Somewhere near the Seaview end of McLaren Vale's Chapel Hill Road, a perfunctory passerine perched her pincers astride a pair of power poles and saw herself alit. Down she went amongst the dry grown branches of an old Grenache vineyard, setting the valuable veterans ablaze. The scorched site eventually came to the attention of a winemaking trio, the Messrs Leske, Tynan & Cooke, Masters of Wine and a venerable vintner, all driven by a consuming passion to make greater Grenache. Thistledown vintage very small amounts of the most extraordinary Grenache. Beautifully detailed and conspicuously elegant, their floral bouquets and graceful finish emulate the aromatic lift and peacock's tail of a prettily perfumed Pinot Noir. Magnificent to savour as a captivating aperitif, a bliss alongside fine cuisine, the Grenache of Thistledown represent an exquisite new direction in the evolving Aussie Grenache style...
Polly & the pyre to paradise»
A multi layered palate of wild piquant raspberries, red licorice wick and frais de bois, dark anise tannins and sasafras oak in support of the textural, weight of fruit. Dan Buckle and Aaron Drummond are Mornington born and bred... More»
Exquisite balance to the palate without any oiliness, layered with musk fruit flavours and natural richness of textural phenolic grip. The historic goldfields at Beechworth are now delivering a different type of gold, in the form of suave white wines... 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 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 dominated by a citrus backbone and fleshed out with the texture of oak barrel ferments and malolactic. Three quarters Semillon, the balance in Sauvignon Blanc, from fruit selectively hand picked and sorted off dry grown estate vines... More»
Fragrant varietal lift with bright red fruit aromatics of raspberry and plum. Church Block was the first wine which the late Greg Trott produced under the Wirra Wirra label back in 1972... More»
Returned servicemen from the Great War could look forward to government grants of pastoral freehold. West Australia's Willyabrup Valley was such a place, just a short walk from the balmy beaches of Indian Ocean, it offered the veterans excellent potential for agriculture. The fertile lands of Sussex Vale were originally established to animal husbandry by the discharged troopers, generations of livestock enriched the soils and it was astutely sown to vines in 1973. Fortuitously placed at the very heart of the Australian west's most illustrious estates, it continued to occupy the thoughts of neighbouring Howard Park's chief winemaker, until he acquired the property and relaunched a softly spoken range of the most exquisite wines. Aspirants of the blue blooded styles from Margaret River..
A better block on hay shed hill»
Xavier Bizot can make wine anywhere he pleases, he is a Bollinger and grew up amongst the Vignobles Superieurs of Champagne. Bizot has chosen to make wine alongside Brian Croser's family, from grapes harvested off three magnificent sites, on two paradoxically varied terrains. Planted to the salubrious Terra rosa soils atop an invaluable archeological dig at Wrattonbully, rich with the undisturbed fossils of ancient Cenozoic sea animals, Crayeres Vineyard was established right across the road from Tapanappa's illustrious Whalebone. The weather here is astonishingly similar to Bordeaux and makes an awesome Cabernet Franc. Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser are also fortunate to take their pick of properties in Adelaide Hills. To wit, Charles (Chilly) Hargrave's distinguished old vines at..
The twin tales of terre a terre»