Gemtree established a block of Tempranillo on heavy clay soils at McLaren Flat in 1999, significant in being the first estate vineyard to be bio dynamically husbanded and to receive organic certification. Grapes are all hand picked and fermented on skins for a fortnight, hand plunged, pressed off skins and drained into a selection of well seasoned oak puncheons for ten months, racked and bottled without any fining or filtration, to retain pastoral sauvage. Think cranberry and raspberries, black olive, prosciutto and spice, delectable savouryness from nose to finish.

$2399each $285DOZEN EACH DOZEN

A beautifully balanced Bordeaux meets Rhone style, an assemblage of McLaren Valeʼs best for a classically arranged cépage of fruit. An Aussie claret with a difference! Cabernet Franc provides aromatics, structure and tannin, Mourvedre contributes juicyness and Petit Verdot is the funk. The Phantom is a product of exacting care in the vineyard, a high percentage of Verdot enhances the complexity and ensures the wine will develop magnificently. Only the most expressive and standout parcels are included into The Phantom.

$4099each $491DOZEN EACH DOZEN A stylish balance of Mourvedre, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. In ripe years the Verdot is at its best, black and fragrant with sensational tannins. It was decided by the team at Gemtree that Phantom should always contain substantial percentages of each variety. Organic practises are essential for the vines, roaming sheep help to reduce the weeds and keep the grass mown around the place. Grapes are picked wholly on the basis of flavour each year, due to the wonderful growing conditions, natural acidity is retained and wines with tremendous structure are the result. Each component is open fermented and separately aged in French oak barrels for up to eighteen months.

Purple black hues. Rich and complex nose of violets with mint, currants and cassis, rose petals, dark olives and chocolate, roasted almonds and dried sausage. A multi layered generous concentration, oodles of flavour, a voluptuous middle palate, ripe elongated tannins which envelop the back end and create an ultimately seductive wine. Cabernet Franc contributes aromatics, Petit Verdot holds the wine together.

Perfect balance in wine cannot be manufactured, it occurs naturally. Gemtree achieves this elusive idyll. Uncut has distinguished itself throughout the vintages with Double Gold in San Fransisco, Blue Gold in Sydney and Silver Great Australian Shiraz Challenge. Hand selected from forty year old vines grown to the estate's Tatachilla Road Vineyard, Uncut Shiraz requires very little intervention. The synergy between fruit and oak, acid and tannin are seamless and sublime.

$2199each $263DOZEN EACH DOZEN Hands off winemaking, purity of fruit, unfined and unfiltered, a raw gem, the uncut version. In 1980 Paul and Jill Buttery purchased their first property on Tatachilla Road, a 38-acre vineyard of Cabernet and Shiraz with a limited supply of mains water. Over the years some of the original site was grafted to white varietals and has since been converted back to various clones of Shiraz. The incredibly low yields across the Uncut blocks have translated into an amazingly powerful wine. Minimally pruned vines, open ferments, gentle pressing and minimal fining and filtration, these are the maxims. A dozen or so Wiltipole sheep amongst the vines help reduce weeds and keep the grass mown around the place.

Deep crimson, purple hues. Satsuma plums, licorice, white pepper, black jubes, mocha, red cherry, hints of cinnamon and savoury oak. A complex web of flavours that traverse the palate. The front is dominated by a darker spectrum of fruits, blackberry, plums and blueberry. A definitive concentration of uncut Shiraz characters, yet elegant with a degree of restraint.

Equal parts Shiraz and Grenache, a tenth of Mourverdre, all picked off blocks of dry grown McLaren Vale vines, treated to a traditional old world vinification and sent to a selection of American oak hogsheads and puncheons for an extended twenty months maturation. Brick red in colour, leading with an animated nose of savoury spiced meats and wild berry fruits, the tannins are seen but not heard, perfectly in tune with the piquant Rhonesque acidity to deliver impeccable balance and seamless structure, all before a long dark chocolate finish.

$2799each $335DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Sangiovese and McLaren Vale share a great affinity, a home away from home for the vines, stimulated by the sultry Mediterranean climes around Gulf St Vincent. Geoff Merrill's grandfather grew up amongst the pastorals of old Italy, he would wax poetic about the delights of Tuscan wine and ultimately inspired Merrill to plant Sangiovese. Treated to a lavish thirty two months in American and French oak puncheons, followed by an extended term in bottle, Joseph Cilento has evolved into a more elegant, European style, commendable with Cotoletta, ideal with Agnello.

$2799each $335DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Take your pick from the estate cellars of Geoff Merrill Shiraz, richly aged two years in a selection of French and American oak hogsheads and puncheons, assemble into the essential meat and vegetable McLaren Vale style. Blood red, mulberry and currant spice, moccha and milled pepper throughout, a lick of menthol, the savouryness of leather, black olive and savoury smoked meats. Jacko's the drink to open and to breathe for service alongside your favourite recipe of red wine casserole, kipflers and shallot, dutch carrots and Jus.

$3499each $419DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$9499each $1139DOZEN EACH DOZEN

A living legend of the Australian wine industry, Merrill Reserve has claimed Australia's most prestigious awards, including Jimmy Watson and Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge. Merrill Reserve is a compilation of his best wines, as selected from a vintage of small parcels which have been treated to an extended maturation. Merrill Reserve can be best described as voluptuous and seductive, laden with complex chocolatier flavours and tensile textures, beckoning and beguiling before revealing the stately structure within.

