Established just eleven years after the founding of South Australia, the ancient vines in the Hundred Of Moorooroo were planted circa 1836 by the Jacob brothers, after accompanying Colonel William Light on the Seven Special Surveys expedition to populate Adelaide's north. Moorooroo endures as the nation's cardinal parcel of vine, the mother rootstock for many of the Barossa's most distinguished sites. For over a century, these sacred vines contributed fruit to the Orlando company, where they formed the backbone of countless spectacular historical vintages. Decimated by the government sponsored vine pull schemes of the 1980s, only four rows of these priceless vines were saved by master Ed Schild from complete annihilation. One of the smallest yielding blocks in the land, Moorooroo..
The fruit of vines established 1836»
Clonakilla are one of our nation's most eminent vineyard wineries, a tiny production operation, established by a CSIRO scientist at Murrumbateman, very near Canberra. It turned out to be a fortuitous planting, with a climate not dissimilar to Bordeaux and northern Rhone, the Clonakilla property now occupies a rank next to the mighty Grange on the prestigious Exceptional Langtons Classification, it yields vintages of Australia's most invaluable Shiraz. At $26.99, the estate's entry level belies its stature and excellence within the pantheon of great Australian wine, an essential experience this week for all enthusiasts, a canny choice for shrewd and judicious aspirants of elite new world Shiraz...
Here's what our most picky pundits prefer»
Hints of black cherry, plum and a caramel sweetness are embedded within the many layers of complexity. The Edwards are a well established family of agriculturalists with a long history of farming McLaren Vale for generations... More»
Rich, ripe dark berry fruit complemented by layers of spice, dried herbs and chocolate. Penny's Hill was declared Australia's Best Boutique Wine in 2006 and Australia's Best Boutique Shiraz in 2007... More»
Ripe blackberry fruit palate, currant and red cherry flavours, the savouryness of olive and tobacco. Mike Press knows about red wine, he learned his craft at Penfolds while working alongside the man who created the... More»
Lively upfront lemon zest with a slatey minerality not normally seen from this vineyard. Daniel James Wilson would write DJW rules on school book covers, desks, garden edgings and wet concrete whenever the opportunity... More»
Mid weight palate with some Cabernet cedar up front that leads to soft Shiraz richness. The first block of Brokenwood vines ever planted were on a cricket pitch... More»
The highlight is a purity of fine chardonnay fruit flavours, Picardy appeals as the quality of West Australian fruit shines within a fine Chablis styling. Picardy is a traditional Burgundian style of Chardonnay with impressive aromatics and profound fruit character... More»
Halls Gap Vineyard was planted 1969, along the steep eastern slopes and parched rocky crags of Grampians Ranges, at the very beginning of a renaissance in Victorian viticulture. Since early establishment in the 1860s by the noble Houses of Seppelt and Bests, the region had earned the most elite peerage, a provenance of extraordinary red wines, bursting with bramble opulence and lined with limousin tannins. The Halls Gap property had long been respected as a venerable supplier to the nation's most illustrious brands. Seppelt and Penfolds called on harvests from Halls Gap for their finest vintages. Until 1996, when it was acquired by the late, great Trevor Mast, who was very pleased to bottle Hall Gap's fruit behind the exhalted label of Mt Langi Ghiran. Halls Gap joined the tally of Circe estate vineyards in 2013, whence it yields a..
Land of the fallen giants»
The Australian winemaking industry is grateful to Leontine O'Shea, instrumental in the establishment of Mount Pleasant wines, she sent her son Maurice to France for an education in viticulture right at the outbreak of World War I, gifting him his first Hunter Valley vineyard in 1921. Mount Pleasant are now custodians of some grand old sites, a canon of small, elite blocks of vine that yield a precious range of icon wines, which represent peerless value and readily disappear before release of the following vintage...
The legacy of grand old hunter valley vineyards»