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»
David Wynn introduced cardboard wine casks, flagons and the Airlesflo wine tap to the nation. He is best remembered for re packaging the Coonawarra estate which bears his name and which endures as one of Australia's icon brands. Wynn was a master of his craft and studied oenology at the world renowned Magill wineworks. An astute marketer and talented blender, he also had a keen eye for the land, investing in the ancient John Riddoch fruit colony and planting vines on a challenging site, high atop the lofty latitudes of Valley Eden. Mountadam Vineyards were built from the ground up, with a view to crafting a limited range of well structured, weighty wines, defined by fuller palates and saline, mineral savouryness. The legacy of Eden Valley vineyards planted by Wynn in the 1960s & 1970s,..
The legacy parcels of mountadam vineyards»
The palate rides on a wave of lively natural acid but is well supported by sweet soft gooseberries and grapefruit, a touch of passionfruit and leafy spice. Greg Trott, the man who nursed Wirra Wirra back to health and re-introduced the estate's noble wines to the world... More»
The palate is refined and elegant, mouthfilling with plums and mulberry, black cherry fruits and long, persistent fine grained tannins. Robert Strangways Wigley was an eccentric South Australian cricketer who established Wirra Wirra in 1894... More»
A velvet palate that's loaded with intense fruit flavours, festive cake and dark cherry notes, a wonderful red berry acid line keeps everything vital. The top contender for the most exceptional value in outstanding yet underrated Australian red wine... More»
A complex, aromatically opulent cornucopia of flavour, bushels of fruit and classic autolysis within a glorious effervescence of the finest bubble. A mostly Shiraz Cuvee sourced from six of the Melton's best dry grown, old vine blocks... More»
Palate is mid weight, yet suprisingly supple and rich. Pinot Noir is the most temperamental of wine grape varieties and remains the ultimate challenge for many makers... More»
The fruit is complexed by lemon curd, aromatic cedar and cashew notes. Wirra Wirra patriarch Greg Trott venerated cricket as the most noble of pursuits... More»
Jim Barry was a pioneer of the Australian wine industry, the first academically qualified winemaker to take up Clare Valley viticulture in 1949. He had an uncanny intuition for good land and established some of the most illustrious vineyards on the continent. Jim Barry is also a patriarch of the Coonawarra, in pursuit of the perfect terroir for Cabernet Sauvignon, he planted vines on the ancient Penola Cricket Oval, preserving the original pavilion for posterity. Jim Barry endures as one of the nation's most distinguished brands, renowned throughout the world of wine for decades of the most remarkable vintages, an evolving range of superior vineyard editions, defined by their penetrating fruit and seamless tannins, essential for every enthusiast of identifiably Australian, claret style Cabernet..
Salient statements from superior sites»
Stephen C. Pannell is one of Australia's most decorated winemakers, Jimmy Watson and twice Max Schubert Trophy winner, London International Winemaker of Year and Chairman National Wine Show. Pannell grew up amongst the illustrious plantings of his parents vineyards at Moss Wood, he established the profoundly artisanal Picardy of Pemberton and found time in between tours of duty at Wirra Wirra, Tintara and BRL Hardy, to do vintage in Burgundy, at the illustrious Mouton Rothschild and amongst the grand old vines of Barolo. Whatever the brand, regardless of vintage, S.C. Pannell's extraordinary wines are all distinct for their remarkable splendour, beguiling multi dimensionalism and breathtakingly seamless complexity...
Peerless value by our nation's finest»