Outstanding Langton's Classification. Thomson Family Shiraz is produced from Henry Best's original 1866 plantings, only ever made in exceptional years, on average about six times a decade. The vines are cropped at less than two tonnes per acre and are meticulously hand harvested, selected and sorted. Thomson Family Shiraz was first made in 1993, one hundred years after the Thomson family settled in the area. It is produced predominantly from the fifteen rows of vines planted by Henry Best, referred to as Hermitage by Henry in his daily journal.

$23999each $2879DOZEN EACH DOZEN This very special planting of Shiraz is referred to by the CSIRO as the Concongella clone, the mother of all subsequent Shiraz stock at Best's Great Western. The property, established 1866, takes its name from the picturesque creek which runs beside the vineyard. Climatically cold to very cold winters and frequently dry and cool summers, with occasional bursts of hot weather, are the norm. A little stress concentrates grape flavour, at Concongella it happens naturally. Despite these natural adversities, Concongella consistently produces high quality grapes of intense flavour. Hand harvested, hand plunged and vinified in small open fermenters, produced only in years when the quality is second to none.

Inky garnet, vermillion hues. A heady mixture of black fruits, bitter chocolate, dried flowers, white pepper and innumerable secondary aromas including leather, liquorice and tobacco. Very intense rich front to mid palate, lush and plush, ultra rich tightly structured liquored fruits, seductive, oak balance persists, supporting acid and tannins arrive late, long and detailed finish. Long, powerful, unsurpassably fine, elegant.

Blackjack has claimed the eminent M.Chapoutier Trophy for Best Shiraz at the prestigious Le Concours des Vinson on no fewer than three occasions. Block 6 is a superior parcel of distinguished vines, renowned within the Bendigo district for producing a very high quality, intensely fruit driven Shiraz. Whilst directly adjacent to the original Blackjack plantings, Block 6 features a unique soil profile and a different clone. Block 6 always displays savoury Rhone structure and style, as opposed to the identifiably Aussie genre of Shiraz produced by Blackjack Vineyard.

$4799each $575DOZEN EACH DOZEN Blackjack are just south of Bendigo, on an easterly slope, in the old fruit growing district of Harcourt Valley at the foothills of Mt. Alexander. The microclimate of this small boutique winery is considerably cooler than other vineyards, ablessed by Indian summers, cool nights and warm clear days, allowing the grapes to slowly ripen. Soils are very old, unfertile granites, although part of Block 6 is on richer sandstone gravels. The hand husbanded, hand picked vines on Block 6 were planted in 1998 and are a different clone to the original Shiraz stock. Vinified in traditional open fermenters, hand plunged and aged in French oak barriques for twenty two months, bottled unfined after minimal filtration.

Ruby red, purple hues. Dark berry and cherry aromas, black currants, nutmeg and mixed spice, complex festive pudding notes. In grand central Victorian styling, the palate shows abundant spice and pepper as well as fully ripe berry fruits, lovely rounded mouthfeel and texture, subtle oak in support. Superb balance of crisp peppery acids and fine oak tannins, a very persistent, remarkably long and lingering finish.

$2299each $275DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Major Thomas Mitchell surveyed the area around Bendigo in 1836, excited about his discovery of bountiful pastorals, initiating a migration of squatters and settlers into the august terroirs of Harcourt Valley. Renowned for its arcadian splendour and largess of orchard fruit, Harcourt is wine country, home to some of the most outstanding Victorian vineyards. Major's Line brings the fruit of Harcourt together with choice Blackjack parcels from Heathcote and Bendigo, plum, allspice and juicy black fruits over a trundle of succulent, toothy tannins.

$2699each $323DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Black Jack was a yankee sailor who jumped ship and joined the Castlemaine goldrush of the1850s. He remains a part of local follore. The McKenzie and Pollock families named their property after the adjacent road which commemorates the legend of Mr. Jack, planting vines on the site of an old apple orchard in the 1980s. Redolent of spice and savoury fruits, sweet and juicy on the palate, filled of plums and ripe dark berries over a backbone of fine, sweet and toasty American oak, opulent and lingering, the defining articulation of Bendigo Shiraz.

