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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 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.. Polly & the pyre to paradise»
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 Summerton and a highly opportune slice of a slope on the lofty altitudes of Piccadilly Valley... The twin tales of terre a terre»
Rolf Binder
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Rolf Binder
Magpie Estate is a joint venture which began in 1993, between winemaker Rolf Binder and English wine merchant Noel Young

Rolf's story begins in 1950 when his parents arrived from Austria and Hungary, part of the large influx of post war immigration to Australia. They worked with the Victorian railways for three years. During that time they met Elmore Schulz a train driver and a grape grower in the Barossa Valley. In 1953 they picked grapes in the Barossa, met Chris Vohrer and Wilhem Abel and in 1954 worked a vintage in their winery. This is the old winery on Langmeil Road, which they purchased in 1955.

Rolf Binder

The demand at this time was for fortified wines but slowly a market increased for red table wines from immigrants working at the new industries in Whyalla, Port Pirie and Port Augusta. Highlights include the first of the Bulls Blood which was made in 1967 and was called 'Bikaver'. Later came the realization of the great riches of the Barossa Valley in old vine shiraz, mataro and grenache. Experiments at Veritas and a number of other, mostly small Barossa wineries followed and led through the 1980's to the release of many exciting old vine varietal blends.

Veritas slowly gained recognition and in 1996 and 1997 was awarded the Trophy for Best Small Producer at the Barossa Wine Show and the Trophy for the Best Barossa Shiraz. In 2002 Veritas again won the Trophy for the Best Small Producer. More recently Veritas has been awarded twice in 2002 and 2003 the Trophy for the Best Semillon at the Barossa Wine Show. In 2002 Veritas were the makers of the top three pointed semillons at the Barossa Show and included the gold medal and trophy winning wine.

"2003 Rolf Binder Wines Grenache / Mourvedre / Shiraz Heinrich. From one of Australia’s finest winemakers, this wine stood out brilliantly for its precision, richness, complexity, and ageworthiness. In addition, some very good bargains are available from this talented producer!" -Robert Parker, "The change of name from Veritas to Rolf Binder came with the 50th anniversary of the winery, established by Rolf's and sister Christa Deans' parents. The growth in production and sales is due to the quality of the wines rather than the (hitherto) rather laid-back approach to marketing!" -James Halliday

Rolf Binder

Wine merchant Noel Young is based in Cambridge U.K. and holds a real passion for the Rhone varieties that matched Rolf's own. Most of the Magpie Estate's production are released into the English market with smaller parcels kept for Australia. The grapes used for Magpie wines are from spme of the better vineyards in South Australia as well as the estate's own. Noel likes more new oak than you would find in Rolf Binder's estate grown Veritas wines, and he takes the trip to Australia twice per year so that he and Rolf together can taste the various parcels of wine and agree on final blends for bottling.

The Magpie expression changes from label to label and this is done to poke fun at wine pretension. The range can vary from vintage to vintage and the following wines have been made over the last few years.

  • Magpie Estate ‘The Thief’ Barossa Valley Mourvedre Grenache. The mouvedre (mataro) in the Veritas Bulls Blood is made from the heavy grape skin mat left over after the ‘free run’ juice is run off. Some of this juice which is light in colour, like a rose, but high in alcohol goes into ‘The Thief’. The Grenache can have a number of sources. The blend percentage varies but is around 50%-50%.
  • Magpie Estate ‘The Schnell’ Barossa Valley Grenache Shiraz. Sourced from a wide number of growers and in the case of the 2003 this numbered eight. A delicious early drinking style and while the varietal percentage will vary it is about 50%-50%.
  • Magpie Estate ‘The Fakir’ Barossa Valley Grenache. Sourced from a number of vineyards for the first few years but is now mostly sourced from James Mader vineyard that lies on the valley floor at Light Pass in the Northern Barossa Valley. The winemaking team at Magpie Estate like to keep their options open about the final blend.
  • Magpie Estate ‘The Sack’ Barossa Valley Shiraz. A wine designed to cellar. Sourced from many growers, a tonne here and a tonne there, from old school friends and a circle of closely knit growers.

Rolf Binder