C yril Henschke took the extraordinary step in 1952 of citing the source vineyard on a wine label: Mount Edelstone Shiraz.

It was unheard of in Australia at the time, but Henschke realised that this 16ha site in South Australia’s Eden Valley produced Shiraz grapes that stood apart from its neighbours and deserved to be celebrated as a unique entity.

Mount Edelstone Shiraz, which celebrates 70 vintages in 2026, provides an important landmark for Australian wine by identifying site and terroir as a defining feature.

While other famous wines capture a distinctive Australian character through multi-regional or multi-variety blends – such as Penfolds’ Grange, Yalumba’s The Signature, Hardy’s Eileen Hardy and Wendouree’s wines – the action that Cyril Henschke took to highlight a single vineyard introduced a new, rarefied Australian fine wine story.

Within two years, Henschke had issued a second single-vineyard Shiraz – from the 4ha Hill of Grace Vineyard, planted in 1860 – which commanded a higher price because of its extremely limited production.

It declared a powerful statement that linked prestige to place. By the early 1980s, key vineyards that provided integral components to famous brands were being mentioned on the labels of a number of elite Australian wines – including Orlando’s St Hugo (from Coonawarra), Centenary Hill and Steingarten (both from Barossa), and St Hallett’s Old Block Shiraz (also from Barossa).

It placed great value on a league of century-old vineyards and their specific characteristics.

Singing their praises

By the 2010s, more Australian winemakers believed these deserved to be vinified and issued as single-site wines, rather than being labelled as ‘Reserve’ wines – a movement that underlined growing ambition to earn more plaudits on the world stage.

Talent and ideas matched this ambition, signalling the emergence of a ‘grand cru’ status in Australian wine – an important refocusing on specific sites that highlights the continuing maturity of Australian winemaking and wine marketing.

Recent historical tastings reveal the distinct personalities of superior locations – most notably Yangarra’s examination of all 15 vintages of its High Sands Grenache, vindicating the winery’s decision to reserve this extraordinary parcel, which defines the best of elite Australian Grenache.

Plenty of flagbearers are capturing specific aspects of the best old vineyards to produce wines of specific character.

Beyond the 10 sites listed here, Cullen’s 1971-planted Margaret River vineyard stands as a leading light of biodynamic viticulture. Brokenwood’s Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz provides a definitive Hunter Valley wine expression.

And also in Margaret River, the Vasse Felix home vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec produce the exemplary Tom Cullity.

Sites in the spotlight

More winemakers are being inspired to pursue single-site expressions of excellence, and to place renewed focus on historic sites in prime locations.

Toby Bekkers spent five years reviving a Clarendon vineyard (planted between 1842 and 1848) that had been the initial poster-site of South Australian wine, but since the 1970s had become derelict through neglect.

Now Bekkers Wines is producing single-site Clarendon Vineyard Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache of outstanding quality.

Sites are flourishing after careful research to maximise the potential of superior terroir. Shaw & Smith’s Lenswood Vineyard introduced intensive vine planting (about 4,800 vines per hectare) to naturally reduce crop load, resulting in exceptional Chardonnay.

In Western Australia’s Franklin River region, Swinney’s bush-vine Mourvedre is planted alongside Grenache and Shiraz on an ironstone gravel hilltop at the family’s Powderbark vineyard – and winemaker Rob Mann is producing three single-variety wines of extraordinary finesse.

Such celebrated outcomes don’t happen by accident. Meticulous, intelligent viticulture and vine health and soil restoration programs ensure these vines continue to produce extraordinary fruit that sits in idyllic balance – many in better shape now than ever.

The best is probably still ahead of us.

Henschke Mount Edelstone Vineyard

Eden Valley, South Australia

The 16ha Mount Edelstone Vineyard was an anomaly when pastoralist Ronald Angas planted only Shiraz vines on its rocky red loam soils in 1912, rather than follow the Barossa tradition of mixing several varieties.

His neighbour Cyril Henschke recognised the unique characteristics of this east-facing, 400m-high site when he started making wine from these grapes in the 1950s, and purchased the vineyard in 1974.

Now, viticulturist Prue Henschke nurtures the network of 1,300 old vines with biodynamic practices that have dramatically improved fruit quality from its 11 blocks – with Blocks G and H in the lower southeast portion of the vineyard being the winemakers’ favourite parcels.

From 1989, Prue introduced an upright trellis system to allow more even light onto ripening fruit.

‘This had an immediate effect on the wines,’ she says. ‘It amplified colour and brought great clarity and purity to the fruit flavours and subtle aromas. Vineyard attention led to sharper wine definition.’

This ensures great acid retention in the grapes and promotes an earthy savouriness to the palate, evident during Henschke’s February 2026 tasting event, hosted at the historic cellars in Keyneton, Eden Valley to examine key Mount Edelstone vintages between 1952 and 2022.

Highlights included the sprightly, lean 1958, sustained by the Mount Edelstone vineyard’s characteristic gentle tannins; and the recurring terroir hallmarks that showed off the vineyard’s twin personalities, with warmer vintages showing red earth and red spice as prominent features, and cooler vintages revealing lively sage and bay leaf herbal aromas over lush blackberry and black pepper.

Henschke Hill of Grace

Barossa, South Australia

Success for Mount Edelstone Shiraz inspired Cyril Henschke to elevate another single-site wine, this one produced from an even more precious vineyard resource – the small Hill of Grace Vineyard, with its gnarled Shiraz vines from the 1860s.

Planted on original rootstock, these fragile sentinels are among few surviving ancient relics to have avoided the impact of the destructive vine-root louse phylloxera – and they produce fruit of extraordinary intensity and unique character.

Dry-grown on clay-rich alluvial soils overlain by a layer of fine, sandy-silty loam, Shiraz from a 4ha portion of the Hill of Grace vineyard is treated with reverential care, benefiting from careful organic composting and mulching to ensure maximum microbial activity in the soil and optimal vine health.

Each portion of the vineyard is handpicked at different times around the full moon at Easter (significantly later than neighbouring Eden Valley and Barossa vineyards), yielding only about 2.5 tonnes of tiny berries per hectare, compared to 4 tonnes or so at Jim Barry’s Armagh vineyard, one of South Australia’s elite Shiraz sites.

It provides coiled power in a dark, inky wine that unfurls slowly over time in the cellar to scale monumental peaks.

These include the phenomenal 2010 and 2015 vintages, which best capture characteristic Hill of Grace signatures of dried sage, Chinese five spice and black pepper notes atop vibrant blackberry, dark plum and juicy cranberry.

Tolpuddle Vineyard

Coal River Valley, Tasmania

Soon after Tolpuddle Vineyard in Tasmania’s Coal River Valley was planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines in 1988, it was commanding respect as one of Australia’s elite cool-climate sites, yet Michael Hill Smith MW and Martin Shaw saw potential to do a whole lot more when they purchased the vineyard in 2011.

‘It has that special something,’ says Hill Smith, who is also one of the five Co-Chairs at the Decanter World Wine Awards.

‘Tolpuddle has very deliberate focus – but we felt it could be significantly better.’

The revitalisation programme saw a dam installed to help manage frost, ripping of the soil between vine rows to alleviate compaction of the silica-rich, stony ground, and new clones introduced within more intensive vine plantings to increase diversity and complexity of grape flavours and textures.

