• Delivery
Wine clubWine clubWine clubWine club
  • Gift registry
  • Wishlist
  • FAQs
Planted to the tranquil Shangri-La of a sun warmed slope in Yarra Valley, TarraWarra was established 1983 by the founders of the Sussan and Sportsgirl brands. Philanthropists and patrons of the arts, Mr and Mrs Besen, AO and AO respectively, took a highly aesthetic approach to the pursuit of viticulture. Healthy soils and happy fauna were the means to an end, good wine comes from a sound ecology, but great wine needs the inspiration of a holistic engagement with the arts. It is here at Healesville that habitues can savour the Sauvignon while immersing themselves amongst the work of our national masters. A costly collection of canvas by our merry Messrs Boyd.. Take the trek to tarrawarra»
An ongoing resurrection of some fabulous old vines, a distinguished Blewitt Springs site and a range of the most spectacular McLaren Vale wines. When Kelly and Bondar acquired Rayner Vineyard in 2013, they knew that everything depended on the management of site and soil to achieve the excellence of wine they had in mind. The most fastidious husbanding regimens and a tightly scheduled evolution towards organic viticulture, the propitious Rayner vines have never yielded finer harvests, all translating into a tour de force across the entire Bondar range. Salient quality and penurious pricing make for a compelling mix. Old vines grown to salubrious soils, the.. Model mclaren macerations»
Dr Frederick Kiel would take the trek by paddle steamer from Melbourne every summer during the late 1800s to spend his summers at Sorrento. His children established a grazing station nearby, on a property acquired from the Baillieu family along Portsea Ocean Beach, ultimately planted to vineyards in 2000. These are the most extreme western longitudes of Mornington, the undulating paddocks and sweeping views of tempestuous Bass Strait are a magical place for growing Burgundesque styles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, well protected north facing parcels of propitious free draining limestone and calcareous sands. The windswept maritime vineyards of little Portsea.. Mornington's westernmost vineyards»
Returning to his home along the Nagambie Lakes after the completion of service during World War II, Eric Purbrick discovered a cache of wine, hidden circa 1876 under the family estate cellars. Though pale in colour, it was sound and drinkable after seven decades. The promise of long lived red wine inspired Purbrick to establish new plantings at Chateau Tahbilk in 1949, today they are some of Victoria's oldest productive Cabernet Sauvignon vines. Having barely scraped through the ravages of phyloxera and a period of disrepute, the fortunes of Tahbilk were turned around by Purbrick who was the first to market Australian wine under its varietal name. Tahbilk.. Phyloxera, ancient cellars & seriously old vines»

Primo Estate Merlesco Merlot CONFIRM VINTAGE

Merlot McLaren Vale South Australia
Hey there gastronauts and bon vivants, here's a secret Joe Grilli's family have known for generations, that fresh young reds are quite often, best enjoyed lightly chilled. Perfect for sharing with friends on a warm summer evening, Merlesco is a deliciously uncomplicated, juicy Merlot wine for unwinding after a hot and bothered day. The team at Primo are not going to tell you how to drink it but this one keeps popping up whenever mates and good food are around.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$143.50
Merlesco combines fruit from two McLaren Vale sites. The McMurtrie Road property on the valley floor enjoys sunny days and cooling evening breezes from the nearby ocean. Primo's dry grown, shale strewn, Angel Gully in the subregion of Clarendon is the highest vineyard in McLaren Vale, where it enjoys a long, slow growing season with cool evenings and warm days. Harvesting Merlot throughout the chill of night and treating it to a cool fermentation keeps the grapes pristine for a wine that's rich, soft and full of juicy fruit. A regimen of light pumpovers adds extra colour, followed by gentle air bag pressing and four months spent softening in old oak barrels to keep the flavours fresh and young.
Bright purple red colour. Fresh blackberry, blueberries and cherry dominate the bouquet. Juicy young fruits of the forest flavours are balanced by good acidity and soft tannins. Delighfully fruit driven with less than a whisper of oak, this is not for the cellar. Merlesco has nailed the style in a deliciously refreshing and quaffable wine, an invigorating young red to be drunk chilled. It will taste even better served out of tumblers, alongside antipasto and pizzette.
Primo Estate
1 - 12 of 16
1 2 next»
1 - 12 of 16
1 2 next»
Primo Estate
Primo Grilli planted his vineyard in 1973 a a spot 30 kilometres north of Adelaide within the rich fertile market gardening land of Virginia

