Pinot Noir is the most temperamental of wine grape varieties and remains the ultimate challenge for many makers. Shaw + Smith have accepted the challenge, albeit in a highly exacting, small batch way. Site selection, the right clonal mix, miniscule yields and fastidious vineyard management are essential to success. A single vineyard wine from vines planted at a density of 2780 per hectare, to a select mixture of Burgundy's highly regarded 777 clone, as well as MV6, the backbone to many of Australia's finest editions of Pinot Noir.

$4799each $575DOZEN EACH DOZEN Shaw and Smith are an alliance between cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill-Smith, heirs to one of Australia's great winemaking legacies. The estate vineyard is located on the Shaw + Smith property at Balhannah, the soil structure being brown loam over red clay and schist. Hand pruned, with vertical shoot positioned canopies, the yields are miniscule, just 1½ tonnes per hectare. The hand harvested grapes are de-stemmed and lightly crushed into open, two tonnes fermenters. A cold maceration of four to five days precedes vinification and hand plunging six to eight times per day. A course of malolactic and term of maturation ensues in a combination of new and older French oak barriques.

Bright, deep scarlet in colour. A modern Pinot with characteristic red fruit aromas in the strawberry/ raspberry/ cherry spectrum. Palate is mid weight, yet suprisingly supple and rich. Fruit focused at this stage and will continue to develop additional layers of expression.

The wine which launched Sauvignon Blanc, Shaw + Smith and Adelaide Hills as a unique and distinctive genre of wine, defined by its moreish pink grapefruit lustre, lavender perfumery, concentration of clean fruits and vegetable crispness, its gorgeous mineral texture. The enduring excellence of Shaw + Smith begins in the vineyard, the pick of crop from estate parcels at Lenswood and Balhannah, fruit must be immaculate, hand sorted to retain nothing but the cleanest grapes. With each new vintage, Shaw and Smith set a higher benchmark in new world Sauvignon Blanc.

$3099each $371DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Shiraz grapes in the Adelaide Hills ripen slowly and evenly resulting in spicey, intense expressions in the fruit. Shaw + Smith is a star performer, sourced from the carefully managed warmer sub-area of Macclesfield which provides structure and richness. The cooler climes of Balhannah yield a truly exciting new wave Shiraz with loads of clean pepper, spiceyness, concentration and palate weight to match. A brilliantly structured wine with great concentration of fruit flavours, a modern Australian expression with less reliance on oak, vibrant and bright.

$5099each $611DOZEN EACH DOZEN Sourced from the warmer, drier parts of the Adelaide Hills around Macclesfield and from low yielding vines at Balhannah. Generally soil structures are shallow red/brown loam over schist and clay. High density vine plantings are hand pruned, vertical shoot positioned canopies. Yields are restricted to 2kg per vine, essential in achieving concentration. A small batch approach is adopted throughout the winemaking. Hand picked whole bunches and whole berries are inoculated and vinified in small fermenters, regularly hand plunged and pumped over. Upon completion of malolactic, components are treated to a year's maturation in a selection of seasoned and new French barriques and larger format oak.

Deep red with bright robes. Aromas of red fruits, pepper and spice. A palate brimming with bramble, layered and long, a fruit filled savoury wine, showing great purity of character, currants and spice, background clove and black pepper notes, reined in by soft and fine, ample tannins. A match to fine Italian and French faire, braises and cheese.

$3099each $371DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3099each $371DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Tapanappa are a joint venture of elite peerage, a vinous concord between Petaluma's Brian Croser, Champagne Bollinger and Chateau Lynch Bages. Brian Croser selected the Piccadilly Valley at the centre of the Adelaide Hills in 1978 because it provided the best terroirs in which to grow Chardonnay for Petaluma and for Croser sparkling. Grapes are all hand picked and destemmed into a high proportion of new French Vosges oak barriques for ferment through the action of home yeasts over the course of a cool Piccadilly Valley autumn. Ripe peaches, quince and fig, marzipan and vanilla oak complement the fresh fruit.

$5899each $707DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$8499each $1019DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Tiers is a mere three hectares of intensively managed, closely planted, historically significant Chardonnay vines. The growing seasons at Piccadilly are uncannily similar to the microclimes of Burgundy and Dijon. Tiers Vineyard was the first site planted in the region since the nineteenth century and is at the centre of the Piccadilly Valley, at 450 metres, near the Petaluma wineworks and Brian Croser's home. The Chardonnay vines on Tiers Vineyard were derived from an old Davis California clone, originally imported from Mersault during the 1880s. A mere 300 dozen are produced.

$10599each $1271DOZEN EACH DOZEN Hand picked grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and chilled to 2C on the way to an air bag press. Cold juices are gravitated away and only light pressings are added back. After two days of cold settling, the clear juices are racked to a high proportion of new French Vosges oak barriques for a long cool vinification under the estate cellars. Upon completion of ferments, the barriques are topped up, treated to partial malolactic and matured ten months on gross lees. In the spring, barrels are slightly sulphured, followed by rack and return for clarification and bottling.

Rich straw hues. Varietal bouquet of ripe peach and melon, subtle marzipan and brioche characters are derived from the malolactic, yeast lees contact and refined French oak. A consistent terroir feature of Tiers Chardonnay are its substantial textures, effusive palate, undulating flavours and mouth filling savoury finish. Tiers unravels a cornucopia of spiced honey and toasted brulee characters as it evolves in the glass.

A matrimony between two illustrious winemaking families, Croser and Bizot, a pact between people of passion who know their Pinot Noir and take an artisanal, no expense spared approach. The east facing slope of Heysen Vineyard in Piccadilly Valley, populated with the meticulously husbanded Pommard clone, is closely cropped and rigorously thinned to optimize excellence of the harvest while reducing yields. Parcels of hand picked fruit are pressed into traditional one tonnes open top fermenters, followed by a course of age in an extravagantly high proportion of new French oak barrels.

$3999each $479DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$2999each $359DOZEN EACH DOZEN

An assemblage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from three superior estate vineyards in Piccadilly Valley. Terre a Terre take a decidedly artisanal approach to Rosé, setting aside parcels of fruit, which exhibit the interest and complexity for an engagingly blush coloured wine, as influenced by the old world techniques of Sancerre and Bandol. Batches are whole bunch pressed into seasoned oak barriques for vinification and a course of maturation on gross sedimentery lees. Its comely Rosé de Provence hues presage an exquisite palate of fragrant summer berry characters and mouth wateringly, crisp saline minerality.

$2999each $359DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$4999each $599DOZEN EACH DOZEN