Through this focused attention to detail, Tolpuddle Chardonnay won immediate acclaim, but careful patience has also seen Pinot Noir flourish, as the influence of clonal diversity from new vines across the site has reached maturity.

‘Pinot Noir is capricious,’ says Shaw. ‘It reacts so sensitively to vintage and yield differences that it took time for Tolpuddle Pinot Noir to show site familiarity, but we have now arrived at a very strong place.’

Distinctive, prominent acidity comes as a consequence of the site’s typically very cold, very dry ripening season – an asset that gives these wines sharp flavour definition and extraordinary longevity.

Yangarra High Sands

McLaren Vale, South Australia

When Yangarra winemaker, the late Peter Fraser, identified as a result of the 2010 vintage that the specific terroir of this site – with Grenache bush vines planted in 1946 on a 1.7ha block of deep, ancient sand at Blewett Springs – produced a parcel of exceptional fruit with unusual delicacy and intensity, he boldly argued that it should be vinified separately and promoted as an elite, single-location Grenache expression.

No one else in Australia at that time had considered elevating Grenache to such a lofty pedestal, but Fraser’s astute observation set in place a movement that has rightly brought a league of superb McLaren Vale Grenache to international attention.

Yangarra High Sands remains the standard bearer for elite Australian Grenache, and a 15-vintage retrospective tasting demonstrated that its fragile beauty captures vintage variation with keen subtlety.

‘I always knew this block was very special. I had something that everyone else wanted, so I gave it my very best attention,’ said Fraser at the tasting.

The site provides fruit of exquisite purity, but minimal-intervention winemaking deserves praise for exercising poise and bringing every component into ideal balance – a talent amplified in more recent vintages, especially the magnificent 2024 High Sands Grenache.

It’s easy to be immediately seduced by its waft of wild herbs framed by fresh plum and wild raspberry, but it’s the lean muscle of a complex mid-palate that marries beauty with power, with its fine-boned frame carrying extraordinary persistence of pure flavours.

Alkina Estate Vineyard

Barossa, South Australia

When Chilean soil expert Dr Pedro Parra examined Alkina vineyard in the Barossa’s Greenock subregion, soon after Argentina’s Alejandro Bulgheroni bought the site in 2015, he confirmed its excellent pedigree – but also dug pits that identified a series of different soil outcrops within the 43ha vineyard.

These ‘polygons’ became the source of tiny fruit parcels that have been vinified separately and delicately in concrete vessels, with no oak influence, to accentuate their different character.

Polygon 1 Shiraz – sourced from a mere six rows of 70-year-old vines planted in granite-flecked schist and iron-rich clay over limestone – shows Barossa Shiraz in a dazzling fresh light, slender and nimble, yet supported by subtle, supple tannins and a lick of savoury minerality that guides a long palate line of rare finesse and purity.

Polygon 1 shows but one facet of Alkina’s studied Shiraz and Grenache output, as there are now 20 polygons defined within the vineyard’s Old Quarter – and more new sections are being identified to produce a suite of exemplary ‘polygon’ wines.

‘These are all significant micro-sites, all with significantly different geologies that introduce vastly different characteristics in the wine,’ explains Parra, ‘and it would be a crime if they were not identified individually and celebrated.’

Bastard Hill Vineyard

Yarra Valley, Victoria

Surrounded by dense temperate rainforest in the remote upper reaches of Victoria’s Yarra Valley, the 13ha Bastard Hill vineyard earned its harsh nickname from the workers who toiled in the especially difficult terrain.

Planted in the 1980s by the region’s leading cool-climate viticulturist, Ray Guerin, this was regarded as one of the great Chardonnay sites in Australia, being a source for Eileen Hardy Chardonnay.

The clearing is flanked by towering eucalyptus trees and giant tree ferns, and scales up from 300m to 400m above sea level.

With vines planted on gradients of up to 32%, riding farm machinery here is fraught with danger. Such difficulty and high labour expenses saw previous owner Accolade lose interest in maintaining such a gnarly site to the highest standards.

When Giant Steps Wine, owned by Jackson Family Wines, purchased the vineyard in August 2022, extensive vineyard restoration work commenced.

Winemaker Melanie Chester didn’t expect the neglected Bastard Hill site to respond immediately to viticultural attention and produce fruit of a standard befitting Giant Steps’ esteemed suite of single-vineyard wines.

But an exceptional 2023 Bastard Hill Chardonnay won immediate accolades, and the quality keeps improving.

A key factor is a rare soil type – rich red basalt that points back to the region’s volcanic activity of 500 million years ago – which produces fruit with an exciting concentration of flavours without sacrificing strident natural acidity.

Jim Barry Wines Florita Vineyard

Clare Valley, South Australia

Racy, citrus-driven Clare Riesling is now a globally recognised style, built on the historical success of the famed Florita Vineyard.

Pioneer wine merchant Leo Buring bought land at Watervale in 1946 and called the site Florita (Spanish for ‘little flower’) because he initially planted Palomino and Pedro Ximénez grapes to make fino-style ‘sherry’.

He then planted Riesling vines in 1962 and his winemaker John Vickery created a benchmark style, winning 50 trophies and 400 gold medals over subsequent decades.

Jim Barry Wines purchased the 32ha Florita site from corporate owner Philip Morris in 1986, but although the Barrys immediately began making superior wines with this stellar resource, they couldn’t use the trademarked Florita name for another 18 years.

‘It was maddening that we couldn’t use the name for so long, because we wanted to shout from the rooftops that we had the most famous Riesling vineyard in Australia,’ says retired managing director Peter Barry.

Jim Barry Wines finally issued its own Florita Riesling in 2004. In this wine, the site’s shallow, loamy soils provide a delicate floral beauty coupled with a rich citrus line, firm acidity promoting sharp, clean flavours with unusual length and persistence.

It boasts the unusual dichotomy of being both pretty and fragile, yet resolute and sturdy – factors that amplify with age.

To highlight this, Jim Barry has been issuing a 10-year-old cellar release of Florita, with the recently reissued 2015 showing gorgeous, developed honeysuckle, toasted cashew and lime marmalade characteristics, without sacrificing the primary citrus zestiness that defines Watervale Riesling.

Grosset Polish Hill River Vineyard

Clare Valley, South Australia

The single-minded pursuit of purity in Riesling expression is Jeffrey Grosset’s winemaking obsession, which led him to plant three different Riesling clones (two German and one rare local variety) on an 8ha vineyard in the stony, austere Polish Hill River region of Clare in 1996.

The site’s 500 million-year-old bedrock of blue slate produced a distinctive type of Riesling wrapped in dark, pensive flavour tones and spiky minerality – far removed from the neighbouring Watervale district’s lively lemon-lime characteristics.

Its austere personality reflects the struggle endured by such close-planted vines on tough soils, with each producing just two bottles of wine per vine.

‘I saw such particular attributes in the fruit from each site that I saw no point blending them together. I wanted people to see them side by side, so I just went ahead and bottled the Rieslings from both sub-regions separately,’ says Grosset.

This started a new, serious conversation about Riesling in Australia, which Grosset escalated as he honed more fine-chiselled flavour profiles after adopting organic viticulture principles, then achieving biodynamic certification in 2019.

Pursuit of this painstaking vineyard-care model has seen Grosset applauded as an early adopter of sustainability practices, but he simply points to the finished wine, and its extraordinary cellaring life, as his raison d’etre.

‘Quality over quantity,’ he says with an earnest stare, ‘is always the answer.’

