Drawing on what he believed McLaren Vale did best, the wine was a blend of Grenache and Shiraz. Proud of his "first born", he took it to the wider world, introducing it personally to friend and foe alike.

Always open to the ideas of others, Trott's did not let pride stand between him and greater success. Upon the advice of no less an authority than Brian Croser, Trott modified the Church Block blend over the years, settling on the now familiar combination of cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and merlot.

From that point we should all have lived happily ever after. Church Block became a great success and fashion of the time dictated that Grenache Shiraz blends were no longer in vogue.

However this being Wirra Wirra, nothing ever runs along a typical path.

The cries became louder for us to produce a wine "like the old Church Block". And so back in the early nineties we did - imaginatively calling this wine the "Original Blend". It became the "back up wine" for when we ran out of Church Block - which happened rather too frequently, forecasting not being one of Trott's strong points. However once we finally managed to line up supply and demand (a short term victory), "Original Blend" disappeared again - again a victim of style over substance.

Now things have turned full circle. Grenache and its various blended incarnations are better understood and we find ourselves complicit in some pretty smart parcels of the varietal, to pair with our already respected McLaren Vale shiraz.

So the "Original Blend" returns in limited supply but not in imagination.