$6499each $779DOZEN EACH DOZEN Upon completion of a traditional fermentation, the choicest batches of Shiraz are filled to a selection of small French and American oak barrels for an extravagant three years maturation. A rigorous selection of the most spectacular lots are assembled into Merrill Reserve Shiraz, bottle aged under the Mount Hurtle cellars for further development.

Dark red with ruby hues. Complex nose, raspberries and creamyness, pepper and spice, liquorice and plum. The palate displays fresh fruits and a silky texture over very fine tannins. Toasted smoky oak, balanced acid and concentrated fruit flavours provide great structure. One of the nation's most eminent Shiraz wines, all elements in astonishingly fine balance.

Oomoo was among the first of Thomas Hardy's great bestowments to the nascent Australian palate. In its day a rich and robust red wine, Oomoo has been reintroduced in commemoration of Hardy's third golden jubilee. This multi award winning Shiraz has been widely acclaimed as one of the great value red wine buys in Australia and abroad. Hardys take the pick of the crop from the best vineyards in McLaren Vale and set it aside for Oomoo, a Shiraz of reliability and abundance of ripe fruit flavours, stylishness and satisfying, savoury tannins.

$1799each $215DOZEN EACH DOZEN All of Hardy's viticultural resources retain strong regional identity, varietal purity and requisite charm. The winemaking team endeavour to assemble those parcels which can achieve a profound construct in the enduring Hardy's style. Harvests of Shiraz, some of which are picked by hand, are collated off vines up to forty years of age, planted to fine McLaren Vale soils ranging from deep sands to shaley red clays over limestone. Fruit is vinified in static fermenters while being treated to a course of rack and returns for optimal extractions and varietal complexity. Upon completion of ferments and malolactic, Oomoo is matured in a selection of well seasoned French and American oak barrels.

Deep red with ruby hues. The nose is loaded with ripe red berries and spice notes, underscored by classic McLaren Vale dark chocolate characters, festive cake and vanillin oak. A full flavoured, rich and mouthfilling palate, lingering with concentrated plum spice characters over a harmonious integration of soft, fine tannins. Luscious flavours of black cherry and plum, panforte and chocolate on a generous mouthfeel, before a fine, lingering finish.

The first Tintara vines were planted by Dr Alexander Kelly in 1862. Thomas Hardy recognised the potential that lay within the rich loamy soils of McLaren Vale and purchased the splendid property. Built against the rolling hills at the foot of Mount Lofty Ranges, the ancient Mortlock Flour Mill has been converted into the present day operating winery, its ingenious sloping design harnesses gravity in the winemaking, translating into a gentler handling of the juices. Tintara is a rarity in every sense, each sip remains a truly memorable experience.

$2599each $311DOZEN EACH DOZEN Established 1861, Tintara is a significant part of McLaren Vale history, the region's stateliest founding winery. Nowhere is the long and rich history of the Southern Vales more evident than at Tintara, a testament to quality viniculture. Crafted to old-world techniques and new-world innovation, the ancient basket presses and original slate open fermenting tanks are still used today. Dedicated to the region, Tintara's winemakers source all of the grapes for Tintara exclusively from good vineyards in McLaren Vale, exactly as the founders had intended. When, and only when, tannin ripeness is optimal, the Cabernet is harvested, producing a wine with abundant fruit intensity and soft fine tannin structure.

Deep garnet with bright red rim. Intensely perfumed, showing strong varietal fruit of blackcurrant and cassis, a stalk or two of mint, lithely seasoned by spice and cocoa notes. Ripe, red berry fruits of forest, mulberry flavours, cassis and briar notes, a middle palate of richness and good structure, supported by elegant tannins and culminating on a long, persistent finish.

Tintara tastefully embraces the best of new age winemaking whilst artfully retaining and utilizing much of the original plant and techniques from Hardy's distant past. Tintara Shiraz is fashioned from premium fruit grown to some of the better vineyards across the valley. A delicious wine that's been hand crafted with a view to enhancing the fine quality, intensity and distinct qualities of McLaren Vale Shiraz, all carried on a balanced structure of pliant, juicy tannins, achieving a palate of measured opulence and refined persistence.

$2599each $311DOZEN EACH DOZEN Founded by Dr Alexander Kelly in 1861 and re-established by Thomas Hardy in 1876, Tintara is nestled at the very heart of McLaren Vale. The wines owe much to the past, but the appeal belongs exclusively to today. Throughout the traditional fermentation process, wines are tasted twice daily. Flavour development and tannins are carefully monitored to achieve a wine of texture and balance. Ferments are treated to an ancient basket press, ensuring gentle extraction of tannins, followed by twenty four hours settling and racking to a selection of seasoned oak barriques. The final wine is assembled from parcels which can best represent the timeless McLaren Vale Shiraz style.

Deep red in colour with purple hues. Exhibiting warmth on the nose, Tintara exudes lifted aromas of red fruits and ripe blackcurrant coupled with spicy oak and tantalizing savoury hints of roast meats and beef jerky. Concentrated flavours of dark forest fruits, plum and cocoa complement the sweet vanilla oak, along with a mill of savoury spice and curly cedar notes, rich and bold with wonderful intensity of fruit over fine, silky tannins.

$5799each $695DOZEN EACH DOZEN