Brokenwood Oakey Creek Vineyard

Hunter Valley, New South Wales

Semillon from the Hunter Valley carries unique characteristics that relate directly to site.

As Australia’s most northerly fine wine location, within a sub-tropical zone but also influenced by coastal breezes, the Hunter has produced Semillon for almost 200 years.

Its modern-day expressions of this grape variety combine seemingly disparate elements of bright, citrus-driven fruitiness with steely acidity that allows flavours to develop over time in bottle.

Semillon has thrived thanks to being planted in exactly the right locations – and Oakey Creek Vineyard, from which Brokenwood has sourced Semillon grapes since the early 1990s, ranks among the best.

In 2021 Brokenwood moved decisively to purchase the vineyard from the Drayton family, who planted it in 1982 on free-draining but fertile alluvial soils located close to the creek.

This vineyard is a primary source for Brokenwood’s elite ILR Reserve Semillon (first produced from the 1992 vintage, and released after six years of bottle age) – yet incredibly Brokenwood had never owned a Semillon vineyard.

‘We had always relied on local growers, so to take control of such an important vineyard gives us an opportunity to improve and invest in the vineyard’s future,’ explains chief winemaker Stuart Hordern.

He believes the importance of this vineyard will be more vigorously promoted, suggesting ILR will be labelled as a single-source wine, in addition to the Oakey Creek Semillon as a current-vintage expression.

‘It’s unmistakable where this wine comes from – and that’s rare.’

Giaconda Estate Vineyard

Beechworth, Victoria

The emergence of Giaconda, with its distinctive mineral-driven personality, proved pivotal in shaping the understanding that the best Australian Chardonnay should be defined by site rather than style.

When winemaker Rick Kinzbrunner left Brown Brothers Wines in 1981, he chose to plant his own vineyard on a tiny outcrop of 450 million-year-old granitic loam over clay and decomposed gravel near Beechworth in northern Victoria’s elevated sub-alpine region.

He had a specific goal – to produce rich but balanced Chardonnay in a powerful Burgundian style – but he needed to locate the right geological site. He found exactly what he wanted.

Chardonnay is planted on a relatively cool south-facing slope at more than 400m, providing a slow ripening period, enhanced flavour complexity and elevated natural acid levels.

It provides Giaconda Chardonnay with a robust frame, yet also unique poise and dignity.

Kinzbrunner remains a staunch advocate for a low-intervention winemaking style – pressing the grapes in a basket press, fermenting the must in oak, using no cultured yeasts, and not fining or filtering before bottling.

He believes this ensures the most accurate and authentic representation of his organically managed vineyard.

This supports a confident wine style that hasn’t changed with fashion, showing its personality with pride.

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History fills your eyes at Seppeltsfield. Barrels storing 147 continuous vintages of Seppeltsfield Para tawny fill the Centenary Cellar. It’s a collection that’s unrivalled in the world of wine, all housed under one old tin roof in the Barossa, Australia.

History fills your nose, too. An incredibly rich melange of heady aromas permeates the cellar, leaching slowly from the oak barrels as an estimated 3% of their contents evaporate into the atmosphere each year.

But history’s most delicious secrets are revealed once you taste the unctuous, concentrated nectar that remains within these old casks. The wines show impossible layers of complexity, compressed within interlocking and sometimes contradictory sweet and tart flavours that unfurl and adhere to your palate.

They are truly unique.

Tasting a legacy

To celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Seppelt family establishing Seppeltsfield in the western Barossa ranges, Decanter was invited with selected media and winemakers to taste all of the Para Centenary tawnies – a continuous line of 48 wines, stretching from 1878 to this year’s new release, the 1926 vintage.

It’s a remarkable legacy handed down by Oscar ‘Benno’ Seppelt, who had the foresight to lay down a single 500-litre puncheon of his finest fortified from the 1878 vintage, with instructions that it not be issued for 100 years.

This gesture marked the launch of the magnificent Seppeltsfield bluestone cellar in 1878, a sturdy three-level monument designed and built in 1866 by Benno’s father, Joseph Seppelt, who had brought the family from Silesia in 1849 and established the vineyards in 1851.

Vintage snapshots

Highlights within the historic tawny collection are extraordinary – none more dazzling than the inaugural 1878 Para. This is the rarest of vinous marvels, retaining freshness and vitality but with extraordinary layered complexity in subtle flavours and bewitching nuances.

Also sitting within the top tier of Para Centenary examples is the new release – 1926 Para – showing such vibrancy and intensity with its high, sweet perfume yet deepest baritone notes in the flavour profile.

Rather than provide a narrative about an evolution of a style, the historical tasting highlighted significant outliers – such as the impossibly thick and viscous 1918 Para as almost a parody of the super-concentrated style, or the 1907 Para with especially sharp acidity, and the outrageously dense 1894 Para.

It proved that ancient fortified wines do not settle into a homogenised sameness, but instead show distinctive historical vintage snapshots.

Old vines & historic homestead

History is writ large at Seppeltsfield. It speaks through the estate’s original buildings – from the three-bedroom Seppelt family homestead around which the winery was constructed, to the gravity-fed cellar constructed in 1888.

This was decommissioned in the 1980s but reinstated for winemaking from the 2010 vintage.

It is also evident in the vineyards – especially the Grenache bush vines. First planted in 1855, these were replanted in 1958 as contoured rows that hug the western side of Seppeltsfield estate.

They form the backbone of Seppeltsfield fortified wine production, along with old Shiraz and Mourvèdre vines, although precise percentages of each variety in Para tawny was not recorded until the 1980s.

The creation of Seppeltsfield Para in 1878 is also tied to the historical foundation of Australian wine, which thrived on the success of fortified wine production from the colony’s earliest years.

When Joseph Seppelt arrived in the Barossa, he planned to continue farming tobacco, which had made him prosperous in Silesia, but instead he found growing grapes more favourable and soon set about ambitious expansion that made Seppeltsfield a key Barossa producer.

Legacy of success

Seppeltsfield Para was produced as a statement of the family’s success, a gesture continued on an annual basis through successive winemakers – and eventually different owners.

The Seppelt family sold their shares in 1984 and the winery passed through several corporate ownerships until the Randall Wine Group took control of the estate and its cellars in 2009.

Para Centenary tawny is still nurtured by many hands. Three Seppeltsfield winemakers were present at the tasting – including original family descendent Charlie Seppelt – yet modestly play down their role.

‘These are not my wines,’ says James Godfrey, who joined Seppeltsfield in 1978 and became chief fortified winemaker until Foster’s Group sold Seppeltsfield in 2007. ‘I was fortunate enough to watch them develop and protect them – and for that, I feel enormously privileged.’

For Godfrey, a key to the consistency of Para tawny quality is the spirit chosen to fortify the wine – a grape spirit produced from Seppeltsfield’s own still from 1878 to 1978, when Godfrey closed down its production.

He then oversaw the selection of a complementary spirit from Barossa distillery Tarac, which continues to provide the same spirit to Seppeltsfield.

Preserving the past

The need for consistency and honouring traditional methods is not lost on Seppeltsfield chief winemaker Fiona Donald.

‘We are only custodians.’ she says. ‘Every vintage tells its own significant story, and it’s our duty to ensure that this is preserved – and that the historic Para Centennial Collection will remain relevant to fine wine collectors of the future.’

