The High Trellis paddock has been yielding the most splendid vintages of wine since the late 19th century, so nicknamed as the vines were the first to be trained above knee height following acquisition of the property by dArenberg. For decades, High Trellis Cabernet Sauvignon has been released to unanimous critical acclaim by the wine industry press and international cognoscente. Indeed, the inaugural 1968 vintage earned a place in history when it claimed Australia's most prestigious accolade, the highly coveted Jimmy Watson Trophy.

$2199each $263DOZEN EACH DOZEN Small batches are crushed in the Demoisy open mouthed, rubber toothed crusher and transferred to five tonne headed down open fermenters, parcels are vinified separately. Foot treading is undertaken followed by gentle basket pressing. Transferred to a mixture of oak casks to complete primary and secondary fermentation. The barrel fermented component is aged on lees for added complexity with no racking until final blending. Chester and the winemaking team undertake an extensive barrel tasting process to determine the final assemblage. High Trellis is unexposed to fining or filtration, aged up to twenty months in a combination of new and older French and American oak barriques and large casks.

Deep, bright red. Lifted nose, fresh and full of violets, blackcurrant and leafy notes, oak supplies a touch of cedar, adding complexity to the soulful earthiness. The palate is textured and lithe, coated by lacy tannins around a core of cassis, licorice and plum fruit mixed with earth and graphite before a mineral tail. It's well weighted, fresh and balanced, inviting now, like all d'Arenberg wines, decanting will help show its best.

d'Arenberg's love affair with Grenache reaches its pinnacle with Ironstone Pressings. The original block planted in 1918, on the lower side of the winery, has a plentiful amount of ironstone throughout the soil structures, which enhances the body and tannin structure of the wine. As the finished wine is a cepage of three grapes it is a matter of selecting and screening the very best Grenache barrels. They complement the Dead Arm Shiraz component which likewise complements the 28 Rd Mourvedre portion to a point where the Grenache is beautifully framed.

$7299each $875DOZEN EACH DOZEN Most of McLaren Vale's soils are impregnated with ancient, decomposed laterite granite known as ironstone. The larger pieces were cleared from vineyards in the late 1880s and utilized in many of the buildings at d'Arenberg. Small batches of Shiraz, Grenache and Mourverdre are separately passed through a rubber toothed crusher into open fermenters. Some parcels are tread by foot two thirds of the way through. When tannin extraction is just right, the wines are basket pressed into oak for the completion of ferments and malolactic. Components are matured on lees in a combination of seasoned and new French oak barriques before assembling into the final wine.

Brilliant, gleaming red. Dark fruits, mulberr and plum nose, fresh soil and peat over an underlying lick of exotic Indian spice. An abundance of fresh fruits on the palate marry well with the more complex characters of cinnamon and quince, nutmeg, star anise and earthy beetroot. Open and generous upon release, lively acidity and the abundance of fine gritty tannins. Unfiltered and unfined, a harmless deposit may form in the bottle.

The vineyards and bushland which surround d'Arenberg winery are home to the native black and white kookaburra, famous for its distinctive laughing call. Much to the amusement of the winemaker's family, Chester Osborn's daughters, Alicia and Ruby, named their two wild pet kookaburras the laughing magpies. A good branding for McLaren Vale's first ever combination of the black Shiraz grape with the sweetly perfumed white Viognier. Declassified parcels of the icon Dead Arm Shiraz are assembled into the final Magpie mix.

$3199each $383DOZEN EACH DOZEN Very concentrated ripe bunches of Shiraz and Viognier are gently crushed into the patented Demoisy open mouthed, rubber toothed crusher, then co-fermented together in good old fashioned headed down open fermenters, where they are treated to a traditional foot treading by wader clad feet. After a fortnight the musts are gently basket pressed through an ancient 19th Century Coq & Bromley and Tregoning press, followed by a transfer to a selection of French and American oak barriques for completion of ferments and maturation. Offcuts of Dead Arm Shiraz are selected from oak and included into the assemblage to balance the level of Viognier in the final Magpie.

Very dark crimson hue. Intense aromas, a floral mix of peach stone, jasmine and cranberry over dark maraschino cherries, star anise and spiced fruit cake. The palate is fully flavoured with ripe juicy soft mouthfilling flavours suggesting beetroot juice, blueberries, blackcurrant and red cherries with herbaceous edges that keep the palate in check. Oak is showing lovely cedary notes which compliment the fragrant, silky mineral tannins.

Chester Osborn was one of the first growers to plant Tempranillo in McLaren Vale. This torrid Spanish grape is well suited to the Mediterranean climes of the region and a traditional blending partner for some of d'Arenberg's favourite old world styles. Grenache and Tempranillo work beautifully together, the Portuguese mix of Tinta Cao and Souzao provide wonderful complexity and depth. And the quirky name? Sticks and stones may break bones but will never hurt, in truth, much of the fruit is picked off sticks planted to parched, stony soils.

$3099each $371DOZEN EACH DOZEN Bunches of Tempranillo and Grenache, Souzao and Tinta Cao Souzao are picked to a staggered schedule as the varieties come into their own ripening. Fruit is gently treated to d'Arenberg's rubber toothed crusher, vinified batch by batch in traditional headed down open fermenters. When tannin extraction is just right, batches are basket pressed and transferred to a mix of seasoned and new French and American oak barriques for completion of ferments and malolactic on sedimentery yeast lees. Components are aged for a year before asemblage, minimal handling ensures maximum flavour while reducing the oak influence, unfined and unfiltered, a harmless deposit may adhere to the bottle.

