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Andrew Nugent grew up next door to the great historical wineworks at Penfolds Magill. He honed his craft as viticulturalist and vigneron amongst the illustrious wineries of old McLaren Vale. In the 1990s, Nugent planted new vines at Woodside along Bird In Hand Road, on the site of an ancient gold mine, a godsend of fortuitously fertile soils and magnificent mesoclimes for stellar quality Adelaide Hills wine. Bird In Hand have since amassed a breathtaking tally of international accolades for the unrivalled excellence of their superlative vintages, wonderfully small batch releases, with the magnificence of structure, seamlessness and immaculacy of fruit, to enthuse curio and cognescenti alike... Vivid vintages from the tailings of adelaide hills»
It was a matrimony between an American biochemist and the founder of Margaret River Devils Lair, that set the scene for one of the nation's most illustrious estates. A member of the Top 1OO Wineries of World, Giant Steps were established 1997, with a view to assembling an elite range of limited release Yarra Valley vintages. Crafted from the fruit of superior sites, some yielding just a few hundred cases each year, these are exclusive editions from bespoke parcels of elite terroir, bearing the curiously cryptic monikers of precious blocks of vine, Gruyere Farm, Applejack and Wombat Creek. Fashioned for aficianados of the euro style, defined by their winsome fruit and graceful tannins, the Giant Steps.. Big wines from little vineyards»
Ken Helm A.M. received the Order of Australia for his work with Riesling, for his contribution to the Australian wine industry, for his support of cool climate wine producers and service to the Canberra community. Helm placed the Canberra region firmly on the map for world class wines after his inaugural 1977 release won significant international accolades. Ken's flagship wines are Riesling and Cabernet, he retains strong ties with eminent wine makers around the globe. Trips to the vineyards and wineries of Mosel, the Rhine valley and Bordeaux provide new inspiration and contribute to the development of his Canberra wines. In 2000 Ken instigated the Canberra International Riesling Challenge, his.. Meet one of our nation's most peer respected winemakers»
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.. The fruit of vines established 1836»

Arakoon Sellicks Beach Shiraz CONFIRM VINTAGE

Shiraz McLaren Vale South Australia
Ray and Patrik Jones first venture into wine culture was a proposal for a film featuring industry savant James Halliday as anchorman. Set near the juncture of Kangarilla and Tatachilla Roads at McLaren Vale, the father and son operation release small amounts of hand made wine. Arakoon are somewhat more elegant and understated, a stylistic objective achieved through extended post ferment maceration and supple new French oak. Sellicks Beach conjures violet and spiced plums over a heady touch of bourbon barrel and creamy, mocha tannins.
Arakoon is the aboriginal name of a forest that was known to the indigenous people for it's proximity to water. Jones & Son are upfront about their penchant for Burgundy but what they do is completely McLaren Vale. They collate hand chosen parcels of Shiraz from good growers in the Sellicks Beach and Willunga districts, grapes are painstakingly handled and sorted. Foot crushing, boots on, is the practice, and for the most part all wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered. Parcels are inoculated and vinified in traditional open vats, treated to an extended maceration and gentle transfer through a hand operated basket press before maturation in a combination of French and American oaks.
Deep red colour. Aromas of chocolate and plum, lifted baking spice, mullberry and ground black pepper. An array of black berry and cherry flavours kept vital by bright morello acidity. Seamless integration between good fruit, velvet tannins and fine oak, a smoky depth and lick of vanilla spice linger right through to the savoury finish.
Shiraz
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Arakoon
Arakoon aspire to make elegant, restrained and sophisticated wines that will complement food, as wine should be drunk with fine food and good company

Let there be no doubt, the wine is made in the vineyard. The source fruit can vary greatly from vintage to vintage. In order to obtain a certain degree of consistency, batches are processed as separately as possible followed by a final blending, assembling wines into unique styles. Elegance with power, aspirations which are not always easy to reach. Arakoon maximize quality by interacting with growers as much as possible, and by choosing growers who are interested in producing high quality fruit, rather than just high quantity. Processing, maturation, blending and bottling are also important and that is where the winemaking part comes in.

Arakoon

Arakoon aim at producing styles which the winemakers themselves would like to drink. Inspirational producers around the world include amongst others: Guigal, Graillot, Rayas, Clape, Pegau, Trevallon, Rousseau and J.J. Confuron (reds), and FX Pichler, Knoll, Coche-Dury, Marcel Deiss and JJ Prum (whites). Whithin Australia, Arakoon are fans of Mount Mary, Noons, Bowen's, Summerfield, Wendouree, Lakes Folly and Jasper Hill. Notably, Australia and McLaren Vale produces grapes that differ from the European favourites, so physical emulations are therefore impossible. The quality however that these producers routinely achieve is very much a target to emulate.

Arakoon believe that experimentation is the key to achieving higher and higher levels of quality. It is easy to make a prediction of what happens in response to certain treatments, however, any real answer will only come from trials. Tests are routinely conducted with synthetic corks vs. a range of natural corks, the number of times a wine should be racked, the effect of fining rates, primary fermentation in barrel vs. vat, pre- and post-fermentation maceration, etc... and there is more to come.

After tasting Arakoon you may become surprised that some of the wines taste quite different from most other South Australians, more elegant and understated perhaps. This is a stylistic objective resulting from extended maceration post-fermentation, the use of subtle new French oak amongst other old barrels and blending towards the above stated aim. These styles sometimes are a better match with food rather than big and overtly fruity wines.

Arakoon

Wines are graded into a big and a light or elegant group. The big group contains the Big, fat & gutsy (BFG), the Sellicks Beach and the Doyen. The remainder are more on the lighter side. Sellicks Beach/BFG blend is based on little new wood and wines that have a porty, jammy element in them, whilst reserve Shiraz and the doyen are more stamped by subtle new French oak and varietal aromas. The Lighthouse/DBB blend is an attempt at producing an elegant Cabernet Shiraz modeled after the likes of Dom. du Trevallon in Provence.

Arakoon don't own or manage vineyards but they have firm views on viticulture. Since inaugural vintage, Aakoon have brought in grapes from vines that have yielded miserably and from vines that have had reasonably large crops, from vines that were two years young, up to a hundred years old, from vines that have ripened their fruit early and late, and with varying degrees of ripeness (10.5 to over 16% potential alcohol!). In Summary, the best wine so far (doyen) have come from two year old vines that ripened early. Arakoon have seen examples where low yielding vines produce wine that is not too special, whilst reasonably high yielding vines give very nice fruit (and therefore wine). At vintage, Arakoon produce a large range of varying batches that differ in grape, geographical origin and winemaking treatments. Some vineyards are harvested at two ripeness levels. The different batches are kept separate all the way until blending. For such a tiny winery, Arakoon can end up with a substantial number of batches, between 15-25 depending on the vintage. Subsequently the batches are grouped according to style or potential. Not only structure, but flavours are considered.

In essence, Arakoon aim at styles, as opposed to grape varieties and origin. McLaren Vale is famous for big, fruity wines that are influenced by new american oak. Not all wines are that way of course, but, it could be argued that this is somewhat of a South Australian style, if any. Arakoon on the other hand are quite subdued and different stylistically from the South Australian style. It comes down to a consistent employment of post-ferment maceration and choice of oak. Blending also plays a role. Like Frank Sinatra, Arakoon like things done their own way! The only way to really find out for yourself is not to read, but to try it out in practice.

Arakoon