Most Para Centenary tawnies comprise a single puncheon, and many now contain only about 150 litres of highly concentrated wine.

Donald examines their condition during annual inventories, and decants some into 300-litre hogshead casks to help preserve their freshness.

However, this brings its own set of challenges, with key older vintages at such tiny volumes they can no longer be preserved safely in large-format oak barrels.

Several of the most popular old releases – some down to 40 litres or less, including the Para vintages from 1885, 1884, 1881, 1880, 1879 and 1878 – are now stored in glass air-tight vessels, which has fundamentally changed the wines.

While they still show remarkable agility and focused clarity, much of the dense viscosity and deepest flavour layers have been removed with the complex molecules that drop and settle in a dark sediment layer at the bottom of each barrel.

The absence of continued interaction with oxygen from the oak barrel also affects colour and texture.

‘Tawnies are aerobic beasts, and if they don’t interact with oxygen, they change,’ explains Godfrey.

Fortifying the future

Examining these glass-stored wines raised important discussion points for the Seppeltsfield winemaking team about how best to preserve Para wines beyond 100 years.

One thought is to contain the remaining volumes in small oak casks and store them in a temperature-controlled space, which would prevent further heat evaporation but not remove complex flavour compounds from the solution.

No decision has yet been made.

The previous complete comparative tasting of Para was led by Godfrey in 2003, to mark the 25th anniversary of the first Para Centenary release.

The recent tasting went further, also providing a rare view of future Para centenary releases in progress, showing decade-by-decade development from the 1926 vintage through to the juvenile 2016 vintage.

It reinforced Benno Seppelt’s genius decision to hold this wine in barrel for 100 years, to achieve perfect balance between concentration, complexity and vitality that cannot be contrived in younger fortified wines.

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It was a full house for the much-anticipated final masterclass of the day at the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter Singapore, showcasing iconic single-vineyard wines from Henschke, one of Australia’s oldest and most revered wineries.

And to make the experience even more special, masterclass guests were guided through the tasting of eight wines, including mini-verticals of Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone, by the family’s sixth-generation winemaker, Johann Henschke.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for all eight wines from the Henschke masterclass

Established in 1868, Henschke is one of Australia’s oldest wineries, founded by Johann Christian Henschke who fled German-speaking Silesia with his family in 1841 due to persecution against their Old Lutheran religion by the Prussian state.

By the time he docked in Adelaide, after the four-month journey by cargo ship, he had lost his wife and two of their four children.

Johann Christian eventually moved to the Barossa, where many German-speaking immigrants had settled, and in 1860 set up his home in the town of Keyneton where six subsequent generations of his Henschke descendants have called home.

The current custodians are fifth-generation Stephen and Prue Henschke, winemaker and viticulturalist respectively.

Since the 1980s, this trailblazing husband-and-wife team have built on the visionary work of Stephen’s father, Cyril Henschke, the fourth-generation winemaker, who pioneered single-vineyard wines.

Location, location, location

The Barossa wine region comprises the Barossa Valley in the west – the fertile bank of an old river, with elevations of about 300m – and the Eden Valley to the east.

Despite its name, the Eden Valley is actually a series of valleys formed within an ancient mountain range that climbs past 600m and has a far more extreme continental climate than the Barossa Valley, with limited areas suitable to plant vines.

But recognising the importance of site isn’t the only legacy the Henschke ancestors have passed down.

South Australia is blessed with ancient, own-rooted vineyards free from phylloxera, with the world’s largest surface area of old-vine plantings found in the Barossa.

Henschke owns several of these, which contribute to their wines’ extraordinary complexity.

This includes a parcel of the 16ha Mount Edelstone vineyard, planted in 1912, and a few rows of vines in the 4ha Hill of Grace vineyard, planted in 1860.

These ancient soils and their vines are nourished and tended by Prue Henschke, who farms organically and biodynamically, and is internationally recognised for her innovations in sustainable grape growing and vineyard management.

While both Hill of Grace and Mount Edelstone sit at 380m to 400m above sea level, the former lies about 4km further north and has a mainly northerly aspect, while the latter faces east.

Both the neighbouring Cyril Henschke (planted 1988) and Wheelwright (1968) vineyards are about 10km further south, but in a cooler, rainier site between 445m and 470m.

All have free-draining sandy loam soils over various types of clay, but with different bedrocks: blue slate (Hill of Grace), micaceous schist (Mount Edelstone) and weathering gneiss/micaceous schist.

Single-site immersion

A unique aspect of this Henschke masterclass was the fact it was both a horizontal tasting (tasting different wines across the same vintage) and a vertical tasting (the same wine across different vintages).

Keen golfer Johann likened it to standing on a putting green, with the tasters having the opportunity to look at the wines from several angles – both single vineyards and vintages – and observing the various terrains and altitudes.

The big drawcard was undoubtedly the mini vertical tastings (the new-release 2021s as well as the 2015 and 2005 vintages) of Henschke’s two most famous single-vineyard Shirazes.

Mount Edelstone is arguably Australia’s longest consecutively produced single-vineyard wine, first released in 1952 by Cyril Henschke with the vineyard name proudly on the label.

Cyril made the first single-vineyard Hill of Grace Shiraz in 1958, when the original vines were already almost 100 years old, planted by a Henschke ancestor in 1860.

Tasting terroir

When asked what the biggest difference between the two iconic wines was, Johann’s reply was simple.

‘It’s just the location of the vineyard. That’s what it boils down to,’ he said.

‘Hill of Grace is at the same altitude as Mount Edelstone, but we’re in a warmer place, with a different aspect, and slightly different soils.

‘So there’s a different shape and feel to Hill of Grace. It almost feels like it is not part of the Eden Valley.

‘And if you’ve tasted Shiraz widely across the Barossa Valley you might find some of those characters, but I can guarantee you there are no Barossa Valley grapes in there!’

The Wheelwright Shiraz, launched in 2015, has a different shape and feel again – much more Pinotesque – coming from a vineyard planted at a higher altitude and in contours by Cyril, 100 years after the winery’s founding.

A single-site Cabernet Sauvignon has been made from what is now known as the Cyril Henschke vineyard since 1978.

When a virus struck, Prue and Stephen replanted it in 1988, adding some Cabernet Franc (0.4ha) and Merlot (0.7ha) to join the 2.1ha of Cabernet Sauvignon.

‘My grandfather Cyril never left the Barossa,’ Johann told the audience.

‘He’d never tasted great Burgundies or knew what terroir was, but it’s clear he understood that there was a uniqueness and a distinct character that came from these individual vineyards.’

‘When you’re on your putting green and you’re looking at the wines in different ways, hopefully you can identify that unique vineyard character clearly too.’

Watch the video highlights from the Decanter Fine Wine Encounter Singapore featuring Johann Henschke

Henschke masterclass: tasting the single-vineyard wines

(Wines are listed in the order they were tasted)

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The Australian wine industry is shocked and saddened by the passing of Yangarra Estate winemaker and general manager Peter Fraser, respected and beloved as one of the leading lights in progressive Australian winemaking.

Fraser, 51, was found dead at the scene of a fire at his home in Clarendon on 27 November.

His list of achievements is long and prestigious, including Australian Winemaker of the Year in 2015 and twice winning Halliday Australian Wine of the Year (for the 2016 High Sands Grenache in 2020 and the 2021 Old Vine Grenache in 2024 – making Yangarra the only winery to win this award twice for the same variety). He was also included this year in the Drinks Business Top 100 Global Winemakers.