Only 3 kilometres from the coast, Virginia enjoys the benefits of the cool sea breezes that sweep over the plains in the evenings. Primo built his vineyard with passion and understood completely the life of a vine. The grapes were grown to be turned into wine. His eldest son Joseph grew up with the vines tending them with the rest of the family. Joseph was to be a winemaker. It was not a conscious choice, not an expectation, just a progression, what he had to be. From his very first vintage, at age 20, Primo Estate's Joe Grilli wanted to create revolutionary wines. Ever since, Joe has been doing exactly that; creating some wonderfully dazzling and unconventional wines under the Joseph and Primo Estate labels.

Primo Estate

In 1979 Joseph completed his oenology course at Roseworthy Agricultural College and this coincided with the first vintage of Primo Estate. At this time the Australian wine industry was experiencing a renaissance and was leading the world with the new technology of winemaking. Joseph embraced these ideas. His dreams and passion, however, were the great wine styles of the world. He was consumed with his role as winemaker and from the outset used innovative techniques such as double pruning to make his wine.

"The vines were 6 years old when we started our first vintage. They were pretty dark times back then in the 70s. You couldn't give red wine away. People only wanted to drink riesling which, fortunately we had a fair bit of!" In 1981 Joseph made a wine that is the epitome of Primo Estate. He was enchanted with traditional German sweet whites and longed to make a similar style. A modern method was used to craft a luscious botrytis Riesling. The 1981 Primo Estate Beerenauslese was one of the first of its kind in Australia.

The success of this wine gave Joseph the confidence to experiment with other methods and non-traditional grape varieties. The Primo Estate la biondina is another success story. Harvesting of the Colombard grape is always eagerly awaited. The fermenting grapes produce heady smells in the winery, turning into a wine that is released young and fresh that almost jumps out of the glass.

Primo Estate

In 1987 Joseph with his wife Dina travelled the wine regions of France and Italy. They were taken with the magic of these countries and saw and tasted much of their beauty. They returned after many adventures full of enthusiasm to continue to create their own brand of magic. A new wine was introduced into their range. This time using a traditional Italian method to create a wine with modern breeding. The 1987 'Moda' Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot heralded a new label Joseph and a new beginning.

Working the vintage in Bordeaux Joe and Dina learned about attitude in wine making. What they discovered was considered equally as important as good soil, good climate and good grapes. Wine must, according to those Bordeaux winemakers, be made with serenity. This philosophy was driven home even further when the Grillis' worked two vintages in Italy a few years later. Primo Estate's Il Briccone (the rogue) is a medium weight blend of shiraz and sangiovese with small amounts of barbera and nebbiolo. "This wine has become a major project for us", enthused Joe. Even if people don't know anything about Italian reds I want them to be able to just drink it and enjoy, we want it to parallel our La Biondina, (the little blonde) -our colombard -I know people love drinking that whether they are a wine connoisseur or not."

Primo Estate also have a vineyard just out of Clarendon at Angel Gully. Clarendon is sandwiched between Adelaide and McLaren Vale in an area where you can hardly find any dirt on which to plant vineyards. It's a very hilly and a difficult viticultural area, cooler than McLaren Vale but not as cool as the Central Adelaide Hills. Does the life of the winemaker ever get monotonous? "Never! Each vintage is different - you never know what is going to happen. It's a great lifestyle", says Dina Grilli.

Primo Estate