Coonawarra graziers have access to the finest soils for viticulture. Doug Balnaves was born in the very heart of Coonawarra, quite near the sacred cricket pitch at Penola. An accomplished herdsman and shearer, Balnaves took up the challenge of planting vineyards in 1971. Working under the tutelage of legendary Coonawarra winemaker Bill Redman, Balnaves immersed himself in the culture of the vine, ultimately establishing a grande marque of Coonawarra and securing the inaugural presidency of the Coonawarra Vignerons Association. He remains a lifelong member of the Penola Pipe Band. For those who like their wines structured yet satin, powerful yet prettily perfumed, in the mouthfillingly muscular Coonawarra way, the Balnaves brand endures in the tradition of world class vintages grown to..
The old sheep shearer's shanty»
Jane Mitchell is one of Clare Valley's leading wine industry identities, Clare Valley Legend and Clare Valley Winemakers Hall of Fame, Centenary Federation of Australia Medal, SA Tourism Commission, Australian Regional Winemakers Forum, Wine Federation of Australia Council and Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation Board. Mitchell's largest vineyard is at Watervale, a very bleak place in the middle of winter at pruning time. It is known by the vineyard workers as Alcatraz, a place to do penance in the cold, wind and rain of a Clare Valley winter. Alcatraz only ever yields minimal harvests, source of the most memorable vintages in our nation's..
These old clare valley vines are just getting better»
Fine, crisp and well balanced, making for an elegant wine with good persistence. Lock & Key have placed Hilltops firmly on the map with their fresh and dry, fragrant articulation of Riesling... More»
The nose expresses soil, earth and vinuous tones of vibrant black jelly fruit. In the early 1980s, due to lack of demand, the government paid incentives to growers to rip out their vines... More»
Fruit sweetness welcomes you to the palate, Cienna is soft and juicy with a refreshing spritzig finish, giving the impression of berries popping in the mouth. Cienna is an exciting new grape from the CSIRO labs, formulated by crossing the Sumoll grape with Cabernet Sauvignon... More»
The palate is long and generous with a sweetness of fruit balanced by fine oak tannins. Trentham Estate was once part of a large sheep station called Trentham Cliffs, settled in the 1930s by the Chanter... More»
Rich, supple, concentrated berry flavours integrated with fruit and oak tannins, a very good length of flavour. George Francis Morris established a small vineyard in 1859, just two miles east of the current Mia Mia Morris family... More»
Fine texture and acidity, a degree of minerality and a lasting, refreshingly crisp finish. Dog Point took the wine world by storm, purely on the basis of its exceptional Sauvignon Blanc... More»
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 fine cuisine, the Grenache of Thistledown represent..
Polly & the pyre to paradise»
There are fewer than twenty hectares of Stefano Lubiana vines, overlooking the spectacular tidal estuary of Derwent River. Chosen for its felicitious winegrowing aspects, it is a place of scrupulously clean soils, free of any pesticides or manufactured treatments. Insects are welcome here, they are mother nature's endorsement of a holistically biodynamic viticulture. Lubiana is a fifth generation winemaker, one of the apple isle's leading vignerons, he works to an arcane system of seasonal chronometers, governed by cosmic rhythms, the turning of leaves and angle of the moon. His wines are given full indulgence to make themselves. Ferments lie undisturbed and movements to barrel are led by gravity. A peerless expression of vintage, an orphic approach to the winemaker's art, a humbling eloquence of our southernmost..
Celestial wines from southern climes»