$4399each $527DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3699each $443DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$2999each $359DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Following a visit to France where he studied the ancient pastoral practices of breeding the world's best chickens, Adam Marks gained the inspiration to create great Australian wines in the very same manner, adopting an artisanal approach to production, employing traditional, age old methods. Coq Noir is the flagship Shiraz by one of Victoria's most adroit, small batch producers. An opulent effort vinified from parcels of the most intense fruit, bottled without fining or filtration, which may deposit a harmless sediment, decanting is a must.

$5999each $719DOZEN EACH DOZEN Shiraz is picked from two blocks of a distinguished old Heathcote vineyard. Gently crushed fruit and a parcel of whole bunches are treated to a wild, indigenous yeast vinification in traditional open fermenters. A course of hand plunges and pumpovers extract deep colour and optimal tannins, followed by transfer to a luxuriously high proportion of new Francois Freres French oak hogsheads. Upon completion of malolactic, the wine is gravity fed to barrel for a year's maturation and minimal filtration.

Intense, vibrant inky crimson. A complex array of black fruit aromas, spices and cloves, plums, oak and char vanillan spice. The palate is tightly packed full of black fruit, oak is beautifully integrated, providing structure and adding power, balance and savoury richness. The best of Bendigo should always be decanted and served alongside the freshest, local farm ingredients.

$6099each $731DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Patricia is a muscular and complex flagship wine, named for the estate's matriarch, a tour de force of Victorian Shiraz, defined by a reverential handling of fruit, picked off Victoria's most exclusive vineyards. A sensational backbone from the distinguished Brown Brothers Heathcote block is vinified alongside parcels from superior sites in Bendigo, Henty and Valley King. A rich course of oak barrel ferments is followed by eighteen months in a luxuriously high proportion of new, French and American puncheons and barriques. Patricia finishes with immense length, profound elegance and fine, velvet tannins.

$4999each $599DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Intriguing deep inky colour. Ripe perfumes, aromatic blackberry nose supported by shavings of toasty oak, hints of cinnamon and white pepper. A fully intense palate, concentration of fruit, oak and tannins in amazing balance, its big, chocolatey girth of intense fruit flavours are underpinned by the savouryness of roast meats, cherry reductions and pan grille. Victorian Shiraz of extraordinary richness, stride and aplomb.

Brown Brothers retain a heritage of fine winemaking which is almost as old as Victorian viticulture itself. Colonial officials are recorded as praising the quality of Brown Brothers Shiraz as far back as 1889. They have since established, an inventory of the most distinguished vineyards. The Shiraz from their Heathcote property has been an essential component to many of Brown Brothers most memorable vintages. As a pure, single vineyard wine, it affords aspirants the opportunity to savour the pick of Heathcote's crop, the first choice alongside a flame seared, well marbled cut of beef.

$2499each $299DOZEN EACH DOZEN Heathcote is one of the few places in Australia to have established an international reputation as a delineated appellation of single varietal wine. The Brothers Heathcote Vineyard was planted to rolling hills, astride an auspicious ridge which forms the backbone of Mount Camel Ranges, on a strip of rich volcanic Cambrian Terra Rosa soils. Ten Acres is a single vineyard Shiraz from a distinguished Heathcote site, parcels are crushed into a cold soak and treated to a course of vinification, followed by completion of malolactic and a year's maturation in a selection of seasoned and new, American and French oak puncheons and barriques.

Deep brick red colour. Intensely lifted aromas of red and dark berry fruit fragrances, the classic pepper notes of Heathcote Shiraz, violet florals and ferrous earth. Medium bodied palate, layered with plum and bramble fruit flavours, preserved prune and a seasoning of oriental spice, framed by the suppleness of cherry tree oak and supported by a length of fine, muscular tannins.

$2499each $299DOZEN EACH DOZEN