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 and established a vineyard called Bellvale. It is now a place of fully mature vines and old world Burgundian techniques, sur lie..
Placing pinot amongst the pastures»
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..
Land of the fallen giants»
Fragrant varietal lift with bright red fruit aromatics of raspberry and plum. Church Block was the first wine which the late Greg Trott produced under the Wirra Wirra label back in 1972... More»
A superb balance of fruit freshness, blackberries and spiced plum, cocoa and carob notes over a length of firm but silky tannins which are recognizably Taltarn. A Victorian flagship effort in the uniquely Australian experience of icon Shiraz Cabernet wines... More»
Medium bodied, the lively palate offers zesty lemon/ lime flavours combined whith guava and hints of thyme and spice. Is it from Margaret River, classicaly fruit driven and rejuvenatingly dry? you bet! Xanadu were one of the regional pioneers... More»
Very bright and inviting with red berry aromas. A stylish wine crafted from the holy triumvirate of sparkling grape varietals, Taltarni were one of Australia's first wineries to... More»
The palate dominated by a citrus backbone and fleshed out with the texture of oak barrel ferments and malolactic. Three quarters Semillon, the balance in Sauvignon Blanc, from fruit selectively hand picked and sorted off dry grown estate vines... More»
The palate is refined and elegant, mouthfilling with plums and mulberry, black cherry fruits and long, persistent fine grained tannins. Robert Strangways Wigley was an eccentric South Australian cricketer who established Wirra Wirra in 1894... More»
Boutique winemaking affords great advantages, every vine can be uniquely husbanded, quality control is maximised, each barrel can be individually sampled and assembled into the perfect cuvee. Engineering types are innately suited to such viticulture. Colin Best embarked upon his sabbatical to the great vineyards of Burgundy's Cote d'Or. He returned to plant Pinot Noir on a craggy half hectare near Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills. An ancient masonry wool mill was outfitted for winemaking and Leabrook Estate was born. This is an aesthetic range of meticulously crafted, limited vintages, fashioned for the aficianado of bespoke, small batch, little vineyard wines...
The lobethal libations of leabrook»
Balgownie are one of our nation's great small vineyards, pioneers of the reprise in Bendigo viticulture, with the foresight to establish vines in 1969, the first local plantings in over eighty years. Grown to terrains very near the tailings of Victoria's original gold rush, the auspicious Balgownie vines yield discreet yet exquisite harvests of the most edifying and undervalued Victorian vintages. A bespoke favourite amongst enthusiasts of the old school style in elegant and finely boned Aussie Shiraz, Balgownie represent the essential accompaniment to meaty eggplant inspired recipes, or a princely roast of lamb, the best of..
Balgownie begets the best of bendigo»