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The Pick Of The Bellarine »
The very first blocks of vine planted at Scotchmans Hill, are now in their fourth decade. Set aside for bottling as a range of limited release, single vineyard wines, they represent the first growth of viticulture from the fertile crescent of Port Phillip's western shore. Crafted to traditional old world techniques, very similar to the great Crus of la Bourgogne, they afford the true enthusiast an opportunity to engage with the decadent delights of the greater Geelong, as sampled alongside Gruyere, game and the finest gourmandise... All the best from scotchmans hill»
The Judge's Tale»
W. J. Seabrook & Son have been a part of the Australian wine industry since 1878. Many an ancient storefront, right across the country, are still emblazoned with the family label. Fifth generation vigneron Hamish Seabrook drew inspiration from time well spent at other illustrious estates, establishing his own personal repute as a distinguished winemaker during tours of duty at Bests Great Western, Brown Brothers Milawa and the Barossa's exalted Dorrien. A key to the long lived excellence of the Seabrook trademark has been a canny selection of exceptional vineyards fruit. Hamish hand chooses his harvests from the finest vineyards in the land, just as his.. Salutations to seabrook»
There's Magic At Metala»
Right around the time that Frank Potts was planting his nascent Bleasdale Vineyards during the 1850s, an eccentric Prussian named Herman Daenke established a homestead along the banks of Bremer River, which he called Metala. The site was planted to viticulture by Arthur Formby in 1891 and became one of Langhorne Creek's most productive vineyards, it continues to supply fruit for a number of prestigious national brands. Legendary winemaker Brian Dolan took the radical step of bottling Metala under its own label in 1959 and won the inaugural Jimmy Watson Trophy in 1962. Two generations later, the brothers Tom and Guy Adams took a similar leap of faith and.. The goodly farms of brothers in arms»
You're Soaking In It»
Much of the prized harvests from the Hugo family property are destined for Australia's most esteemed brands, the best parcels however, are reserved and released under the Hugo label. Consistency of quality from vintage to vintage is the objective, making wine from the pick of estate grown fruit makes it a reality. A precious component of low cropped, dry grown old vines fruit, greatly enhances the depth of flavour and overall complexity. A Shiraz of opulence and finesse, opaque and textural, in the style of McLaren Vale's most outstanding vintages, Gold Medals Winner Royal Adelaide & Australian Small Winemakers Show, have your Hugo alongside standing rib, at a.. Headline harvests of hugo»

Pepper Tree Merlot CONFIRM VINTAGE

Merlot Wrattonbully South Australia
Wrattonbully makes Merlot of exceptional character and flavour, arguably the finest and most consistent annual yields in Australia. The wines are distinctive for their blueberry, plum and mint character, sound structure and velvet tannins. Pepper Tree's Merlot vines are fortuitously planted to heavier clay soils at the toe of the main Wrattonbully dune, as heavy clays have proved to be the best soils for Merlot in its traditional home of Bordeaux. A soft and rich, profoundly fruit driven Merlot wine with more power and weight of varietal flavour than most.
Available by the dozen
Case of 12
$275.00
The prominent viticultural feature of Wrattonbully is a series of ancient beach ridges and dunes which run north/ south, made of soft crumbly limestone which weather to produce the red and brown Terra rossa clay loam soils that are so highly prized for growing outstanding quality wine grapes. The higher elevation brings the advantage cold air drainage which reduces the risk of frost throughout the colder months of the growing season. Harvests of Merlot from choice Wrattonbully vineyards are treated to a fortnight on skins in static fermenters, pressed off skins and racked to a selection of fine French oak barrels for eighteen months before assembling into the final wine.
Deep purple red colour. An aromatic Merlot nose of black and red fruits with spicy lift and subtle oak. A fully ripe, classically medium bodied palate, packed with sweet berry fruits and spice, balanced by subtle French oak and fine, long velvet tannins, before a lingering complex finish. Enjoy with polpette e papardelle or coq au vin.
Pepper Tree
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Pepper Tree
Although Pepper Tree winery is sited in the Hunter Valley and founded as a Hunter Valley winery, the winemakers believe that grapes grown in other regions exhibited characters that should be explored

