Geoff Hardy's family have been making Australian wine since 1857. Geoff grew up amongst the most distinguished vineyards in our land and he knows from good red wine. He retains access to the finest fruit in McLaren Vale and is the man behind many of our nation's most memorable vintages. Undercover is a moniker that Geoff has assigned to a collation of exceptional parcels, albeit bottled behind an abstruse label to secrete the provenance of a spectacular Shiraz. Gold Medal Winner & Best Value at the hotly contested 2016 China Wine & Spirit Awards, the pick of crop this week, seriously.. Sound shiraz for the savvy & shrewd»

Marlborough viticulture owes much to the import of emigres from war torn Europe. Many were skilled fruit growers while others were passionate winemakers. They quickly discovered the magical affinity between aromatic white varietals and the mistral valleys of Te Wai Pounamu... Match a meal with maria»

Mount Difficulty are a commune of growers, established 1998 within the elite dress circle of Central Otago vineyards. Propitiously placed around the ancient goldfields of Cromwell Basin, their harvests had long been called upon for bottling under the labels of New Zealand's most conspicuous brands. Launched as a limited release of small batch, single block vintages, the co operative of accomplished growers, has evolved through critical acclaim and word of mouth, into a formidable range of Central Otago, defined by their excellence and exquisite eloquence of.. Venerable vignerons of the very deep south»

Dr Frederick Kiel would take the trek by paddle steamer from Melbourne every summer during the late 1800s to spend his summers at Sorrento. His children established a grazing station nearby, on a property acquired from the Baillieu family along Portsea Ocean Beach, ultimately planted to vineyards in 2000. These are the most extreme western longitudes of Mornington, the undulating paddocks and sweeping views of tempestuous Bass Strait are a magical place for growing Burgundesque styles of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, well protected north facing parcels of propitious free draining limestone and calcareous sands. The windswept maritime vineyards of little Portsea Estate yield the quality of Mornington that.. Mornington's westernmost vineyards»

Established 1968 by Word War II flyer Egerton E.S Dennis, on ninety acres of McLaren Flat along the prestigious winegrowing terroirs at Kangarillla Road, the Dennis family pioneered the production of Mead alongside colleague and enthusiast John Maxwell. Dennis initially sold his harvests to some of Australia's most eminent brands before founding his own label in 1971,with the object of converting the high quality fruit into pure, estate made wines. Since establishment, Dennis Wines have collected hundreds of medals at national and international wine shows, twice claiming the revered Bushing King awards for best wine at the McLaren Vale Winemakers Exhibition. A quiet achiever of bespoke old vine Shiraz with a scanty production of 5000 dozen annually, be.. Dennis of kangarilla road»

William James Maxwell was an architectural sculptor who migrated from Scotland to Australia in 1875. He built a mock castle and established a family vineyard just outside Adelaide, which he named Woodlands Park. His son planted vines in nearby McLaren Vale and his grandson served a term as winemaker for Hardy Wines at the historic Tintara wineworks. William Maxwell's progeny remain in McLaren Vale, producing the southern hemisphere's most successful brands of Honey Mead, as well as vintages of the most extraordinary value in McLaren Vale Shiraz. But what does Maxwell taste like? Gentleman James Halliday describes Maxwell as robust, picking the eyes out of McLaren Vale shiraz; licorice, dark chocolate, savoury firm, ripe tannins, blackberry, positive.. Made of mature vine mclaren vale »

Graeme Melton and a mate were travelling across South Australia in 1973, their EH Holden was in dire need of maintenance and Graeme took up casual work at a passing winery. The site supervisor was Peter Lehmann and young Graeme had his epiphany on the road to Barossa Valley. Lehmann suggested that Graeme change his name to Charlie and take the pilgrimmage to Vallee Rhone. Charlie became prepossessed with the culture of old vines Grenache, Shiraz and Mourverdre. He returned to the Barossa, at a time when old vineyard fruit was made into flagon Port and growers were destroying their historic sites in return for government grants. Charlie emabarked on a crusade to conserve and restore the ancient vines, establishing his cellars at Tanunda along Krondorf.. Melton makes a mean mourvedre»

There are four tiny patches of vine at Scotchman's Hill, which have been mollycoddled by Robin Brockett, since the start of his tenure as chief winemaker in the 1980s. Excruciatingly limited after a strict pruning and rigorous sorting of fruit, they each yield a mere hundred cases of wine. Brockett has set aside the precious harvests of these superior blocks for his own label, a personal project to hand craft the finest of vintage, an exclusive range of the Bellarine's most elite single vineyard efforts. So besotted is Brockett by the spectacular quality of fruit from these four regal parcels, he has imported two 800 Litre Tuscan vinification Amphora from the Brunello commune of Montalcino. Whole bunches and wild ferments in the like of ancient clay.. Brockett begets the best of bellarine»