The Sexton family live in the middle of their eighty acre vineyard on the high north face of the Warramate Ranges, within the dress circle of Yarra Valley's most eminent estates. The vineyard is introducing organic practises with the express purpose of further distinguishing the site and improving grape and wine quality. An assemblage of Pinot Noir and Shiraz, treated to a traditional course of ferments and judicious term of oak, fashioned into an immensely satisfying, seamless yet complex and engaging, bucolic old world style.

$3899each $467DOZEN EACH DOZEN

There's a confident assuredness about Yarra Valley Shiraz but there's also the chiselled elegance of Rhone Valley varieties, Carignan and Grenache, grown, harvested and crafted in the old world way. An assemblage of choice blocks from the Sexton and Tarraford vineyards. A combination of hand picked grapes and whole bunches, treated to cold soak in separate vats and seeded for ferments, pressed at completion to dryness and gravity fed into a selection of Flarge and small oak barrels for a year an a half, assembled in the spring, racked and bottled without fining or filtration.

$3899each $467DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Established 1988 to a bounty of rich, grey loam clays at Tarrawarra, the eminent Tarraford site enjoys a fortuitously slower ripening season than its neighbouring climes. Planted to a diversity of aspect and clones, managed to a regimen of old world biodynamic farming practices, Tarraford delivers a magnificent harvest of Rhone styled Shiraz each year. Redolent with licorice, pepper and meats, pursing dark, cherry oak tannins and the astringency of wild bramble, its herb infused palate supported by characuterie notes, sasafras and game.

$5299each $635DOZEN EACH DOZEN

There's a confident assuredness about Australian Shiraz but there's also the chiselled elegance of Yarra Valley Syrah, grown, harvested and crafted in the old world, Cotes du Rhone way. An assemblage of hand picked parcels from separate blocks throughout the Sexton and Tarraford vineyards. A combination of hand picked grapes and whole bunches, treated to cold soak and seeded for ferments, pressed at completion to dryness and gravity fed into a selection of French oak puncheons and barriques, assembled in January, racked and bottled without fining or filtration.

$3399each $407DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$2599each $311DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3499each $419DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$4399each $527DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Wallace is the ancestral name of Colin Gaetzer's wife, whose family hail from the old market town of Cupar in Fife. Judith's Celtic ancestry is reflected in the three elements of the Wallace label, a thistle, the cross and the arcane Celtic knot. Wallace takes on the traditional Barossa mix of Shiraz and Grenache in a thoroughly modern way. Few winemakers understand old vines fruit as well as Barons of the Barossa Ben and Colin Glaetzer, as they fashion Wallace into a comforting and indulgent mix of old world charm, dark forest fruits, cigarbox and spice.

$2099each $251DOZEN EACH DOZEN From a small sub region of the northern Barossa Valley called Ebenezer. The viticulture is standard single wire, with permanent arm and rod and spur. Plantings aged sixty to eighty years are trained onto a trellis for ease of pruning, harvest and disease/ frost control. Vines are subject to smart canopy management, daily monitoring of fruit quality and flavour development is essential. Parcels are harvested separately in short breaks. Glaetzer know that Grenache does not handle oak well, choosing to vinify and mature the Grenache in fermenters to retain freshness and animation of fruit. The Shiraz component is aged sixteen months in a selection of two to three year old French and American oak hogsheads.

Deep garnet red. Rich, peppery old vine Shiraz dominates, a hint of of dark cherry from the Grenache contributes an attractive floral lift to the nose. The palate is rich and full yet supple and fresh, Shiraz provides backbone, body and flesh, Grenache brings complex tannins and fresh acidity, while adding soft, vibrant juiciness. Textural tannin components are supported by lively notes of plum and hints of cassis.

A third each of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, crafted from small parcels of intensely flavoured, hand picked grapes, grown to some seriously old Barossa vines. The backbone for this engaging accord is sourced off a canon of distinguished, dry grown Barossa parcels, generally a hundred years of age. The maturity of these gnarled old plantings translates into meagre yields of the most tremendous concentration and sublime elegance.

$9499each $1139DOZEN EACH DOZEN Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre are gently crushed and vinified on skins for a week, pressed and treated to an extended maceration over the course of a month for optimal etraction of colour, flavour and tannin. Upon completion, batches are transferred to a selection of seasoned larger format 2500 litres foudre vats and French oak 500 litres puncheons for an extended term of sixteen months maturation. The larger oak format retains freshness of fruit while softening tannins and building layers of complexity.

Grant Burge holds great reverence for the outstanding quality of Barossa Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre old vines fruit. He is inspired by the way they can coalesce into a wine that's so much greater than the sum of parts. Holy Trinity is modelled on the efforts of the southern Rhone, a style which early settlers recognized would excel in the idyllic climes and terroirs of Barossa Valley. An artisinally crafted wine, from grapes hand picked off old, dry grown vines, the youngest being some fifty years of age, the oldest is well over a hundred and twenty.

$4699each $563DOZEN EACH DOZEN Grant Burge is blessed with access to some of the nation's most precious parcels of old vines Grenache, Shiraz and Mourverdre. After crushing, the juices are fermented on skins for a week in a combination of static and open fermenters. Most of the juices are macerated on skins for up to a month after primary ferments, to improve structure and extract rich colour, flavour and tannins. Grenache is allowed to peak at a warm 30C, the Shiraz and Mourvedre at 28C. The wines are separately transferred into a mix of seasoned old 500L French oak puncheons and 2500L French oak foudres to mature for eighteen months. Holy Trinity is then treated to a period of bottle maturation before release.

Rich, deep magenta colour. Vibrant fruit aromas of cherry, raspberry and blackcurrants, underlying notes of sweet spice, liquorice and delicate florals adding complexity. The palate is silky smooth, with fine tannins and acidity complementing the flavour of sweet dark fruit and spice, giving the wine abundant length and concentration of flavour. Refined, endowed with layers of flavour, Holy Trinity is well suited to rib and roast duck, venison or lamb.

$10099each $1211DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Guigal own and operate the most distinguished vineyards, specializing in some of the great growths of Cote-Rôtie. They have long set the benchmark and are well known for paying the highest prices, while assembling the most superior parcels of fruit in all Cotes du Rhône. Syrah, Mourverdre and Grenache are collated from illustrious appellations along the windswept aspects of Valley Rhone, to be treated to a traditional vinification, followed by an extravagant, extended maturation in oak foudres, coopered within the walls of the ancient Château d'Ampuis.

$2999each $359DOZEN EACH DOZEN The Guigal domain was founded in 1946 by Etienne Guigal in the ancient village of Ampuis, home to the wines of the Cote-Rôtie. Around these double millenium vineyards, you can still see the small terraced walls of Roman times. A mostly Syrah wine with about a third of Mourvedre and smaller portion of Grenache grown to good vineyards of varied soil types, sedimentery and limestone, granite, pebbles and alluvia. Average age of these fully mature vines is thirty five years. The traditional local winemaking methods are employed to this day, combined with temperature controlled fermentation and extended period of soaking on skins. Matured for up to eighteen months in a selection of well seasoned oak foudres.

Deep, dark red colour. Nose of fresh red fruits, ripe berries and fragrant spice. Well rounded, racy palate, blue and black fruit flavours, licorice and kirsch notes, lavender and spice. Supple yet intense, the long finish delivering plenty of elegance, finesse and lingering fruit, in the classic Cotes-du-Rhone styling. Guigal Rouge is the ideal accompaniement to braises and grills, red wine casseroles and game.