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It is immediately provocative with heady fragrance of blackberry, toasted spice, dried flower, mocha and cedar characters on the nose. The palate is concentrated and deeply flavoured with velvety texture combined with seamlessly infused tannins, finishing superbly long and engaging. It’s symphonic and sumptuous with staggering power, while remaining gorgeously balanced and alluring. At its best: now to 2045. $150. Rating: 97 Points; Wine Orbit. The elegance and refinement of this excellent McLaren Vale Shiraz conceals its power and driving intensity. Waves of dark fruit cascade with blackberry plum and dark chocolate, livened with...

Cllar Door price 70 aud. This was a pretty hot year in the Barossa and yet this is a wine from the heart of the Valley displaying suppleness, finesse and smooth texture all on a medium to full bodied palate. Loads of dark plummy back fruits with a lick of cedar and slight black olive. Gradually builds momentum through the palate as it drives effortlessly to a long finish. Smooth and polished example of the Barossa. Tasted: July 2023; Drink: 2023 - 2038; Price: $70.00; Rating: 96 Points; Ray Jordan

For anyone just catching up, this emanates from a famous Barossa winery established 75 years ago, the winery has four tiers of O ld Vine Shiraz retailing at AUD $50, $180, $320 and $480 and this is indeed the almost five hundred dollar big daddy of them all, the ultra premium named after Johann Gramps first vine plantings in the Barossa. It will surprise no one that it has elicited the big scores nor the 'hedonistic' and 'decadence' vibes: An embracing wine that captures so much of the Barossa. Comes from selected rows among selected vineyards, after which the best barrels are chosen to create this exceptional wine. Seductive...

Cellar Door Price 100aud. The new faces behind the Curtis Family Vineyards are Mark, Thomas & Jenna Curtis, with the guidance of their father, Claudio Curtis who lives on the vineyard just outside McLaren Vale. The name Curtis is thought to derive from Curtius, a noble and wealthy family of the First and Second Centuries AD, the Roman Empire era originating from the Latinium people.  This is powerful and substantial with grace and sophistication; the perfumed bouquet shows dark fruit intensity, cake spice, toasty oak and mocha characters, followed by a robust palate offering wonderfully layered mouthfeel with plush texture and...

Cellar Door Price 100 AUD.   "Its wonderfully ripe and seductively complex, showing dark berry, cedar, anise, thyme and subtle cocoa notes on the nose. The impressively concentrated palate offers expansive mouthfeel and silky flow, back by loads of fine-grained tannins. Multi-layered and gratifying. At its best: now to 2035. Price: $100.00; Rating: 96 Points; Sam Kim; Wine Orbit."   The new faces behind the Curtis Family Vineyards are Mark, Thomas & Jenna Curtis, with the guidance of their father, Claudio Curtis who lives on the vineyard just outside McLaren Vale. The name Curtis is thought to derive from Curtius, a...

Deep crimson. Intense blackberry, elderberry, graphite, praline aromas with herb garden notes. Richly flavoured, buoyant and minerally with dark chocolate, dark berry fruits, persistent fine gravelly textures, lovely mid-palate volume and plentiful mocha, roasted chestnut oak complexity. Finishes chocolaty firm with plentiful sweet fruit/ graphite notes. Superb density, texture and balance. Should develop well over the long haul. Drink to: 2023 - 2038; Rating: 97 Points; Andrew Caillard MW. Gold - The Great Australian Shiraz Challenge 2022 Gold - Perth Royal Wine Show Hand picked. Fermented in open tops, largely ambient. Aged in French...

Deep crimson. Classic cassis, blackberry, black olive tapenade, leafy aromas with vanilla, cedar notes. Well balanced powerful wine with saturated blackcurrant, dark plum, praline, brambly flavours, fine grainy/ al-dente tannins, and underlying cedar oak complexity. Finishes leafy firm with plentiful dark fruits and extract. Superb fruit definition, volume and torque. Cellar for a while. Drink to: 2024 - 2040; Rating: 98 Points; Andrew Caillard MW. Gold Medal - Decanter World Wine Awards It seems this vintage of Thomas Hardy is straight Coonawarra (often it's a multi-regional blend). Excellent dark purple hue. It's deep, rich and...

Cellar Door Price 80aud. Pays homage to Australia's greatest red wine, 1962 Penfolds Bin 60A. This is a 57.5% Coonawarra Cabernet/42.5% Barossa Shiraz blend, with 77% new French and American oak. While there's a lot of oak, it has the drive, energy and length of the 2017 vintage that will carry it forward for years, during which time the oak will settle down. Closure: Screwcap; Drink to: 2037; Alcohol: 13.7%;  Price: $80.00; Rating: 95 Points; James Halliday; Wine Companion 2019.     VINEYARD SELECTION The Cabernet Sauvignon was sourced from the world famous Katnook Estate vineyard in the Coonawarra wine region....

