Rolf Binder is one of the Barossa's quiet achieving superstars, recipient of the most conspicuous national accolades, Barossa Winemaker of Year and Best Small Producer, Best Barossa Shiraz Trophy and coveted listing in the illustrious Langtons Classification of Australian Wine. Binder's focus has always been on old vines fruit, in particular, the abstruse canon of early settler varietals which populated Barossa Valley during the 1840s. Wild bush vines Mataro, picked off patches at Tanunda along Langmeil Road, ancient growths of Grenache from Gomersal and Light Pass. Rolf's tour de force are eight superlative rows of Shiraz, established 1972 by the Binders junior and senior, which yield a mere 250 dozen..
Seven decades of tillage at tanunda»
Right across the road from Jasper Hill's Emily Paddock,a precious parcel of ancient terra rosa soil was acquired and planted to vine by a baronial Mornington estate, highly accomplished growers with a consuming aspiration to grow the finest Shirazin all Heathcote. They settled on a coveted site along Drummond's Lane, strewn with unique green Cambrian shards, a sacred place to yield the top growth amongst single vineyardHeathcote Shiraz. Decades later, the vintages remain excruciatingly measured in availability. Painstakingly hand made, arcanely labelled behind the monikers, Pressings, Block F and Block C, the cherished editions of Heathcote Estate represent the Grand Cru of identifiably terroir driven,..
The likely lads of drummond's lane»
Stephen George grew up amongst the grape vines, very near the hamlet of Reynella and the nascent Skillogalee in Valley Clare. Both salubrious sites which were originally planted to vine by George senior in 1970. Stephen's pioneering work at Ashton Hills was a major catalyst for the development of Adelaide Hills as an internationally renowned wine growing region. Along with the eminent Brian Croser, Stephen was one of the principals who placed Adelaide Hills on the map, resolved to produce the best Pinot Noir in the country and bring global fame to the Adelaide Hills Piccadilly Pinot style...
From the misty chills of ashton hills»
Rockbare are raiders of precious but wayward vineyards, planted to outdated standards of viticulture, sadly unviable for large scale winemaking. These are however, precisely the nature of site that Rockbare choose to retain. Winemaker Tim Burvill worked at Wynns and Penfolds, where he refined his style alongside some of the best winemakers in the nation's history. Establishing his own label, he embarked upon a secret project to acquire parcels of prodigal Barossa vine. With a backbone of fruit grown to some of the oldest sites in Australia, much of Rockbare's fruit comes off vines a century or more of age. The intense power and complexity of Rockbare's resplendent range of wines are complimented by..
Precious & prodigal parcels of the barossa»
