Kooyong Estate only make limited editions from tiny blocks of vine, a hectare or less, which yield deeply personal wines, highly eloquent of their terroir, aspect and clime. There are the pebbled ironstone soils of Farrago, which create an uncannily Burgundesque style of Chardonnay, redolent of grapefruits, mealy bran and wet flint. The precious half hectare at Faultline articulates the savouryness of seaweed and struck match. The sheltered lee of Haven Block encourages the grapes to bloom with chewy red jube characters. The windswept parcel at Meres infuses wonderfully perfumed rhubarb and ribena notes into a velvetine tannin structure. All are equally remarkable for their individuality, they speak of little places, husbanded to artisanal winemaking practices, the most wonderful..
Venerable vintages from the most precious parcels»
Somewhere near the Seaview end of McLaren Vale's Chapel Hill Road, a perfunctory passerine perched her pincers astride a pair of power poles and saw herself alit. Down she went amongst the dry grown branches of an old Grenache vineyard, setting the valuable veterans ablaze. The scorched site eventually came to the attention of a winemaking trio, the Messrs Leske, Tynan & Cooke, Masters of Wine and a venerable vintner, all driven by a consuming passion to make greater Grenache. Thistledown vintage very small amounts of the most extraordinary Grenache. Beautifully detailed and conspicuously elegant, their floral bouquets and graceful finish emulate the aromatic lift and peacock's tail of a prettily perfumed Pinot Noir. Magnificent to savour as a captivating aperitif, a bliss alongside..
Polly & the pyre to paradise»
Touches of cedary oak and some complex pine needle and herbal nuances add to the appeal of the bouquet. The late, great Greg Trott, patriarch of Wirra Wirra, saw many of his unusual dreams realised, such as the construction... 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»
Restrained chocolate oak behind a complexity of dried fruit characters. An exclusively Strathbogie Ranges Shiraz, most of the grapes come from Rocky Hill Block at Whitegate, with a further component... More»
Lovely primary forest fruits and red currants with traces of spice and silky milk chocolate tannins at the finish. Planted in 1991 and added to the Penny's Hill estate vineyard group in 1993, Malpas Road is named after the... More»
The palate displays vibrant rich plum and raspberry fruits infused with bitter chocolate and aniseed that fill the mouth. RSW is an acronym for Robert Strangways Wigley... More»
Fresh and ripe crushed strawberries and red cherries contribute to fruit depth and length. Mrs Wigley was a particular pussycat who was born at the neighbouring Petrucci residence... More»
Jim Barry was a pioneer of the Australian wine industry, the first academically qualified winemaker to take up Clare Valley viticulture in 1949. He had an uncanny intuition for good land and established some of the most illustrious vineyards on the continent. Jim Barry is also a patriarch of the Coonawarra, in pursuit of the perfect terroir for Cabernet Sauvignon, he planted vines on the ancient Penola Cricket Oval, preserving the original pavilion for posterity. Jim Barry endures as one of the nation's most distinguished brands, renowned throughout the world of wine for decades of the most remarkable vintages, an evolving range of superior vineyard editions, defined by their penetrating fruit and seamless tannins, essential for every enthusiast of identifiably Australian, claret style Cabernet..
Salient statements from superior sites»
Geoff Hardy's family have been making Australian wine since 1857. Geoff grew up amongst the most distinguished vineyards in our land and he knows from good red wine. He retains access to the finest fruit in McLaren Vale and is the man behind many of our nation's most memorable vintages. Undercover is a moniker that Geoff has assigned to a collation of exceptional parcels, albeit bottled behind an abstruse label to secrete the provenance of a spectacular Shiraz. Gold Medal Winner & Best Value at the hotly contested 2016 China Wine & Spirit Awards, the pick of crop this week, seriously..
Sound shiraz for the savvy & shrewd»