Houghton was established in 1836, just four years after the fledgling colony of Western Australia was founded. It is one of Australia's oldest operating wineries. Houghton is now the tenth-largest red and white bottle brand in Australia, and sources fruit from every major premium grape-growing region in WA, including Gingin, Margaret River, Frankland River and Mount Barker in the Great Southern, and the emerging Pemberton region. A wine of elegance and fruit power, C.W. Ferguson honours the contribution of early Houghton winemaker Charles William Ferguson. During his time at Houghton, Charles established a solid reputation for Houghton...

RRP 120aud. Opulent, powerful concentrated; this is Barossa with polish. Sourced from low yielding shiraz vines with the fruit treated with kid gloves from the start. Hand picking, whole bunch fermentation, hand lunging and direct pressing to American and French oak. It works wonders. Ripe black fruits on the nose showing black olive and blackberry. The palate is plush with a grainy chalky influence. Rich and chewy with a polished finish. Drink: 2024 - 2036; Price: $120.00; Rating: 96 Points; Ray Jordan.

Cellar Door Price 100aud.   A cleverly made shiraz that reveals what this variety can deliver in Margaret River. It’s co-fermented with a small amount of spicy viognier and then gets a little carbonic maceration, both of which contribute to its perfumed aromas and bright palate. It then gets 17 months in a mix of French and American oak. Velvety smooth palate, yet there is power here driving a sustained finish. An effortless wine of class. Drink to: 2024-2036; Price: $100.00; Rating: 96 Points; Ray Jordan.

Cellar Door 150 aud. We are delighted to welcome another 70 year veteran of the Barossa, a winery blessed with some of the most treasured and rare vines, some amongst the oldest in the world; and an extremely limited rendition of their super premium Edel Shiraz which gets all the rock star treatment and even at full retail price has critics praising the value. Here's KG; Another superb Barossa Shiraz – generous, bold, balanced and decadent. Only 25 barrels of this wine were made so do not hesitate as it certainly exceeds the quality of plenty of wines twice the price and more. This is quintessential Barossa Shiraz. Inky dark...

Cellar Door Price 90 Aud. “Includes 3% co-fermented viognier, hand-picked, destemmed, wild-fermented in open 5-tonne pots, basket-pressed to used French barriques for 20 months. A (probably intended exercise comparing the outcome of oak selection) less dense wine, the fruit more obvious thanks to co-fermentation and no new oak. It's still formidable, but moves around the mouth with greater freedom, with an easier texture.” 96 points, James Halliday – Halliday’s Wine Companion.   " This Barossa Shiraz gets a three per cent addition of Viognier which plays its role perfectly, adding spicy aromatics to the...

Cellar Door Price 80aud. Blewitt Springs sourcing, 12 days on skins, 8 months in French oak. Some of the more delicate varieties and blends suffer from the indomitable oak handling here. But this – dense, burly, rich and brimming with darker fruit tones, licorice strap, smoked meats, clove and alternate spices flowing from attack to finish – relishes it. A unashamedly big wine, of poise, power and precision. Drink to: 2028; Price: $80.00; Rating: 94 Points; Ned Goodwin MW; James Halliday Wine Companion.   Another 2018 McLaren Vale Shiraz from the Ulithorne team – well, why wouldn’t you if you can!...

Cellar Door 150aud. The most distinctive of the Ulithorne Shiraz trio. Whereas the other wines made no attempt to disguise their gentle seduction, this is unapologetically savoury, its superfine tannins not unlike those of nebbiolo. Cloves replace dark chocolate, black berries and black cherries are the Lords of Darkness, or the translation of the Latin name of this wine, 'fruit of the earth'.  Alcohol: 14.5%; Drink by: 2041;  Rating: 97 Points & Special Value Star; James Halliday; Wine Companion.     Ulithorne produces small quantities of red wines from selected parcels of grapes from its estate vineyard...

Cellar Door 150aud. Blewitt Springs fruit. Micro-fermented in new and used French wood after hand harvesting. The right portions of each, judging by a finely hewn bridle of tannins, controlling and directing the fray. As far as warm-climate shiraz goes, this is good. Contemporary in terms of lifted florals and a modicum of tension. Avuncular in terms of weight, power and the armchair you'll need to settle into after drinking it....Alcohol: 14.5%; Drink by: 2034;  Rating: 95 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion.     Ulithorne produces small quantities of red wines from selected parcels of grapes from its estate vineyard in...