Fraser applied keen intelligence to his winemaking, working with precision and accuracy in the winery, although in essence he was a painstaking farmer who knew his vines, soils and region in intricate detail. Visiting Fraser at Yangarra would inevitably lead to him driving you to all parts of the estate, to examine soils and the health of ancient vines, then check on new vine plantings and grafts of superior clones that would influence future vintages.

His understanding of terroir propelled Yangarra onto the world stage as a winery of excellence.

Winemaking career

The son of chicken farmers in McLaren Vale, he graduated from the University of Adelaide as a winemaker in 1994, before working at Woodstock Wines in McLaren Vale, then St Hallett Wines in the Barossa. He also worked vintages in Spain – at Villa Robledo in La Mancha – before returning to McLaren Vale, becoming chief winemaker at Norman’s Winery by the age of 26.

When Jackson Family Wines from California bought Norman’s Clarendon vineyard in 2001 and renamed it Yangarra Estate, they employed Fraser as winemaker to oversee their investment.

From 2005, Fraser took the brave step of reserving a component of Yangarra’s already successful Old Vine Grenache, isolating fruit from the estate’s High Sands block in the Blewett Springs sub-region, to produce McLaren Vale’s first elite single-site Grenache wine. It pre-empted a movement that now sees a score of single-vineyard wines from neighbouring Blewett Springs sites that are also celebrated among the world’s best Grenache expressions.

Only a week ago, Fraser hosted Decanter with a select group of media to taste through a retrospective vertical tasting of Yangarra’s High Sands Grenache from 2010 to 2024, serving as a mesmerising tribute to the careful refinement of this distinctive single-site wine.

‘I always knew this vineyard was something special. I knew I had something that everybody else wanted – and that’s why I have loved every moment of working here,’ he said with a modest smile at the retrospective tasting.

The tasting demonstrated clearly that his sublime talent and attention to detail was continuing to rise, with the 2024 vintage showing exceptional poise; its elegant, delicate bouquet is matched by a palate alive with lithe fruit and vitality.

Such an achievement underlined Fraser’s perfectionist streak, which drove him to take decisive steps in vineyard improvement. He was a leader in biodynamic viticulture, taking Yangarra through certification in 2007, and believed firmly in its impact on vine health and wine quality.

He was also innovative in the winery, maturing elite fruit parcels in ceramic eggs and concrete amphoras – with the Ovitelli range of wines remaining on skins for more than 140 days – to capture a relaxed tannin profile that emphasised suppleness on the palate, while simultaneously emphasising textural complexity.

He also applied his transformative methods to Yangarra Shiraz, achieving a distinctively elegant and supple expression that helps redefine Australian Shiraz.

Fraser’s passion for the natural world extended to a love of animals. He always had dogs and farmed everything from cattle to chickens, but his deepest affection was for horses, and he was an accomplished horseman.

Tributes

Winemaker Stephen Pannell, proprietor of SC Pannell Wines in McLaren Vale, was a close friend of Fraser. ‘Winemaking is often such a competitive area, but we both shared a common love – Grenache. Because of that, we talked endlessly and shared information about everything we did with Grenache, so that we could both make better and better wines, and that’s not common in this game.

‘We had a shared goal, to elevate Blewitt Springs Grenache among the world’s great wines – and I think we are starting to see that this is his legacy. His focus was on making Grenache wines that had tannins and longevity, and that is rare among Australian wines.

‘For the past four years, we went around Australia with David Gleave to promote and educate people about the magic of great Grenache, and through that we formed such a special relationship. I’ve lost such a close friend, confidant and muse.’

D’Arenberg Wines owner and winemaker Chester Osborn knew Fraser for 30 years. ‘He was a delightful person, just a lovely bloke,’ he told The Advertiser newspaper. ‘He was a great winemaker. He was perfecting his style all the time and getting better and better.’

Yangarra Estate paid tribute to Fraser’s work in a statement: ‘For more than 25 years, Pete was the driving force behind Yangarra and was an incredible winemaker, thought leader, mentor, and a defining voice in the industry. All of us who had the privilege of working with him are devastated by this loss. He was deeply loved, and his legacy is profound.’

Fraser is survived by his wife Tessa and two children, Jack and Poppy.

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Terra rossa. It’s the dense red, iron-rich soil that defines Coonawarra in South Australia and helped to build its reputation as one of Australia’s top regions for Cabernet Sauvignon.

But it’s not the only one…

David’s pick of the 2022 Coonawarra Cabernet listed below

In recent decades, Margaret River in Western Australia has earned highest praise from critics for its Cabernets. While major international trophies have also been awarded to Cabs from the Clare Valley, McLaren Vale, Langhorne Creek and the Barossa.

Against such fierce competition, Coonawarra producers have renewed their intent to stand at the forefront of Australia’s Cabernet conversation.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate, the region’s oldest winery, established in 1891, places an authoritative stamp on each vintage with an annual event to herald its new premium wines. Wynns Day, on the first Wednesday of May each year, provides a valuable barometer of what changes are at play in Coonawarra.

Two years to remember

Wynns Day has been especially telling with the two most recent vintage releases of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Optimal conditions saw the 2021 Coonawarra vintage celebrated as a milestone, thanks to a long, slow ripening period. It produced grapes with high perfume, concentrated and complex flavours, and superb tannin structure that will ensure elegant cellaring.

Good winter rains and a long, slow grape ripening period also placed high expectations on the 2022 vintage. Wynns’ recently released suite of premium 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon wines show this promise has been realised.

Vintages and vineyards

‘We’ve enjoyed two very even, very well balanced vintages that really suit the Wynns style of medium-bodied, aromatic and fruit-forward wines,’ says Wynns senior winemaker Sue Hodder.

She notes the winery keeps reaping benefits from two decades of vineyard revitalisation achieved by the company’s recently retired viticultural maestro Alan Jenkin.

Large-scale vine improvement processes and redevelopment of Wynns Coonawarra vineyards began in 2002. They inspired many other Coonawarra vignerons to also bulldoze vast tracts of diseased old vineyards and replace them with superior new vines.

Going solo

The improvements have now given rise to some superior single-vineyard wines, best illustrated by Wynns’ Single Vineyard series of elite Cabernet blocks, which in 2022 was the Childs vineyard (a portion of which also goes into the elite multi-block cuvee Wynns John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon).

Other wineries have followed suit, with launches that highlight special blocks and stand in stark contrast to blended Cabernets.

They include Parker Estate, releasing its taut, muscular Block 95 Cabernet Sauvignon, and also its First Growth Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from the Scarlet North section of the estate’s large Abbey Block.

Creating new styles

New plantings have introduced impressive new grape clones to the region. Balnaves steered trials of Entav Cabernet and Merlot clones from southern France, which capture the charm and heady fruit perfume of classic Cabernet wrapped in lean muscle.

‘It shows the potential for a new path forward in modern Cabernet style,’ says proprietor Kirsty Balnaves.

Attention to detail in the vineyard is translating to new peaks of excellence in the wines, with the work of stalwart winemakers driving recent offerings forward. Veterans such as Paul Gordon at Leconfield are cleverly reading old-vine assets.

Winemaker Emma Bowen continues the rich and luscious Cabernet style favoured by her father Doug at Bowen Estate. While the Zema family ensure generosity and exuberance in their full-bodied, fruit-driven wines at Zema Estate.

