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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.. Polly & the pyre to paradise»
Marlborough viticulture owes much to the import of emigres from war torn Europe. Many were skilled fruit growers while others were passionate winemakers. They quickly discovered the magical affinity between aromatic white varietals and the mistral valleys of Te Wai Pounamu... Match a meal with maria»
Lured to Australia by Alfred Deakin in 1887, the Chaffey Brothers were American irrigation engineers who took up a challenge to develop the dust bowls ofRenmark and Mildura into fruit growing wonderlands. They left our nation an extraordinary legacy and their progeny continue to make good wine. Several generations later, the Chaffey Bros are focused on the fruit of some grand old Barossa and Eden Valley sites. Chosen harvests of extraordinary grapes are the ticket for admission into the exclusive club of Chaffey vineyards. Shiraz is made in several different styles and there's a penchant for obscure white varietals in the Mosel River way. They make wine according to the art of the Parfumier, nothing is.. A splendour of salient sites»
By Farr
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By Farr
None of the By Farr wines are mainstream, they are an expressions of the vineyard - earth and dirt are what Nick and Gary Farr like to drink - that's what they promise to deliver

Gary was the winemaker at Bannockburn Vineyards since its inception in 1978 and gained an enviable reputation for Bannockburn Wines and more recently, his own By Farr wines. His experience as a hands-on winemaker has been enhanced by 12 vintages at Domain Dujac in Burgundy, France, and vintages in the USA at Cristom, Oregon and Calera, California. He has made numerous sojourns to other areas such as the Rhone Valley in France, where his appreciation of Shiraz and Voignier has been incorporated in his current winemaking.

By Farr

Gary was introduced to winemaking through retailing when, soon after leaving school, he worked for some of Melbourne’s most prestigious wine specialists and completed the wine marketing course at Roseworthy. He joined the Yellowglen Bannockburn partnership. Not content with the results of traditional Australian winemaking techniques of the time, his true education began in 1983 when he completed his first vintage at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy.

Since then (for almost a decade) Gary had continued to follow vintage at Bannockburn with a vintage at Domaine Dujac. In 1983, he started what was to become a regular pilgrimage to Domaine Dujac in Burgundy. There he found that whilst Australian technology was superior, to gain complexity from cool grown fruit he needed to adapt to the methods used by the traditional French vignerons.

Starting with the 1984 vintage Gary applied the techniques learned in France to his pinot noir, whole bunches with stalks fermented in large, open, cylindrical stainless steel vats. The traditional process required him to plunge into the tank, immersing his body into the wine to break up the ‘hot spots’ that occurred in this uneven and ancient form of winemaking. This method, called pigeage is still practised today in production of great burgundies.

By Farr

Gary's uncompromising attitude towards his vineyard and winemaking enables him to make the style of wines he likes to drink. They have attitude and a great depth of character with understated finesse. Gary Farr was Quantas/Wine Magazine Winemaker of the Year 2001 after being runner up in 2000. In 2003 he was voted equal 4th best living winemaker by his peers (The Age 28th May 2003).

Along with his son Nick (who makes his own wine under the Farr Rising Label) he has a total of 12ha in two blocks planted to pinot noir, chardonnay, viognier and shiraz - the second block of which he says "couldn't be a more perfect spot". He hankered after the 7.2ha of thinly covered limestone for 25 years but it's owner had resisted all entreaties to buy, bequeathing it to locals. When no surviving members of the family could be traced however, it was put up for auction and Farr secured what he feels will become a great vineyard.

Gary somehow managed to combine his role as chief winemaker at Bannockburn with his full-time duties on his own estate. Nick is the epitome of enthusiasm and individuality, he brings to the operation his own tastes and ideas. Nick has taken the next step as a winemaker, crafting wines which truly reflect the individual vineyard sight from which the grapes are picked. His vintages show excellent fruit, flavour and finesse. Their collaboration across a generation has produced two distinct winemaking styles that have received critical acclaim in Australia and overseas.

By Farr