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Airline pilots make surprisingly good wine. Their appreciation of the sciences, a respect for the weather and a bird's eye view of the land, all invaluable to the winemaker's art. John Ellis would take every opportune weekend away from his regular New York Paris route, to pursue a passion for viticulture. He planted the first commercial Cabernet Merlot vines in the Hamptons and found time between trans atlantic flights to work vintages amongst the Grand Cru vineyards of La Bourgogne. Ellis ultimately made the great lifelong sea change in favour of our land downunder. He settled on a farmstead outside Leongatha, amongst the slow ripening pastures of Gippsland.. Placing pinot amongst the pastures»
Old Richmond Gaol was one of Diemen Land's first prisons, built by the convicts themselves, of good old fashioned granite blocks, laboriously hauled in wooden hand carts and quarried from the ominously monikered Butchers Hill. Today, Butchers Hill is the site of the steepest sloping vineyard in Coal River Valley, invigorated by afternoon sea breezes and prevailing winds from the roaring forties, its highly auspicious, self mulching black Vertosols, yield extraordinary wines. Established by founding members of the Hobart Beefsteak & Burgundy Club, Butchers Hill represents three generations of passion amongst the nether vineyards of the Apple Isle. Not just a.. Princely parcels of pooley»
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.. Quiet consummations of grove estate»
Grown to the frigid climes of Central Otago, the vines at Prophet's Rock were established 1999 to the most auspicious sites in the nether regions around the ancient goldfields of Bendigo Creek. Challenging aspects with breathtaking views of Cromwell Basin and Pisa Ranges, these are places defined by their fortuitous soils and favourable climes, tiny parcels of vine capable of just a few hundred cases each vintage, picked for their confluence of growing conditions and husbanded by a devout cadre. The winemaking is decidedly French, small vessels and wild yeasts, followed by an extended term on sedimentary lees for opulence. Invigorated by the warmth of alluvial.. Bounty of bendigo goldfields»

Primo Estate La Biondina CONFIRM VINTAGE

Colombard Adelaide South Australia
Raise a glass of La Biondina, a modern Australian classic with an appeal all her own. Each season she returns eternally young, flaunting her style as the world's coolest, pure Colombard wine. Putting a smile on the face of white wine lovers since 1982, Biondina is as attractive and alluring as ever. Our beautiful blonde is a popular little girl who can make friends with a wide variety of dishes but prefers shellfish and spicy Asian recipes.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$143.50
The Adelaide Plains are just ten meters above sea level and are rejuvenated every day by the cooling maritime breeze of Gulf St Vincent, you can actually see the ocean from Primo's vineyard. A sunny dry climate and sandy loam soils are perfect for growing the late ripening Colombard. Harvest is always eagerly awaited, as La Biondina represents small batch winemaking at its best. Parcels are picked through separate passes across a spectrum of ripeness levels to achieve the perfect balance between tropically aromatic fruit characters and crisp grape acidity. A long cool vinification, followed by a prompt assemblage and early bottling preserves all the deirably delicate fruit flavours and freshness.
Pale straw hues. Light, fresh passionfruit and citrus fill the bouquet, La Biondina has always been a delight. The mouthwateringly lively, exuberant palate exhibits juicy passionfuit, melon and citrus flavours, offering the taste of summer all year round. A wonderful freshness throughout, and zing, the mouth watering, fruit driven palate is the signature of this style, tangy and juicy, finishing with a faint sweetness.
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Primo Estate
Primo Grilli planted his vineyard in 1973 a a spot 30 kilometres north of Adelaide within the rich fertile market gardening land of Virginia

Only 3 kilometres from the coast, Virginia enjoys the benefits of the cool sea breezes that sweep over the plains in the evenings. Primo built his vineyard with passion and understood completely the life of a vine. The grapes were grown to be turned into wine. His eldest son Joseph grew up with the vines tending them with the rest of the family. Joseph was to be a winemaker. It was not a conscious choice, not an expectation, just a progression, what he had to be. From his very first vintage, at age 20, Primo Estate's Joe Grilli wanted to create revolutionary wines. Ever since, Joe has been doing exactly that; creating some wonderfully dazzling and unconventional wines under the Joseph and Primo Estate labels.

Primo Estate

In 1979 Joseph completed his oenology course at Roseworthy Agricultural College and this coincided with the first vintage of Primo Estate. At this time the Australian wine industry was experiencing a renaissance and was leading the world with the new technology of winemaking. Joseph embraced these ideas. His dreams and passion, however, were the great wine styles of the world. He was consumed with his role as winemaker and from the outset used innovative techniques such as double pruning to make his wine.

"The vines were 6 years old when we started our first vintage. They were pretty dark times back then in the 70s. You couldn't give red wine away. People only wanted to drink riesling which, fortunately we had a fair bit of!" In 1981 Joseph made a wine that is the epitome of Primo Estate. He was enchanted with traditional German sweet whites and longed to make a similar style. A modern method was used to craft a luscious botrytis Riesling. The 1981 Primo Estate Beerenauslese was one of the first of its kind in Australia.

The success of this wine gave Joseph the confidence to experiment with other methods and non-traditional grape varieties. The Primo Estate la biondina is another success story. Harvesting of the Colombard grape is always eagerly awaited. The fermenting grapes produce heady smells in the winery, turning into a wine that is released young and fresh that almost jumps out of the glass.

Primo Estate

In 1987 Joseph with his wife Dina travelled the wine regions of France and Italy. They were taken with the magic of these countries and saw and tasted much of their beauty. They returned after many adventures full of enthusiasm to continue to create their own brand of magic. A new wine was introduced into their range. This time using a traditional Italian method to create a wine with modern breeding. The 1987 'Moda' Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot heralded a new label Joseph and a new beginning.

Working the vintage in Bordeaux Joe and Dina learned about attitude in wine making. What they discovered was considered equally as important as good soil, good climate and good grapes. Wine must, according to those Bordeaux winemakers, be made with serenity. This philosophy was driven home even further when the Grillis' worked two vintages in Italy a few years later. Primo Estate's Il Briccone (the rogue) is a medium weight blend of shiraz and sangiovese with small amounts of barbera and nebbiolo. "This wine has become a major project for us", enthused Joe. Even if people don't know anything about Italian reds I want them to be able to just drink it and enjoy, we want it to parallel our La Biondina, (the little blonde) -our colombard -I know people love drinking that whether they are a wine connoisseur or not."

Primo Estate also have a vineyard just out of Clarendon at Angel Gully. Clarendon is sandwiched between Adelaide and McLaren Vale in an area where you can hardly find any dirt on which to plant vineyards. It's a very hilly and a difficult viticultural area, cooler than McLaren Vale but not as cool as the Central Adelaide Hills. Does the life of the winemaker ever get monotonous? "Never! Each vintage is different - you never know what is going to happen. It's a great lifestyle", says Dina Grilli.

Primo Estate