Blended expression

Penfolds approaches its Coonawarra output from a different perspective, having both its own vineyards and purchasing fruit from independent growers, to construct the strongest possible vintage expressions in its Bin 707, Bin 407 and Bin 169 wines.

Penfolds chief winemaker, Peter Gago, holds Coonawarra fruit in special regard. ‘When the vintage conditions are right, Coonawarra Cabernet stands apart as being truly unique and immediately recognisable,’ says Gago.

The other important consideration for Coonawarra Cabernet is its dominant presence in blends, especially premium quality Cabernet/Shiraz wines. These include Penfolds, Yalumba with The Caley, and especially The Redman, a superb flagship blend of 79% Cabernet and 21% Shiraz wine from Redman Wines.

‘It’s an important statement from us, involving the best barrels from the winery, to express both power and elegance by pushing Cabernet’s best attributes to the forefront,’ explains winemaker Dan Redman. ‘It demonstrates just how good Coonawarra Cabernet is.’

Vintage report: Coonawarra 2022

After an even fruit set and mild growing season, the 2022 Coonawarra vintage produced high-quality fruit and good yields. With no prolonged heat waves, the grapes ripened at a steady rate, allowing winemakers to pick at optimum levels for ripeness and flavour.

Cabernet picking concluded in the second half of May, with firm tannins that will translate into wines with good cellaring potential. Cabernet Sauvignon was a standout. According to Wine Australia, the reported crush of Coonawarra wine grapes was 36,122 tonnes in 2022 (down 28% from 2021, but in line with the five-year average crush) at a value of more than AU$40.8 million.

Vinehealth Australia data showed the total vineyard area in Coonawarra as 5,831ha, including 29ha of new plantings in 2021-2022, almost all of them Cabernet Sauvignon.

Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon 2022: 15 top wines to try

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Seven decades after the inaugural 1951 Grange, the 2021 vintage of Penfolds’ renowned multi-region South Australian Shiraz looks set to be one of the greats.

Priced at £600 (AU$1,000 / €700), it was the highlight of the 2025 Collection, presented to critics in London last month by Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago.

With a history as long and rich as Penfolds (it celebrated its 180th birthday last year) and with an ever-increasing number of wines in its international portfolio (close to 40), there’s a high chance of one or more anniversaries coinciding with each vintage.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the new Grange release and 23 other wines in the 2025 Penfolds Collection

Marking milestones

This year, in addition to Grange marking 70 years since the inaugural 1951 vintage, Penfolds’ home vineyard in Adelaide – first planted 181 years ago – sees the 40th anniversary of its Magill Estate Shiraz with the 2023 vintage.

And, not to be outdone, the 2024 Bin A Adelaide Hills Reserve Chardonnay celebrates its 30-year milestone. Next year, Penfolds’ top-tier Chardonnay Yattarna (Bin 144) will likewise clock up its three-decade anniversary.

This follows the February launch of Grange La Chapelle, a partnership between Gago and Caroline Frey, his counterpart at Domaine La Chapelle, in France’s Rhône Valley.

The inaugural 2021 vintage is an equal blend of this latest release of Grange and Syrah from the hill of Hermitage. The 2022 and 2023 vintages are in bottle and the French half of the 2024 is about to be sent back to Australia for blending.

This year’s collection also welcomed a new French Winemaking Trial wine, the 2022 FWT 543. It’s a Gallic take on the quintessential Australian blend, combining Bordeaux Cabernet and Syrah from the south of France.

‘Some of our most revered wines started life as experiments – including Grange,’ Gago reminded critics in London. ‘When we get everything right, all our ducks in a row, hopefully they earn their stripes and upgrade to Bin status.’ (Grange has officially been Bin 95 since 1964.)

And a big part of getting it right for FWT 543, reveals Gago, is ultimately sourcing the Syrah from the northern Rhône. ‘But we crawl before we walk.’

Bin 169 Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, only made in exceptional vintages, is a notable omission from this year’s collection: ‘Coonawarra in 2023 had a bit of a rough patch for Cabernet,’ notes Gago.

Consequently Bin 707, the top-tier multi-region Cabernet, has no Coonawarra fruit, though some did make it into its little brother Bin 407.

Highlights of the 2025 Penfolds Collection

The 2021 vintage is roundly considered exceptional in South Australia (Brian Croser of Tapanappa in the Adelaide Hills, a veteran of 56 vintages, says it’s one of the best of his career), giving fresh, concentrated, ageworthy wines.

So it’s no surprise the new-release Grange is a corker, up there with 2018, 2010 and 1990.

If you are a collector, investor or Aussie icon hunter, you’ll want this: expressive and exotic, supple yet generous, with statuesque tannins. And the hardest thing won’t be the price tag (£600/€700) but how to ignore its siren call from the cellar for the next three decades.

Much of this year’s collection is from the very wet, cold and late 2023 vintage, which challenged growers with disease pressures and low yields.

But Penfolds prides itself on its long-term relationships with grower families (some supplying fruit for more than 100 years), as well as its organoleptic blind tastings to classify parcels by quality and then determine blends.

Grange’s white wine counterpart, Yattarna (£135/€155), sourced from marginal cool-climate regions, is pristine and focused in 2023, with bright fruit and a structure to ensure it ages well over the next 20 years.

‘Baby Grange’ Bin 389 Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz (£70/€80) is a strong buy from 2023, while the Bin 28 South Australian Shiraz (£30/€35) from the 2024 vintage really punches above its weight both in quality and value.

Looking at Penfolds’ international portfolio, the 2022 ‘Wine of the World’ Bin 149 Cabernet Sauvignon (£60/€70) is exceptional, taking its name from the 14.9% of South Australian fruit that joined the Napa Valley component in its inaugural 2018 vintage.

From Bordeaux, the 2022 FWT 585 Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot-Petit Verdot (£65/€75) is improving year on year, and Gago says is close to being upgraded to Bin status.

When you can buy them

This year’s Penfolds Collection comprises 24 wines, all of which Decanter has tasted and rated.

St Henri 2022, along with Grange 2021, Yattarna 2023, Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 and RWT Bin 798 Barossa Valley Shiraz 2023 will be released on Bordeaux’s La Place on 8 September.

The 19 other wines in the 2025 Penfolds Collection will be released in Australia on 7 August and available globally from 20 September.

Penfolds Collection 2025: Tasting notes and scores of 24 wines

Tina Gellie tasted 19 of the 24 Penfolds Collection 2025 wines in June as well as the 2025 Bin 51 Riesling and 2023 Magill Estate Shiraz in August. David Sly tasted the 2021 Bin 98 Quantum and 2023 CWT Cabernet Sauvignon-Marselan in Adelaide in August and Georgie Hindle tasted the 2022 St Henri Shiraz in Bordeaux in July.

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Only a few months after arriving in McLaren Vale from Sydney, winemaker Rob Mack had made the decision to specialise in Grenache.

Soon after starting his job for regional contract producer McLaren Vale Winemakers, Mack identified extraordinary parcels of dry-grown Grenache from ancient bush vines, and made enquiries whether he could purchase some.

When the answer was yes, Rob and his wife, Louise Rhodes Mack, made an instant commitment to start their own wine brand: Aphelion.

They started in 2014 with one tonne of Grenache fruit purchased from the Brini family vineyard.