Over the years Pepper Tree have acquired vineyards in the Orange, Wrattonbully and Coonawarra growing areas to enable the winemaker production of varietal wines that either did not grow as well in the Hunter Valley, or are different expressions of a particular varietal that are of interest to connoisseurs of fine wines. The character and complexity reflected in the Appellation wines are an expression of diverse vineyard resources. A second is the balance and elegance in the Multi-Regional range of varietals. These are blends of a varietal wine made from grapes grown at two or more of vineyards that vary from year to year. All Pepper Tree wines are produced, aged and bottled at the winery.

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The Hunter Valley is one of Australia's best white wine areas and consistently wins a disproportionate number of awards in National Wine Shows. Pepper Tree's Hunter Valley vineyard is in the Mount View area of the Lower Hunter Valley in the sheltered foothills of the Brokenback Range and covers 38.5 ha of plantings made up of 16.5 ha Chardonnay, 2.5 ha Verdelho, 3.7 ha Semillon, 7.5 ha Shiraz, 1 ha Viognier, 1 ha Sauvignon blanc, 3 ha Merlot, 2.4 ha Cabernet, 0.5 ha Grenache and 0.5 ha Pinot Noir.

The Mount View area produces highly distinctive Chardonnay with flavours of melon, passionfruit and pineapple. Verdelho also performs well in the area with soft tropical fruit characters balanced by good natural acidity. Semillon has the usual lime-citrus characters with flavours being at the higher end for the variety. Shiraz from the area is typically soft, spicy and elegant with a perfumed bouquet.

The Orange region of New South Wales is one of Australia's newest premium regions being favoured for its high altitude cool climate. Situated approximately 270 km west of Sydney the topography and soils of the Orange region are dominated by the extinct volcano Mt Canobolas. Pepper Tree's Orange vineyard sits in a small subvalley protected on 3 sides with a sunny northerly aspect. Elevations vary from 740m to 800m and the site is capable of ripening all the main red varieties as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Cabernet, Merlot & Shiraz all produce wines with deep red colours and intense palate complexity.

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The wines from Pepper Tree's Orange vineyard typically have a lighter more elegant structure than those of warmer areas with light lifted fruit acids lengthening the palate. In addition to the main red varieties, small blocks of Pinot Noir (for sparkling base) & Zinfandel have been planted. Zinfandel produces rich spice and berry characters with crimson red colours. This variety seems well suited to the Orange region and the wines show great promise.

Coonawarra is Australia's top red wine area specialising in Cabernet Sauvignon of great complexity and elegance. Pepper Tree's Coonawarra vineyard comprises 8 ha of Cabernet and 4 ha of Merlot and is located midway between the town of Penola & Coonawarra. Soils consist of thin dark brown to dark grey clays interspersed with broken limestone fragments. The shallow soils restrict vigour and this, coupled with rigorous canopy management, allows the vignerons to control berry size and bunch numbers and thus eventual crop load. This control of crop level and berry size gives the winemakers the best possible starting material with which to create premium red wines.

Pepper Tree's Wrattonbully vineyard covers 100ha of plantings, mainly Cabernet (48 ha) Merlot (23 ha) and Shiraz (20 ha). Cabernet is planted on the highest dune areas where Terra Rossa soils overlie shallow limestone. Individual blocks are given separate canopy management, cropping structure and moisture control according to soil depth which can vary from a few centimetres to over 1 metre.

Flavour maps constructed for the vineyard have shown considerable variability for both Cabernet and Shiraz, and have allowed the winemakers to isolate individual sections of the vineyard to produce parcels of outstanding quality. Merlot is planted on heavier clay soils at the toe of the main dune as heavy clays have proved best for Merlot in its traditional homeland.

Pepper Tree