• Delivery
Wine clubWine clubWine clubWine club
  • Gift registry
  • Wishlist
  • FAQs
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»
William James Maxwell was an architectural sculptor who migrated from Scotland to Australia in 1875. He built a mock castle and established a family vineyard just outside Adelaide, which he named Woodlands Park. His son planted vines in nearby McLaren Vale and his grandson served a term as winemaker for Hardy Wines at the historic Tintara wineworks. William Maxwell's progeny remain in McLaren Vale, producing the southern hemisphere's most successful brands of Honey Mead, as well as vintages of the most extraordinary value in McLaren Vale Shiraz. But what does Maxwell taste like? Gentleman James Halliday describes Maxwell as robust, picking the eyes out of.. Made of mature vine mclaren vale »
Established 1973, Woodlands of Wilyabrup were one of the first vineyards in Margaret River, planted with a view to emulating the great growths of Bordeaux. Recipients of the highly prestigious Jack Mann Memorial Medal and Wine Industry Lifetime Achievement Award for their tremendous vintages of all things Cabernet. Assembling the rich Medoc style blends are what Woodlands do best. Painstakingly crafted by hand, to challenge the primacy of the illustrious Chateaux de la rive gauche, very few vineyards yield the quality of fruit that merits vintaging into a statuesque wine dominated by the prettily fragrant Cabernet Franc. Woodlands were established from the.. The complex bordeaux blend by one of margaret river's founding wineries»
Crafted from small parcels of single vineyard, Gippsland fruit, treated to the traditional old world regimens of whole bunch and wild yeast ferments. These are a range of new world Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to match the classic Cru La Bourgogne, the cool ripening climes provide the perfect chill to encourage velvet tannins. Home Block Chardonnay, a big burgundian style with weighty palate and outstanding length, driven by powerful orchard fruit complexity, supported by textural and seductive, creamy oak richness. Exclusively Myrtle Point grown Pinot Noir, its bright sassafras, cherry fruit complexity is supported by charming pastoral elegance, a touch of.. All that's good from gippsland »

Maxwell Honey Mead CONFIRM VINTAGE

Honey McLaren South Australia
Mead is a unique and rare beverage made by fermenting honey, it's the oldest fermented drink known to mankind, known as ambrosia nectar of the gods by ancient Greeks. The vikings believed it to be an aphrodisiac, the groom and wedding guests indulging it for one month, hence a honeymoon! Maxwell Honey Mead is a favourite drink amongst the growers and winemakers of McLaren Vale where it's regularly mixed with dry ginger ale, it's also a vital ingredient for creative cooking. Try Maxwell on ice or as a refreshing spritzer mixed with light beer.
Available by the dozen
Case of 12
$263.00
Over the years Maxwell have won numerous national and international awards, considered the modern benchmark for this ancient style of wine. Maxwell has been awarded its third consecutive Gold Medal in three showings at the International Mead Festival, the world's largest competition. Following success in both 2003 and 2004 with Maxwell Liqueur Mead in the Dessert category, Maxwell Honey Mead took honours in the varietal section of the 05/06 competition, a category showcasing pure honey wines. International Mead Festival judged Maxwell as best Mead in the world for 2006. Alcohol 12.5%
Deep straw hues. Delicate bouquet of floral beeswax with marmalade aromas. Refreshingly light on the palate, subtle apricot and honey characters fill the mouth, with a satisfyingly clean finish. Ideally served chilled over ice, it can also be used as a mixer with soda water or lemonade. A complement to fine gourmandise, creating delicious chicken courses or sticky pork recipes.
Maxwell
1 - 12 of 15
1 2 next»
1 - 12 of 15
1 2 next»
Maxwell
Since 1979, family owned Maxwell Wines, with its forty acre estate vineyard, has built a reputation for handcrafting superior and world class wines that combine exquisite fruit quality with structure and finesse

The Maxwell family is also famous for its range of Maxwell Meads, being the most significant producer in the southern hemisphere of this time-honoured, delicious and golden fermented honey. As mead is one of the oldest fermented drinks known to mankind, the late Ken Maxwell was inspired to research and produce what are now highly acclaimed as the benchmark of meads in the world. The Maxwell Meads’ purity of flavour is testament to 50 years of family research and development.

Maxwell

There has always been a love of wine and the vine in the Maxwell lineage. William James Maxwell a noted Scottish sculptor, came to Australia in 1875 to do some artistic work on a building in Melbourne. However, the cold damp climate of this city played on his health, so he moved three years later to the much more temperate climate of Adelaide, South Australia.

A few miles south of the city at Edwardstown, he built a mock castle called Woodlands Park, and with the vines on the property made some very acceptable reds that he accumulated in the cellars of his unique home. His son John, with the thought of farming in his mind, acquired a property in the rich valley of McLaren Vale, 40 kilometres south of Adelaide. Here he and his sons ran a mixed farm of fruit, dairy, and of course vines.

His interest in winemaking also led to a period of employment with Hardys at the historic Tintara Winery in the heart of McLaren Vale. In 1970, Ken Maxwell started a small self-contained winery on the eastern edge of his property and named it Daringa Cellars. Here he and wife Margaret made and sold very high quality red and white wine. In addition, they began to sell an ancient drink Mead made from fermented honey. In 1979, Ken sold Daringa to the Dennis family and with Margaret and son Mark started a new venture, an 80 tonne winery called appropriately, Maxwell Wines.

Maxwell

As the popularity of Maxwell Wines and Meads grew through the 1990s, Mark Maxwell realised that more space was needed. He then undertook the mammoth task of relocating the family winery to a site amongst vineyards he had owned since the early 1980s. Situated in the original heart of McLaren Vale just north of the main street on gently rolling hills, this was the perfect place for a new winery to be built into the south-facing limestone hill overlooking the township. Spanning three main levels, the winery was designed to take advantage of gravity flow throughout the winemaking process, contributing to the outstanding quality of the wines. Constructed from limestone and old solid timber, the design also allows visitors the opportunity to view a working winery while sampling the wines and taking in the magnificent views from the cellar door.

Importantly, a special barrel cellar was also designed into the new winery. Hidden away at one end of the winery, the cellar was cut into solid limestone. With a natural earthen floor and impressive limestone walls, the cellar creates an ideal environment of constant temperature and humidity providing a perfect place to mature some of Maxwell’s best wines in barrel.

Mark also expanded the range of wines to include a Verdelho and, as it came into bearing, some Viognier. Outside of the busy vintage time, the Maxwell Mead continued to be made, with the family now recognised as the most significant (and largest) producer of this rare beverage in the southern hemisphere. Hence the winery actually has the dual function of being a meadery as well!

The Maxwell Estate vineyards are some of the most favourably positioned in the McLaren Vale district. They are positioned on the southern slope and crest of Lumb’s Hill, amongst gently rolling hills just one mile north of the McLaren Vale township’s Main Street. Situated on solid limestone and in such proximity to the moderating effects of the Gulf of St Vincent, the conditions in the vineyards are ideal and somewhat blessed for producing small quantities of intensely flavoured grapes.

Maxwell