Deep, brilliant red. An enticing mix of red, black and purple fruits, wild strawberries and dark cherry, grilled meats and straw notes. Sour plum and red berry flavours, quickly leading to game, five spice and dried herb, Tempranillo provides tomato leaf and baked red fruits, linear shape and length. Grenache lends juicy blueberry and plum with just a hint of clove, succulence and fine, gritty tannins.

A co ferment of Shiraz with a judicious soupçon of Rousanne, foot treaded in the good old fashioned way and sent to a selection of pre loved French and American oaks for a timely term of age. Its dark, savoury Shiraz perfumes are matched by cocoa and blackberries, cedar and spice, a palate of roast meats and tarry reductions, well supported by a length of juicy graphite tannins. An understatedly sophisticated style of Shiraz with a dose of je ne sais quoi that's sure to seduce the most learned and discerning of palates.

$3199each $383DOZEN EACH DOZEN

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$2899each $347DOZEN EACH DOZEN

There really is a Dowie Doole, architect/grower Drew Dowie and international banker/grower Norm Doole. Their dedicated team have struck a purple patch with Merlot, fortifying the pick of their crop with a tenth of Cabernet Sauvignon for structure, aromaticness and length. At Dowie Doole, quality drives everything. Viticulturally, the ultimate expression of quality is in delivering harvests of the most exceptional fruit to make great wines. The requisite McLaren Merlot style of early accessibility and soft lingering flavours, gracious tannins and supportive oak.

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN Some of the finest, eldest and most distinguished McLaren Vale vineyards have now been welcomed into the Dowie Doole family. Merlot is harvested in excellent condition as the grapes achieve rich colour, exemplary varietal flavour, good acidity and fine ripe tannins. Fruit is crushed and vinified on skins in a static fermenter for six days. A third of the juices are run off into medium toast American oak hogsheads and barrel fermented to dryness. The balance is fermented to dryness and transferred to a selection of seasoned, second and third use barrels. Batches complete malolactic and several months maturation before assembling into the final wine.

Bright crimson red, purple hues. An aromatic nose dominated by spices and ripe red fruit such as plums, rhubarb and cherry. A medium bodied palate with barrel fermentation integrating the oak with ripe plum and soft, herbaceous, berry characters. The wine opens up to reveal roasted chocolate and coffee characters finishing with soft, rounded tannins.

Unmistakably McLaren Vale, a Shiraz of exceptional colour and profound structure, freshness and barrel ferment richness, intensity of flavour and beautifully bright currant acidity. Dowie Doole are viticulturalists with a deep love of the land, partisans of good fruit from healthy vines which are part of a balanced, bio diverse environment. Harvests of physiologically ripe grapes are essential, the luxury of extended maturation in a high proportion of new oak augments the fruit and beatifies the tannins.

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN Frustrated at not being in control of their own fruit as they watched it trucked away to other wineries, Norm Doole and Drew Dowie opened a bottle of red over breakfast and decided to form a partnership, the purpose of which was to take complete charge of their grapes and to make their own wines. Five tonnes parcels of McLaren Vale Shiraz are picked at healthy levels of ripeness and treated to a few days of cold soak, batches are crushed and vinified for up to three weeks in traditional fat boy fermenters. An extended term of skin contact is followed by pressing into French oak barrels for completion of malolactic and several rackings over the course of eighteen months maturation.

Bright, dark crimson hue. Spicy, sweet plum and black cherry fruits on the nose, some white pepper and cloves with hints of dark chocolate and fruitcake overlaying creamy, vanilla oak. The palate is rich and fulll with layers of flavours of dark plum, ripe black cherry, dark chocolate and spices before a long, rounded, sweet fruited, spicy finish. A match with rib eye and bone marrow sauce.

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN

The most highly coke addled marketing executive couldn't have come up with a brand like Dowie Doole, but fast forward and the label now enjoys a growing reputation for profound Shiraz wines in Australia and overseas. Small crops of extraordinary quality fruit are grown to some enduring Mclaren Vale vines, to be fermented and matured at the Boar's Rock wineworks.

$8299each $995DOZEN EACH DOZEN The small 74 Block was the first parcel to be replanted on Norm Doole's California Road Vineyard in 1974, it produces fruit of unique concentration and complexity. Shiraz is harvested throughout the night to take advantage of cooler temperatures. Fruit is crushed into a small static fermenter for vinification on skins over a period of eight days while being treated to pumpovers thrice daily. At 2 baume the must is pressed straight to a selection of completely new French oak hogsheads for twenty four months maturation and a course of several rack and returns. Upon completion, the assembled Dowie Doole is given a coarse filtration before bottling.

Intense deep purple colour. A complex nose of dark fruits and leather, spices and dark chocolate. The full bodied palate is rich and generous, it follows on from the bouquet with blackberry and plums, spices and dark chocolate. A complex wine with excellent tannin structure, length and weight, marzipan and liquorice linger right through and onto the very long smooth aftertaste.