Notes and scores for 11 McLaren Vale Grenache from Aphelion below

‘It seemed like natural progress for us to pursue our own label, and for that label to have a very specific focus by diving very deep into Grenache,’ says Louise.

‘We started small and did everything by hand – right down to applying our own labels to the wines on bottling day – and it grew slowly by increments, because we wanted every bottle to be just right.’

Immaculate conception

It began an intense exploration of Grenache sites and styles, leading to Aphelion now producing seven Grenache wines, including two single-site expressions. The leading lights drew high scores in Decanter’s Australian Grenache Panel Tasting in January 2025.

‘I was driven by the desire to work with immaculate fruit,’ says Rob, who also makes another 12 small-batch wines from different varieties alongside the Grenache.

‘With Aphelion, I was able to perform a wine dump of all my thoughts about how to make wines of supreme elegance and finesse. There were new investigations to pursue each year,’ he explains.

‘I kept addressing the question of how to allow each vineyard site to shine, and that presented fresh challenges with every vintage. It was as much an intellectual exercise as a physical task, and I absolutely adored the focus it demanded.’

Grand cru Grenache

Grenache, in the hands of McLaren Vale’s most astute producers, has become Australia’s take on grand cru – rare, idiosyncratic and expressive, indicative of exemplary sites. Much of it hinges on the age of the vines, which run up to 120 years.

This combined with the complexity of the vineyard sites. McLaren Vale’s geology map, first produced in 2008, identifies 21 soil types aged up to 300 million years that dot the 7,438ha wine region.

Such complexity has prompted a surge in the number of single-site Grenache wines produced in recent years, triggering a tussle among boutique producers to procure the best fruit from privately owned vineyards.

Blewitt Springs – home to the Brini family vineyard – is an especially sought-after subregion of McLaren Vale. Its soils are characterised by deep sands and pockets of ironstone.

Rob and Louise realised this when they first approached the Brini family, noting that several other winemakers were already buying premium fruit from their vineyard.

However, the Macks were the first to feature the vineyard by name on wine labels, and their relationship with the Brini family has flourished over 11 years.

‘I’m so proud of the fact we have been able to build a famous name from a vineyard that wasn’t previously being shouted about,’ says Rob. ‘It certainly deserved to be, and we’ve proved that.’

Regionality and single sites

The Macks now purchase more Grenache fruit from the Brini Vineyard – along with some outstanding Chenin Blanc grapes – although Aphelion presents multiple Grenache expressions from McLaren Vale for each vintage.

A constant feature of the winery’s portfolio has been Confluence, a clever regional blend designed to show Grenache’s rich savoury mid-palate. It brings together fruit from different Blewitt Springs sites, with a range of winemaking techniques applied to different parcels, from whole-bunch ferments to extended maceration.

It captures the magic mix of sharp, youthful vigour and smouldering old-vine persistence supported by supple tannins.

Aphelion’s single-vineyard expressions show more refined definitions. Brini Grenache has roundness and intensity to its flavour profile, with dark plum fruits and earthy characters creating a wine of depth and richness.

The Wait Grenache has a more feisty, prickly personality, its long mid-palate agitated by a powder-keg of black tannins that shape a dramatic concluding note.

‘The different sites produce wines of significant difference, and we strive to capture those subtle differences in the glass,’ says Rob.

Taking the leap

Succeeding in this goal has triggered significant growth for Aphelion. From processing one tonne of grapes in 2014, then three tonnes in 2016, to 21 tonnes in 2017, Rob and Louise intensified their commitment to Aphelion.

‘We joined hands and took the big leap, because we realised we had something great happening here,’ they say. Rob, who also has a business degree, developed a business plan for Aphelion; while Louise was accepted into South Australia’s Youth Entrepreneur Scheme.

Increased volumes of wines brought people to their house in Willunga, where the front room became a sales office and tasting lounge for customers who booked by appointment.

‘It’s a crazy space, where our kids Clairette and Monty, and our pets were always charging through, but it was a true and honest representation of us and what we’re about.’

Importantly, from 2018 Rob has taken customers into the vineyards. He pours wines from the back of his ute (Australia’s beloved abbreviation of the flat-back utility farm vehicle) at the sites where Aphelion’s grapes are sourced from.

‘It adds a level of romance to the tasting, but it also reinforces the notion of site that we believe is so important to what people taste in our wines,’ he says.

Freedom to change

By 2020, in the middle of the COVID disruptions, the Macks decided to quit their other jobs and make a full-time commitment to Aphelion, as production escalated to 50 tonnes.

This has prompted them to lease a larger cellar door tasting venue overlooking vines north of McLaren Vale township.

Visitors can have guided tastings of Aphelion’s carefully considered range, which has expanded and contracted over the years. This reflects both the availability of fruit that hits a certain quality from the Macks’ preferred vineyards, and their interest in varieties other than Grenache.

Chenin Blanc has come to the fore, while Sagrantino and Nero d’Avola make guest appearances. Shiraz will disappear from the range from the 2020 vintage.

‘Being small and agile as a wine brand means that we are free to react and explore what can be next in our wine output,’ explains Louise. ‘We don’t have to remain fixed to anything.’

What’s next?

This attitude has inspired Aphelion’s latest project: the bold 2024 Hickinbotham Series of Grenache, sourced from three tiny blocks at the highest elevation points in the Hickinbotham vineyard in Clarendon.

All are picked on the same day and made the same way, with only 360 bottles of each wine produced.

‘It goes far beyond a single vineyard – to a sub-vineyard, micro-plot level,’ says Rob. ‘This project is designed to display the nuances Grenache can show from blocks that are so close together. There are very few varieties that could display these differences, and Grenache is one of them.’

It broadcasts their ambition to dive even deeper into Grenache. ‘We are looking harder at the fruit we purchase, to examine the points of difference and make more specific wines that focus completely on site,’ says Louise.

‘There will be more little projects that we sell through our cellar door – experiments that will inform Rob’s future winemaking decisions.’

This will include more parcels being fermented in concrete egg, along with different experiments in tannin manipulation and oak usage.

‘When we started Aphelion, I really wanted to present Grenache wines worthy of being talked about on the world stage,’ says Rob. ‘Now that we have put all the pieces together, I feel we are getting that reward.’

Aphelion: Top wines to try

Bottles tasted by David Sly in McLaren Vale and by Beth Pearce MW, Sara Muirhead MW and Ben Chan at the Australian Grenache Panel Tasting 2025, London.

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Barossa Shiraz 2023 vintage rating: 4/5

Despite challenges, growers who paid careful attention to their vines enjoyed superb grapes from the 2023 harvest. After steady winter rains, spring was one of the wettest on record, though timely spraying averted threats of downy mildew.

There were no sustained summer heatwaves; cooler weather and large vine canopies saw veraison occur during February, delaying the Barossa’s 2023 vintage by up to four weeks. Shiraz usually harvested in mid-February was picked from mid-March.

However, slow ripening produced complex flavours in grapes, with red wines showing intense, rich and balanced flavours and colours. While crop volumes varied across the region, the total Barossa yield (red and white) was slightly above average at 73,160 tonnes.

Scroll down for David’s top-scoring wines from the 2023 Barossa Shiraz releases

Capturing heightened elegance in Barossa Shiraz comes with confidence – and a cooler, longer vintage in 2023 has certainly helped a raft of winemakers embrace this evolving style.

This vintage presented challenges, especially to obtain optimal ripeness at the highest elevations. It required great attention in the vineyard, especially to escape fungal disease due to cooler temperatures.

