As anywhere, good wine begins in the vineyard and what is most important for a great wine is the terroir of the vineyard – the combination of soil and climate. At the Schubert vineyards (Roennfeldt Road, Barossa Valley), relatively mild winters and a slow ripening season couples with hand-pruning and hand-picking of low cropping vines to consistently produce fruit of excellent quality. This wine was produced from Shiraz grown on the first 12 rows of the Goose-yard Block, which corners the century-old Schubert homestead. The Schuberts' personal attention and time-honored viticultural practices, combined with traditional vinification and natural minimal processing, ensures its purity, integrity, texture and balance. Open air fermentation, basket pressing and barrel maturation, presents a style generally recognized as classic Barossa. Produced in limited quantity, this hand-made wine is soft and dry with intriguing length of flavor on the palate. The fruit flavor and impressive structure of this single-vineyard wine means that it can be enjoyed immediately but those with patience will find it should continue to develop for several years in good cellaring conditions.

Steve and Cecilia Schubert are primarily grapegrowers, with vineyards comprising approx. 40 acres and most their annual grape production sold to Torbreck Vintners. A little of their Shiraz is held back for the wine Steve and Cecilia personally handpick, crush, ferment, and basket press on their property.

Steve was born in Germany just after WWII during the time when his family was traveling from Silesia to Australia. Silesia is the origin of many Barossa pioneering families. Steve was educated in South Australia at Christian Brothers College. Upon completing his National Service and then graduating from University, he traveled overseas teaching building. After several years in New Guinea, he took on training and management at the building section in TAFE, Elizabeth. During the 1980s he began renovating the old Schubert Marananga homestead and developing the various unproductive land areas. In 1999, realizing that what was required to produce good quality wine grapes was a great deal of time, energy and money, he retired from TAFE to fully take on the role of vigneron. The Goose-yard Block wine evolved because it offered an opportunity to understand more what a winemaker required from the fruit in order to make a fine wine. By understanding the wine making process better, a grower can appreciate the requirements necessary to achieve quality fruit such as the optimum flavor, color, and ripeness required at harvest. Steve personally manages and maintains all the vineyards and makes the Goose-yard Block wine.