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..
The old sheep shearer's shanty»
Established 1908, Redman's Coonawarra are still made by the Redman brothers from fruit grown to the original family parcels. The tradition began 1901 when Bill Redman, at the tender age of fourteen, made the journey to take up an apprenticeship at the John Riddoch wineworks and to labour amongst Coonawarra's founding vineyards. Bill Redman's earliest vintages were sold off to other companies but it was not until 1952 that the Redman family released their own wines under the moniker Rouge Homme. Redman was finally branded under its own label in 1966, it remains one of the most enduring marques in Coonawarra. Husbanded by the 4th generation, parcels from the 1966 vines are assembled into the estate flagship The Redman...
The velvet virtue of old coonawarra vines»
A full bodied palate offering white nectarines, figs and zesty lemony flavours. Xanadu's salubrious vineyards are at the heart of Margaret River's most prestigious viticultural precinct... More»
Blood plums and cigar oak with a violet floral lift from the inclusion of stalk during fermentation. Sourced exclusively off the unirrigated eight acre block, established 1973 at the western extremity of Yarra Yering... 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»
More savoury than fruity, a faint hint of clove and fresh cardamom adds intrigue to the nose. Ata Rangi founder Clive Paton has long been an avid tree planter and has won a number of awards for... More»
Very lifted nose with a faint camphor/ methanol note but not intrusive. A collation of choice parcels Shiraz from the Krondorf Village districts in Barossa... More»
Just three kilometres from Young along Murringo Road, planted to a brisk 500 metres above sea level, Grove Estate was originally sown to vines in 1886, by Croatian settlers who brought cuttings from their farms on the Dalmatian coast. Some of these ancient plantings, emigrated at a time when much of Europe was ruled by Hapsburg emperors, remain productive to this day. Newer blocks were gradually established around these priceless parcels, ostensibly with a view to supplying leading national brands. The quality of fruit became so conspicuous that Grove Estate sanctioned industry celebrities from Ravensworth and Clonakilla to begin bottling under their own estate moniker. The greater Hilltops region is renowned for elegantly structured Cabernet and Shiraz. Grove Estate go one better, they deliver harvests of the most princely Sangiovese,..
Quiet consummations of grove estate»
Halls Gap Vineyard was planted 1969, along the steep eastern slopes and parched rocky crags of Grampians Ranges, at the very beginning of a renaissance in Victorian viticulture. Since early establishment in the 1860s by the noble Houses of Seppelt and Bests, the region had earned the most elite peerage, a provenance of extraordinary red wines, bursting with bramble opulence and lined with limousin tannins. The Halls Gap property had long been respected as a venerable supplier to the nation's most illustrious brands. Seppelt and Penfolds called on harvests from Halls Gap for their finest vintages. Until 1996, when it was acquired by the late, great Trevor Mast, who was very pleased to bottle Hall Gap's fruit behind the exhalted label of Mt Langi Ghiran. Halls Gap joined the tally of Circe estate vineyards in 2013, whence it yields a..
Land of the fallen giants»