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

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$12299each $1475DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Over many years, Rob Gibson (ex Penfolds and Peter Lehmann as chief viticulturalist) has crafted meagre amounts of the most stately wines from his tiny operation in the Barossa Hills. Vintage 2002 claimed silver at the VISY Great Aussie Shiraz Challenge and vintage 2003 came within a hair's breadth of the Jimmy Watson. Gibson knows the Barossa and all its best growers, varietal selection is expertly matched to site and minimalist winemaking is complemented by assembling the choicest components into the most exquisite balance.

$5699each $683DOZEN EACH DOZEN From pruning through to budburst, flowering and fruit set, veraison and harvest, fermentation, pressing, barrel aging, assemblage and bottling, the whole process is managed and handled by Rob Gibson. Fruit is sourced from the Stockwell vineyard of Wilfreda & Becker at Lyndoch, to be assembled with a harvest from Materne & Heinze Maxs Gods Hill 99 planting at Greenock. Shiraz from ancient vineyards at Light Pass and Langmeil make up a third of the finished wine. Parcels are treated to a traditional vinification in open fermenters, plunged daily, racked and returned. Components are matured eighteen months in a selection of French and American oak barrels. Alcohol 14.5%

Opaque deep red with brick red notes. Lifted, complex pepper spice Shiraz characters over notes of vanilla, orange peel and anise. The palate is powerful, complex and chewy, a length of fine tannin in support of rich sweet fruit, balanced by perfect acidity and drying chocolate tannins. The balance and finish are in harmony, as lovely stone fruit and dark chocolate flavours linger long on the palate.

$4399each $527DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Much of the fruit behind Australia's most memorable wines has hailed from Langhorne Creek, stellar vintages which are commemorated for decades throughout the globe, as the most outstanding efforts in new world Shiraz. These precious old vineyards are productive to this day, yielding finer harvests than ever. The Messrs Glaetzer & Potts have been retaining the best for Gipsie Jack, no two industry identities can be more adroit at treating the pick of Langhorne Creek, to a standard of vinification which defines the penultimate Aussie Shiraz.

$1899each $227DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Deep scarlet, dark to the core. Spiced nose of black peppercorn, dried cranberry and ripe blue fruits. Full bodied and statuesque, textural and aromatic like a black suede glove, shimmering within a pool of impenetrable black bramble and purple currant fruit reductions, supported by a sterling length of ebony tannins and cossetted in a sheath of polished, showroom oak.

From a canon of distinguished, ancient vine blocks of Shiraz in the Barossa hamlet of Ebenezer. The eye of Horus is represented as a figure of six parts, corresponding to the six senses, touch and taste, hearing and thought, sight and smell. Ben Glaetzer takes aim at balancing the extraction of all the elements into this flagship Barossa Shiraz, rather than endeavouring to maximize them. The fruit holds such powerful expression that focus must be brought to bear on preserving the characteristics of outstanding old vines Shiraz.

$8899each $1067DOZEN EACH DOZEN Amon-Ra is the king of all gods. The temple of Amon-Ra was the first in history to contain a monoculture vineyard. Rameses III lists over five hundred vineyards belonging to the temple of Amon-Ra. With minimal intervention, Ben Glaetzer makes elegant wines which are regarded as classics. From exclusively dry grown Barossa Shiraz vines, fifty to a hundred and thirty years of age, grown to prestigious Ebenezer sites. Vinified in one and two tonnes open top fermenters, hand plunged thrice daily. A portion completes ferments and malolactic under oak. The assemblage is matured sixteen months on lees in a combination of exclusively new, mostly French oak hogsheads.

Deeply saturated scarlet colour. Amon-Ra shows the hallmark richness of Glaetzer flagship Shiraz, exhibiting singular intensity and perfume, taking aromatic expression to another level. A wine of freshness and refinement, great purity of fruit and firm but fine tannin structure with ageability, a Shiraz of great structure and remarkable power.

Only ever made in the finest vintage years, the backbone of this substantive Shiraz is exceptional old vine fruit from a qabal of famed, gnarled and dry grown Barossa vineyards at Ebenezer. Bishop is assembled from components which are up front and generous, showing animated, youthful characters, as opposed to the more restrained and structured components of the sibling Glaetzers. These old veterans are young at heart, a coterie of old, very old and ancient blocks, up to a hundred and thirty years of age, are called upon to make a contribution towards the Bishop.

$3299each $395DOZEN EACH DOZEN Bishop is the maiden name of the estate matriarch. The Bishops hail from Mount Gambier, whence Judith's mother was the first female mayor in Australian political history. From vines up to 120 years of age and averaging 60, grown to the Glaetzer estate's Ebenezer parcels, vinified and assembled into the final wine alongside batches of very old vine fruit from distinguished growers. Vinified in 1½ to 2 tonne open fermenters, hand plunged two to three times daily. Extended maceration achieves good tannin development which makes the wine soft and approachable. Selected batches are treated to barrel fermentation, followed by sixteen months in a high proportion of new French oak hogsheads.

Deep garnet colour. Aromas of liquorice, violets and clove, mulberries and cassis. Opulent flavours on the palate, dark fruits and freshly cut plum are beautifully balanced by firm, velvety tannins from ageing in French and American oak. Refinement, elegance and solid structure, Bishop is rich voluptuous and mouth filling, with spicey fruit characters and a long elegant finish.

$1499each $177DOZEN EACH DOZEN

In 2000, a group of enthusiasts who shared a passion for making and imbibing in wine were inspired to breathe life into an old, run down operation in the small western district of Gomersal. The forty two acres of low yielding vines now deliver a limited yield of Shiraz each vintage, a precious harvest of grapes exhibiting remarkable concentration and intensity of flavour. Working amongst the vines and sampling berries as the growing season reaches climax, picking never commences until the team are completely satisfied that complete ripeness has been achieved.

$2599each $311DOZEN EACH DOZEN The Gomersal philosophy is to make wines which are the purest and most honest reflection of the vineyard. Minimal intervention, judicious use of oak and maximum flavour are the goals. A range of soils vary dramatically throughout the property. Clay over calcerte and slate bedrock, moving to more weathered slate at the bottom of an ancient glacier. Over the hill, soils are deep, sandy loam and black clays. East to west slopes with predominantly north to south rows, bush vines grow east to west on a south facing slope. This tapestry of terroir infuses subtle complexities in the grapes, which are retained throughout the vinification process and ultimately contribute to the splendour of the finished wines.

Deep scarlet, purple hued. Mint and fennel characters to the bouquet, aniseed and mulberry, bitumen and soot. Chocolate and licorice aromas lead to a robust palate of blackberry, black olives and cherry heering. Gomersal finishes with lovely balanced tannins and firm acidity. Match with char grilled roo fillets, marinated backstrap or saltbush hogget.