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An ongoing resurrection of some fabulous old vines, a distinguished Blewitt Springs site and a range of the most spectacular McLaren Vale wines. When Kelly and Bondar acquired Rayner Vineyard in 2013, they knew that everything depended on the management of site and soil to achieve the excellence of wine they had in mind. The most fastidious husbanding regimens and a tightly scheduled evolution towards organic viticulture, the propitious Rayner vines have never yielded finer harvests, all translating into a tour de force across the entire Bondar range. Salient quality and penurious pricing make for a compelling mix. Old vines grown to salubrious soils, the harvest timed to perfection, a precision picking of fruit at just the right hour of day, aimed at capturing and bottling the.. Model mclaren macerations»
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»

John Duval Plexus MRV CONFIRM VINTAGE

Marsanne Rousanne Viognier Barossa South Australia
Behind every great winemaker is a great winemaker's wife. Robert recounts how he finally gave in to Mrs Duval's pleas and created his first white wine. An artisan may spend decades refining his skills but a woman's intuition rules. Duval's Rhone styled cepage of Marsanne, Rousanne and Viognier has been a runaway success. Duval's aim with Plexus MRV is to promote a vibrant expression of fruit aromas from the interaction of the three varieties, to build structure and texture on the palate, rather than the blend's familiar acid crispness.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$173.50
Two thirds of Plexus MRV is Marsanne grown to splendid vineyards in Marananga and Seppeltfield. A quarter of Roussanne is sourced from Kalimna and the balance of Viognier from Eden Valley. Gentle pressings of the fruit are combined with free run juices and cold settled. Vinification is initiated in fermenters, portions of Marsanne and Viognier complete their course in barrel where they remain until August. The remaining batches of Marsanne and Roussanne are aged on lees to enhance structure and infuse textures into the completed wine. A total of half the components are matured in a selection of mostly seasoned, fine grain French oak barrels for six months.
Attractive pale straw with lime hues. Fresh lifted aromas of stone fruit, honey suckle and citrus. Medium bodied with superb texture and mouthfeel. Flavours of mandarin and pear, fennel and Asian spice. Finishes on a note of citrus with minimal acidity. Drinking beautifully on release with the certainty of waxing wonderful complexity, toasted honey varietal characters as it continues to evolve.
John Duval
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John Duval
John Duval is one of the world's best known winemakers, the poud heir of a family tradition that boasts four generations of South Australian vignerons

He has been saluted many times on the world stage, notably International Winemaker of the Year 1989 and twice Red Winemaker of the Year in 1991 and 2000. After 29 years as a winemaker with Penfolds, one of the world's most famous wineries, John Duval embarked on his own wine label in 2003. John believes he has indeed been fortunate throughout his career, graduating in agriculture and winemaking in 1973 at Adelaide University. John has followed in the footsteps of some of the greats of Australian winemaking such as Max Schubert, the creator of Penfolds Grange and Don Ditter, another famous Penfolds winemaker of the 1970s and early '80s.

John Duval

There was of course a family precedent to all of this - the Duval family had for many years run a world famous sheep stud and quality vineyards south of Adelaide, coincidentally supplying Shiraz grapes and vine cuttings to Penfolds. So John Duval was never a newcomer to wine. He was appointed Chief Winemaker at Penfolds in 1986 and was lucky enough to oversee one of the most dynamic periods of change in the Australian wine industry.

With the support of a dynamic winemaking team in the Barossa, John secured a number of awards for the company - Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine and Spirit Competition in London in 1989; Red Winemaker of the Year at the International Wine Challenge in London in 1991 and again in 2000; and seeing the 1990 Penfolds Grange named the Wine of the Year by the prestigious US magazine Wine Spectator in 1995.

Toward the end of 2002, John retired from Southcorp after a distinguished career of 28 years, including 16 years as Chief Winemaker for Penfolds. John embarked on the development of his own label in 2003 using old vine Barossa Valley fruit and has created two stunning wines that reflect the terroir of the Barossa and the hand crafted attention of John Duval.

John Duval

Since leaving Penfolds John Duval has consulted to a number of international wine companies in Europe, South America and Australia, including vintner partner in the Long Shadows venture at Washington. The inaugural 2003 Sequel Shiraz was released in late 2005. In Chile John has helped to produce Pangea, highlighting the premium Syrah of the Apalta Valley. In Australia John has consulted to a project using old vine McLaren Vale Shiraz to produce Songlines Shiraz (sold in UK and Australia) and Oriel Sygnet (sold in the US).

Today, John rarely gets enough time to spend at home back in the Barossa, but he does insist on securing at least four uninterrupted months around vintage to make his own branded label wines. John clearly loves working with the fruit that comes from the old vines of the region, so he launched his namesake label with 'Plexus', a Rhone style blend of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre, closely followed in 2006 released with his first pure Shiraz, 'Entity'. John also plans to release small quantities of a reserve Shiraz, further highlighting the premium quality fruit from the Barossa.

"John Duval Wines will never be another Penfolds - it is simply my chance to express my 30 odd years of premium winemaking knowledge using some of the best fruit in the world. I hope you enjoy the wines."

John Duval