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Clonakilla are one of our nation's most eminent vineyard wineries, a tiny production operation, established by a CSIRO scientist at Murrumbateman, very near Canberra. It turned out to be a fortuitous planting, with a climate not dissimilar to Bordeaux and northern Rhone, the Clonakilla property now occupies a rank next to the mighty Grange on the prestigious Exceptional Langtons Classification, it yields vintages of Australia's most invaluable Shiraz. At $26.99, the estate's entry level belies its stature and excellence within the pantheon of great Australian wine, an essential experience this week for all enthusiasts, a canny choice for shrewd and judicious aspirants of elite new world Shiraz... Here's what our most picky pundits prefer»
Established just eleven years after the founding of South Australia, the ancient vines in the Hundred Of Moorooroo were planted circa 1836 by the Jacob brothers, after accompanying Colonel William Light on the Seven Special Surveys expedition to populate Adelaide's north. Moorooroo endures as the nation's cardinal parcel of vine, the mother rootstock for many of the Barossa's most distinguished sites. For over a century, these sacred vines contributed fruit to the Orlando company, where they formed the backbone of countless spectacular historical vintages. Decimated by the government sponsored vine pull schemes of the 1980s, only four rows of these priceless vines were saved by master Ed Schild from complete annihilation. One of the smallest yielding blocks in.. The fruit of vines established 1836»
Graeme Melton and a mate were travelling across South Australia in 1973, their EH Holden was in dire need of maintenance and Graeme took up casual work at a passing winery. The site supervisor was Peter Lehmann and young Graeme had his epiphany on the road to Barossa Valley. Lehmann suggested that Graeme change his name to Charlie and take the pilgrimmage to Vallee Rhone. Charlie became prepossessed with the culture of old vines Grenache, Shiraz and Mourverdre. He returned to the Barossa, at a time when old vineyard fruit was made into flagon Port and growers were destroying their historic sites in return for government grants. Charlie emabarked on a crusade to conserve and restore the ancient vines, establishing his cellars at Tanunda along Krondorf Road. He.. Melton makes a mean mourvedre»

Dalwhinnie Mesa Shiraz CONFIRM VINTAGE

Shiraz Pyrenees Victoria
Dalwhinnie is well into its fourth decade of icon Australian Shiraz. Their parched soils atop the inhospitable climes of the Pyrenees yield restricted harvests of parched berries with aromatic, mouth filling spice characters and intense tannins. Just four kilometres along Taltarni Road on the Moonambel valley floor, Dalwhinnie has been pampering younger plantings at the Forest Hut Vineyard established in the 1990s. Now fully mature, these unirrigated and dry farmed, well canopied, vertically shoot positioned vines are producing intensely flavoured Shiraz.
Available by the dozen
Case of 12
$347.00
Crafted from parcels of Shiraz grown to the cooler, slower ripening Forest Hut site. The climes are three to four degrees cooler than Dalwhinnie, all year round, so vintage arrives some three weeks later. Vines make the most of the extra time on offer to ripen grapes fully and develop vibrant fruit characters. The Dalwhinnie team know that great Shiraz can only come from a healthy, well pruned vine which has the proper balance of fruit to foliage for even ripening. Grapes are harvested and gently crushed, destemmed and pumped to fermentation tank for two weeks vinification, followed by transfer to a selection of old, well seasoned French oak barriques for maturation.
Purple black in colour with a lustre and sheen. Freshly ground black pepper, rosemary, bay leaf and dark plum bouquet with a hint of cinnamon. A big, rich savoury wine, well textured with massive tannin structure. A complex, long and lingering finish.
Dalwhinnie
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Dalwhinnie
Dalwhinnie is located near the tiny village of Moonambel in the heart of the Pyrenees region of Western Victoria, Australia and is a super premium producer of Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay

After 25 years of growing grapes, the 18 hectare vineyard is now fully mature, producing true varietal fruit characters with great concentration of flavours.

Dalwhinnie

At 595 metres above sea-level Dalwhinnie is the highest and most remote of the Pyrenees district vineyards. Surrounded and sheltered by the highest range, this unique bowl of vines is a world unto itself, located in a naturally undulating trough which falls away from the hills, forming an amphitheatre nestled into the ranges.

Ownership of Dalwhinnie has remained within one family. In 1972 the remote property was purchased. The founder, Ballarat architect Ewan Jones, established the vineyard in 1976. His eldest son David, has managed it since 1983 and, with his wife, Jenny, has owned it since 1994. It's the kind of stability that one finds in the greatest estates all around the world.

David Jones firmly believes that the best grapes come from a healthy well pruned vine which has the proper balance of fruit to foliage to ripen the bunches quickly and efficiently. The bunches must be disease free, compact in composition and have good exposure to sunlight. He believes ultimately that great wines are produced from these grapes grown on unique elevated single vineyard sites and Dalwhinnie is fortunate to possess several of these sites.

Dalwhinnie

Dalwhinnie vineyard is situated in a unique amphitheatre that has its own meso climate. The site is totally frost free and allows the fruit to reach complete physiological ripeness in 9 out of 10 years which is very important in establishing a long term premium label.

The vineyard is situated on the 37th parallel south and the poor and fragile soils from left over alluvial mining areas in the early 1800's are some of the hardest and hungriest you will ever see. The climate and soils are well suited to the production of complex shiraz and that is why Dalwhinnie specialize in this great variety.

The first plantings in 1976 were the cabernet sauvignon contour block and the grand piano shiraz block, these were rootlings sourced from Sunraysia Nurseries in Mildura. Follow up plantings in 1977 included the "Eagle Series" shiraz block and the cabernet sauvignon cellar door block. The chardonnay was planted in 1980 and subsequent plantings took place in 1988, 1993, 1995 and 1997.

In addition to Dalwhinnie vineyard the David Jones family winemakers have an 8 hectare vineyard situated on Taltarni Road named Forest Hut. This vineyard is dedicated to mainly shiraz with four different clones planted and also a small amount of viognier and sangiovese for blending options in the future. The vineyard is designed for separate vinification of clones to assess flavour profiles and clonal performance. Once again this vineyard is dry land farmed with a VSP canopy, and the fruit from these new plantings will be sold for several years until the vines are mature.

Dalwhinnie