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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»
Andrew Nugent grew up next door to the great historical wineworks at Penfolds Magill. He honed his craft as viticulturalist and vigneron amongst the illustrious wineries of old McLaren Vale. In the 1990s, Nugent planted new vines at Woodside along Bird In Hand Road, on the site of an ancient gold mine, a godsend of fortuitously fertile soils and magnificent mesoclimes for stellar quality Adelaide Hills wine. Bird In Hand have since amassed a breathtaking tally of international accolades for the unrivalled excellence of their superlative vintages, wonderfully small batch releases, with the magnificence of structure, seamlessness and immaculacy of fruit, to enthuse curio and cognescenti alike... Vivid vintages from the tailings of adelaide hills»
Dr Frederick Kiel would take the trek by paddle steamer from Melbourne every summer during the late 1800s to spend his summers at Sorrento. His children established a grazing station nearby, on a property acquired from the Baillieu family along Portsea Ocean Beach, ultimately planted to vineyards in 2000. These are the most extreme western longitudes of Mornington, the undulating paddocks and sweeping views of tempestuous Bass Strait are a magical place for growing Burgundesque styles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, well protected north facing parcels of propitious free draining limestone and calcareous sands. The windswept maritime vineyards of little Portsea Estate yield the quality of Mornington that.. Mornington's westernmost vineyards»
Yarra Yering
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Yarra Yering
Yarra Yering is one of Victoria's and Australia's most treasured little boutique winerys, yielding little berries of enticingly flavoured grapes that are crafted into magical red wines

After a lengthy search for the penultimate terroir and microclimate, Dr. Bailey Carrodus chose a site in the Yarra Valley which seemed to meet all the requirements, grey silty clay loam with bands of gravel for good drainage, on a north-facing slope high enough out of the valley to avoid late spring frosts. The site has fulfilled all expectations producing a wide range of quality fruit, from Pinot Noir to Touriga Nacional for a fortified red wine. Most of the 12-hectare plot was planted in 1969 and the 1973 vintage was the first commercial wine produced in the valley since 1921.

Yarra Yering

The reputation of the valley in the 19th and early 20th centuries rested on Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, and these were the main varieties planted, but it was essential to give Pinot Noir a go, and so a smallish area of that was in the first planting. These three grapes dominated the first three wines. Classically, Cabernet Sauvignon has always had companions, Cabernet Franc was excluded because the only Australian examples had an earthiness which was not wanted, so Malbec and Merlot were in the early plantings and later some Petit Verdot.

Shiraz on its own will develop the desired complexity with about ten years in bottle, but the Rhone Valley shows what some companions will do for it. The Yarra Yering winemakers tried some other Rhone reds, but had difficulty ripening them. Eventually they got their hands on Viognier, and there has been a small amount added to the No.2 Dry Red since 1984. Small amounts of whites were also planted, mainly for the winemakers own enjoyment, but the vineyard is predominantly red.

In 1988 four hectares of fifteen-year old Shiraz on adjacent land to the East became available and they are now known as Underhill. This quirky name is a rough translation of the name Prigorje which the previous owner had given it, in memory of the Croatian village from which he came.

Yarra Yering

The idea behind buying the Shiraz had been to increase the amount of No.2 Dry Red, but about the same time the EU recognized Yarra Yering as a viticultural sub-region in its own right, and this accolade meant that material from outside the original site could not blended.

The division of Australian vineyards into separate regions has now been reviewed and these restrictions luckily no longer apply. Later additions of 8 and 12 hectares have been incorporated into Yarra Yering.

A north-west facing slope has been terraced and planted with Portuguese grape varietals, mainly Touriga Nacional and Tinta Cao with some Roriz, Tinta Amarello, Souzao and Alvarelhao. The last addition of parcels is mostly planted to Cabernet and Shiraz, to meet the overwhelming demand for the two main blends. Other experimental plantings at Yarra Yering are Sangiovese and Barbera.

Yarra Yering