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.

$2399each $287DOZEN EACH DOZEN 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.

Redbank retain some of the best vineyards in the higher altitudes of Victoria's bountiful northern winegrowing districts. Sites planted to cooler climes offer slower ripening conditions which translate into the full development of flavours. Long Paddock is fashioned from the finest harvests of Merlot on offer, the finely grained tannins, gentle palate and aromatic qualities can make any further ageing unnecessary. A forward drinking wine, redolent with plum and cherry characters and like all good Merlot, scrumptuous with fine food.

$1599each $191DOZEN EACH DOZEN Redbank's high altitude, cool climate vineyards are planted to rich, deep volcanic soils that are fertile and replenished by good natural irrigation. Batches of fruit sourced from warmer sites lower down the valley floors contribute richness and complexity to the finished wine. To control vigorous growth, the vineyards are carefully managed at every phase throughout the season. Growers implement a canopy management and crop thinning program to ensure the vines deliver high quality fruit with good colour and a concentration of flavours. Several months in a selection of seasoned French oak barriques, achieves a fully integrated wine with soft supportive tannins.

Deep dark red. Aromas of ripe berries and plum, showing secondary notes of cedar, briar and violets, nicely wrapped within a subtle oak framework. A medium to full bodied wine, the fleshy plum fruits and velvet textures deliver a wine of quality and structure. Fine grained tannins complement the fruit and support the length of palate all the way to a pleasant, lasting finish.

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$2399each $287DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Schild is one of the most respected names in Barossa viticulture. Relative latecomers to the region, they established their plantings in 1952 after three decades of adversity in the Mallee. A careful selection of the ripest and plumpest Merlot grapes is harvested off the elite Schild estate Angas Brae property. Fully fragrant and juicy to the palate, Schild displays an abundance of rich fruit characters so essential of good Barossa Merlot. Rich in flavour yet elegant to the finish, a splendid Merlot that drinks beautifully and will compliment many different cuisines.

$2099each $251DOZEN EACH DOZEN An industrious viticultural team at Schild strive to replant and redevelop the ancient estate, incorporating old fashioned winegrowing techniques and local folklore with modern quality controls. The timeless and enduring land management traditions of Barossa mean that each property will continue to produce quality fruit. Grapes are de-stemmed, crushed and sent to vinification as promptly as possible to minimise characteristic loss of good colour. Batches are inoculated whilst in contact with skins for maximum extraction. Upon completion, Schild is treated to a year's maturation in a combination of new and prior use French oak hogsheads, followed by racking, clarification and minimal filtration.

Dark cherry red hue. Rich aromas of black plums and cherry, herbs and cinnamon spice. A supple and textured palate, the nose follows through with even greater complexity and weight of fruit. Fine grained tannins balance with the youthful acidity. A wine of textures as much as taste, elegant and capable of complimenting many different food styles with rewarding pleasure.

The old vine D3v14 clone planted on two blocks at Sevenhill is not known for great concentration, yet Sevenhill produces Merlot wines of greater colour, palate structure and character than most. We see Merlot's finest qualities of violet perfume and silky texture coming from the uniform but not rich, clay loams of Sevenhill's vineyard. Secondly, it's all in the timing. The aim is to encourage all berries to ripen simultaneously and evenly. A fine accompaniement to osso buco or veal, Inigo makes the most of a slow cooked leg of rosemary garlic lamb.

$2499each $299DOZEN EACH DOZEN Why is Sevenhill Merlot so sensationally different? Firstly because Merlot is a sook! It needs a certain soil type to produce its best, not too rich or too poor. Grapes are crushed into Sevenhill's century old slate fermenters, a perfect size for allowing the soaking skins to give up their character into the wine. The must is pumped over or gently plunged daily to gently extract colour and tannins. Following a traditional basket press, the wine is transferred into a combination of new and older French and American oak hogsheads for eighteen months maturation.

Deep ruby colour, crimson hues. Primary fruit characters on the bouquet, violets and plum, blackcurrants and spice in the classic Merlot way. A rich, smooth palate provides delightful balance between smooth dark cherry and blackcurrant flavours. Gentle tannins and lingering cedar spice persist on the long and persistent finish.

The term Terra rossa means red earth, a rich, free draining soil that is considered by many as the viticultural equivalent of discovering gold. Beneath the strata of red earth at Wrattonbully sits a layer of ancient limestone, a winegrower's dream as it allows free drainage of water, yet ensures vine roots stay close to the surface, putting natural stress on the vine and limiting its vigor and yield. An attractive wine upon release and destined to develop complexity, just perfect alongside crispy skinned pork belly. In sticky sauce of course.

$2099each $251DOZEN EACH DOZEN The art of making wine from Merlot requires a careful avoidance of any over extractions of tannin from the fruit and seeds. Smith & Hooper choose to vinify in static fermenters while continually tasting the wine as it evolves. The skins are eventually pressed when the requisite structure and palate weight can be achieved without any distasteful tannin hardness. In pursuit of these soft tannins, Smith & Hooper are judicious in their barrel selection, maturing the finished wine for up to a year in a combination of new and older French oak hogsheads and barriques.

Bright scarlet colour. Eenchanting and full bouquet of red fruits and violet, berries and bay leaf notes to complement the central core of plum fuit. Medium bodied showing raspberry fruit and oak spice finishing with light silky tannins.

A compliation of the most outstanding parcels Wrattonbully Merlot, sourced off the best blocks established by the Smith and Hooper families, trained from the ground up to be exceptional sites, whence careful management yields a superior harvest of Merlot. The Smith & Hooper philosophy demands the terroir be allowed to speak for itself and it does. The auspicious climes provide ideal ripening conditions, while rich Terra rossa soils over limestone forces the vines to struggle for survival, ultimately producing a wine of intensity and finesse.

$3399each $407DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Bright crimson red hue. Plum bouquets, roses and varietal leaf, blueberries and cassis, seasoned by milled spice and a touch of cinnamon cedar. The palate is decidedly supple in texture, berries and jujube transitioning to a silky linear tannin and plum lined middle palate. A refreshingly bright finish, lingers long at the finish, unravelling layers of luscious fruit.

Stefano Lubiana believes that every sip of wine should tell you a story, like a movie or good book. It should have a beginning, a middle and an end, one that builds gradually to meet the expectation of a high level satisfaction and enjoyment. Truly great vineyards manage to tell a compelling story each and every year. Located in the Granton region, along River Derwent, Lubiana's closely cossetted block of Merlot is planted to a patch of propitious silty gravel loams. It speaks of healthy soils, fertile with the elements which infuse the wine with redolent plum blueberry flavours, gentle textures and velvet tannins.

$3599each $431DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3599each $429DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3699each $443DOZEN EACH DOZEN