About us

Pirathon produces a range of full bodied Shiraz (Syrah) encompassing the great flavour, texture and structure of the north-western Barossa. Pirathon is highly awarded wine brand with many medals and trophies won at wine competitions around the world.

History

“Pirathon” is an ancient word meaning prince, peak, summit etc and was an ancient city located in the current state of Israel. We were fascinated by the name “Pirathon” as it's quite different sounding than other wine brands. The North-Western Barossa is well known for its Shiraz grapes and we came up with the idea of putting a map of North-Western Barossa on the label along with using an arrow on the label. In the original design, the arrow was pointing North but we thought an arrow will go well with the “Pirathon” meaning of peak/summit so we then decided to turn the arrow 45 degrees to the left so that it is pointing to the North-West. The arrow was then stylised and coloured. We then put all the components together to form the final Pirathon label – A map of North-Western Barossa highlighted by the stylised arrow pointing to the North-West which all corresponds with the meaning of the word.

In essence, Pirathon is an ancient word for pinnacle and we believe Shiraz is the pinnacle grape of the Barossa and that the north-western Barossa is the pinnacle sub-appellation for Shiraz.

Vineyard & Terroir

Pirathon owns and operates two vineyards in South Australia. The Pirathon Vineyard is located in the Barossa Valley grape growing region and consists of 52.14 acres (21.10 ha) of vines, with the earliest block dating back to 1970.

The majority of the vines were planted on their own roots with a diverse range of clone stock and selected varieties used. The varieties planted are Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and a block of Mataro.

The vineyard is irrigated by drip irrigation with moisture monitoring and good drainage. Vintage is from January to February each year, and harvesting is all done by machine. Fortunately, our dry environment normally provides favourable harvesting conditions with little rainfall and above average temperatures allowing for all fruit to be picked at optimum flavour and ripeness.

Winemaking & Aging

Our wines are produced at our state of the art winery located in the picturesque Barossa Valley which is capable of processing 480 tonnes of grapes per year. With our own facilities we can control everything from the vineyard all the way through the winemaking process to produce the best possible wine. We use screw cap closures to improve the consistency of our bottled wine.

The majority of our red grapes (Shiraz) are machine harvested to allow the best flexibility in harvesting decisions. They are then transported in ½ tonne Nally bins to the winery where they are crushed and destemmed. Fermentation occurs in small open top fermenters with regular pump overs early in fermentation which decrease over time to ensure a balanced extraction of tannin. After draining off the free run the skins are gently pressed via an air bag press and combined back with the free run. Each batch of wine is then filled to 300 L French and American hogsheads and kept separate. We like to fill our wine to barrels early as this gives the best integration of oak and flexibility in blending.

Once fermentation is complete each batch is racked out of barrel, sulphur added, mixed, and filled back to full storage. Oak maturation varies depending on the wine style and vintage but is usually between 12 and 18 months before bottling.

The Rieslings are mainly machine harvested in the cool of the night to minimise oxidation and increase quality. They are destemmed and gently pressed via an air bag press. After cold settling to remove heavy lees, fermentation is carried out at low temperatures to help capture the citrus aromatics. Once complete the wines are kept in full storage on yeast lees for about three months prior to filtration and bottling.

At The Winery

Pirathon has adopted a wide range of innovative practices in our winery. These practices not only bring environmental and sustainable development benefits, but also produce healthier fruits, resulting in better quality wines:

Winemaking is done in open fermenters, for gentle extraction of tannin, flavour, colour.

All winemaking is inside so minimal cooling and electricity is required.

Most of our electricity at the winery is sourced from a 20.8 KW Solar system on the roof of the winery.

All water used in the winery is recycled on the property used for native trees and gardens.

All grape stalks and marc is used for sheep feed for a local farmer.

Press & Awards

Best Australian Shiraz

International Wine Challenge - London

5 Star & Top 10

Mainfreight World's Greatest Shiraz & Syrah Challenge - Australia 2017

94 Points

Halliday Wine Companion - Australia 2019

Double Gold Medal

China Wine & Spirits Awards