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Established 1968 by Word War II flyer Egerton E.S Dennis, on ninety acres of McLaren Flat along the prestigious winegrowing terroirs at Kangarillla Road, the Dennis family pioneered the production of Mead alongside colleague and enthusiast John Maxwell. Dennis initially sold his harvests to some of Australia's most eminent brands before founding his own label in 1971,with the object of converting the high quality fruit into pure, estate made wines. Since establishment, Dennis Wines have collected hundreds of medals at national and international wine shows, twice claiming the revered Bushing King awards for best wine at the McLaren Vale Winemakers Exhibition. A quiet achiever of bespoke old vine Shiraz with a scanty production of 5000 dozen annually, be the one & only enthusiast on your block this week to own and savour.. Dennis of kangarilla road»
Coonawarra graziers have access to the finest soils for viticulture. Doug Balnaves was born in the very heart of Coonawarra, quite near the sacred cricket pitch at Penola. An accomplished herdsman and shearer, Balnaves took up the challenge of planting vineyards in 1971. Working under the tutelage of legendary Coonawarra winemaker Bill Redman, Balnaves immersed himself in the culture of the vine, ultimately establishing a grande marque of Coonawarra and securing the inaugural presidency of the Coonawarra Vignerons Association. He remains a lifelong member of the Penola Pipe Band. For those who like their wines structured yet satin, powerful yet prettily perfumed, in the mouthfillingly muscular Coonawarra way, the Balnaves brand endures in the tradition of world class vintages grown to Terra Rosa soils, enriched by.. The old sheep shearer's shanty»
Three British Army officers, in their capacity as agents of the East India Company, established one of Western Australia's first agricultural enterprises in 1836. Named after Captain Richmond Houghton, it was not until Thomas Yule's stewardship that vines were planted and the first vintage of Houghton wine flowed in 1859. Thomas Yule now sources fruit from the eminent Justin Vineyard in Frankland River, a dark ruby Shiraz of lifted liquorice and intense brambleberry, seasoned by piquant pepper notes and supported by showroom tannins. The very elite of Frankland River Shiraz... Artisanal wines of distinguished sites»

Brothers in Arms Shiraz CONFIRM VINTAGE

Shiraz Langhorne Creek South Australia
The historic Metala Vineyard has been in family hands since since the 1850s. Closely managed by fifth generation viticulturalist Guy Adams, the heritage property is the source of fruit for the national icon Metala label. Adam's family has been growing grapes since 1891, he still keeps a close watch over his vineyard which is just two minutes down the road from home. The pick of Langhorne Creek Shiraz, off three elite estate blocks, is treated to a highly traditional vinification, followed by an extravagant two years repose in a selection of the very finest French oak.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$299.50
Deep crimson colour. Distinct regional aromas of menthol, peppermint and mocha coffee, biscuity/ biscotti oak interwoven by blackberry and a touch of leather. Intense blackcurrant fruit and spice on the palate with super fine tannins which build with intensity before a long, mouth filling finish. Starts small and finishes big!
Brothers in Arms
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Brothers in Arms
Although Metala was settled in the mid 1850’s on the banks of the river Bremer and is a 5th Generation vineyard with a long and proud family history, it has been the brothers who made it what it is today

The vineyard comprises 750 acres of vines composed predominantly of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon with a small area of Chardonnay. The Adams family have broad acre farming and merino sheep breeding for wool and meat production. Brother Guy Adams manages the Vineyard and supplies various wine companies with high quality fruit. Particularly Beringer Blass who produce the estate label Metala which has been made for over 40 years. Wine had been made in the stone cellars at Metala from the late 1890s and then in 1910, through family connections Stonyfell took over, still using the original open fermenters and cellars.

Brothers in Arms

In 1952 production of the wine was moved to Stonyfell. Brian Dolan, winemaker at the time, conceived the idea of Metala becoming an estate wine and in 1959 sketched out the Metala label. Brian won the inaugural Jimmy Watson Trophy in 1962 with the 1961 Metala Shiraz Cabernet. Bryan’s son Nigel Dolan is now the Head Red Winemaker for Beringer Blass and continues the tradition of producing this iconic label. Aside from the big companies, Metala also provides fruit for a number if smaller boutique labels other than Brothers in Arms, such as Oddfellows and Killibinbin.

Brother Tom Adam’s decision to focus on a global market paid off but he has travel to the USA twice a year for up to 4 weeks at a time to meet key American industry people and to sell the brand name ‘Brothers in Arms’. He also works in the European market as well as around Australia. The brands success is because Tom is committed to marketing as the USA Grateful Palate owner says ‘he is a real salt of the earth kind of guy’ who gets results.

"Metala has been our family's property since the 1850s and it's also the name of the premium Beringer Blass label made entirely of our fruit. Our original plan, back in the early 1990s, was quite simple - grow the grapes, get a local processor to make the wine, then bottle it and sell it. We decided to select a single varietal as a flagship wine and focus wholeheartedly on it. Shiraz was the obvious choice as our Shiraz has always been fantastic.

Brothers in Arms

"We started mucking around with small parcels of fruit with our father. At that time it was really just a hobby for us and it gave us something of our own to drink. In 1998 we took a small amount of fruit and turned it into 500 cases of Shiraz at Lake Breeze winery in Langhorne Creek. It was so bloody good that we didn't know what to do with it! We couldn't drink it all, so we started to think seriously about the future.

"Right around this time a pesky American came and knocked on my door. As it turned out it was Dan Phillips, a leading distributor from California, who was making regular trips to Australia looking for high-end lots of premium Shiraz - he felt there was going to be a market for it in the States.

"Somehow he picked up on us and he annoyed me so much that I gave him some unlabelled samples to test. He flew back to LA, phoned me four days later and told me to get a label on the rest as he could sell it! This led to our next problem as we didn't even have a name. I rang Ian Kidd, a designer in Adelaide, who came to Langhorne Creek and spent half a day with us. He came back with the Brothers In Arms label, and an awfully big bill, and we loved it.

"We released the 1998 vintage at Wine Australia in Melbourne in 2000 and it sold out within six weeks. We decided to make 4,500 cases for the 2000 vintage, but that was stretching the limits at Lake Breeze. We couldn't grow any further there so we decided to build our own winery at Metala. We started building in September/October 2001 and it was ready for a March 15 vintage in 2002 - this was no easy process. We love the wine and we know you will too."

Brothers in Arms