But smart vignerons – led by Alkina, Michael Hall, The Cutting and Head Wines – took great care to place specific attention on individual grape parcels, applying multiple winemaking techniques to achieve superior results.

Shifting style

Decanter published its first Barossa Shiraz Vintage Report for the 2022 vintage and noted that a shift in winemaking style was gaining a foothold.

The best wines captured a leanness and nimbleness that defied a lingering perception of heavyweight Barossa Shiraz with high alcohol and super-ripe fruit.

This change in direction has now gained traction.

The 2023 vintage provided the right environment for Barossa winemakers to explore these ideas further. From the 89 submissions for this vintage report, a broad league of wines shows subtle and complex marriages of flavour and texture.

With less insistence on shouting, subtleties were allowed to speak with increased clarity.

This is a great achievement by modern Barossa producers. More detailed understanding of terroir, greater care for the fragility of ancient vines and increased responsiveness to climatic changes have translated to expressive wines that clearly reflect their environment.

Terroir expression

‘We are seeing terroir inform the winemaking required to make the best wines,’ says Alex Head, winemaker at Head Wines, who sources fruit from 15 privately owned Barossa vineyards. ‘Hard work in the winery has resulted in wines of really interesting texture from the 2023 vintage.’

Once, the Barossa’s quandary was whether to maintain tradition by making hefty Shiraz of imposing depth and power, or to embrace more slimline contemporary tastes.

It’s pleasing that the current direction respects old-vine intensity while also championing understated elegance and refined beauty.

Shiraz from the 2023 vintage shows impressive consistency from the top tier of producers. Expect pretty perfumes as a consequence of cooler temperatures, along with complex texture aided by supple, lithe tannins.

Many of these wines seem slightly shy now, but the best have an unforced elegance that won’t fade with time.

Names to know

Rising high above the ordinary are a suite of meticulous wine producers, led by Alkina, Michael Hall, John Duval and Alex Head, along with boutique producers including Belinda van Eyssen from The Cutting.

Impressive new faces are producing wines of the highest order. They include Jack Scholz, taking over the reins at The Willows Vineyard. Young winemaker Samantha Chandra is focusing on distinctive single vineyard expressions with her solo project Setiono.

While Nick Radford is making notable advances at Mirus Vineyards in the Marananga subregion.

With a nod to classic style, Henschke notably demonstrates the craft of careful blending with Henry’s Seven, a wine that achieves a high degree of sophistication.

Shiraz from the Barossa Valley floor is co-fermented with Viognier pressings, and just the right addition of Grenache and Mataro, to achieve ideal balance.

‘Any wines that are focused on expressing region, place and site are showing especially well from the 2023 vintage,’ concludes Alkina winemaker Amelia Nolan. ‘And for that reason, we regard 2023 as a fabulous year.’

Barossa: The facts

Founded: 1842

Vineyards: 14,236ha under vine, with 11,847ha in the Barossa Valley (elevation 112-597m) and 2,389ha in the adjacent Eden Valley (elevation 217-637m). This represents 9.7% of Australia’s total wine production.

Climate: hot and dry. Barossa average rainfall 160mm; Eden Valley average rainfall 280mm. Mean temperatures during the key January growing period are 21.4℃ in Barossa and 19.4℃ in Eden Valley.

Vine age: Barossa has the oldest producing Shiraz vines in the world, planted in 1843. 283ha of vines are more than 70 years of age; 82ha are more than 125 years old.

Barossa Shiraz 2023: The top 40 wines

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This is Southern Ocean Lodge on Kangaroo Island – mark 2. The original and much-loved lodge was lost in bushfires which destroyed almost half of the island in 2019. Owners James and Hayley Baillie knew they had to rebuild. SOL, as it is affectionately known, literally rose from the ashes. And it’s even better than before.

Understated elegance

Built along the sloping cliffs of Kangaroo Island’s southwest coast, SOL overlooks stunning Hanson Bay. All 25 suites face the wild Southern Ocean as it pounds the coastline. They are spacious, elegant and understated. Architect Max Pritchard has made sure they stand out for all the right reasons – number one being that they don’t stand out. They almost blend into the regenerated coastal scrub. Colours and materials are natural, the added curves, soft. It feels like they ‘belong’ in the dunes. Design touches include artist Llewlyn Ash’s touching display of tiny remnants from the original lodge, foraged from the ashes.

The suites are tranquil havens, stocked with more wine choices and local treats like spirits, cheese and chocolates. A glass of The Islander Estate Pétiyante bubbles in the bath overlooking the bay is bliss.

A wine-tasting extravaganza

When the cellar doors open at Southern Ocean Lodge, it’s like the gates have opened to the Colosseum – and the arena is full of wine.

There are two amphitheatres showcasing 1,200 bottles of South Australian wine and 220 labels on offer to guests staying at the lodge. It’s a lot to take in with one look so repeat visits are recommended.

What you experience is a wine-tasting extravaganza and a virtual tour around the best wine regions of the State. You might have heard about Barossa Valley Shiraz, Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon, McLaren Vale Grenache, Clare Valley Riesling and cool climate Pinots from the Adelaide Hills. Now is your chance to taste them all – in one luxurious location.

And there’s more to enjoy – a day spa, hot tub, infinity pool and the Great Room and dining room where hospitality steps up another notch. Dining is a local affair. Executive chef Tom Saliba sources island produce like King George whiting, marron and barramundi and KI herbs grown by local high school students, for the daily changing menu. Matched wines such as Lloyd Brothers Picpoul and MMAD Chenin Blanc are also on the menu but the cellar and fridge are always open for alternatives.

If you need help selecting, these are the two reds most popular with guests: Samuel’s Gorge Grenache from McLaren Vale and Coonawarra’s Penley Estate Steyning Cabernet Sauvignon. The top 2 whites: Eden Valley’s Yalumba Virgilius Viognier and Poonawatta Valley of Eden off-dry Riesling. There’s also the (extra) cellarmaster’s list with iconic wines such as Henschke Hill of Grace, Hentley Farm Clos Otto, and the only South Australian deviation – Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Champagne.

Wildlife and wilderness

It’s hard to drag yourself away from the lodge but Kangaroo Island’s wildlife and wilderness are just as irresistible, and signature tours are included in this all-inclusive stay. Remarkable Rocks, Admiral’s Arch, Seal Bay and Kelly Hill Caves are the stars for dramatic geology and wildlife encounters and a sunset stroll among koalas and kangaroos will cross off those must-see moments.

SOL also offers up wines from Kangaroo Island itself. Once tasting them piques your interest, there are five wineries worth closer inspection – The Islander Estate, False Cape Wines, Dudley Wines, Springs Road and Bay of Shoals. A bespoke private tour with Kangaroo Island Touring Company can be arranged through the concierge. It’s a great way to see the island in style, perhaps meet the winemakers, and learn how the landscape and climate shapes the wine.

For more information, see the Southern Ocean Lodge website.

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Hahndorf Hill specialises in growing cool-climate Austrian grape varieties such as Grüner Veltliner, Blaufränkisch and Zweigelt.

Larry Jacobs and Marc Dobson established the six-hectare estate just outside the German-heritage village of Hahndorf back in 2002.

Hahndorf Hill is now firmly established as ‘Australia’s proud standard bearer for Grüner Veltliner’, according to Decanter’s David Sly.

Wirra Wirra chief executive Matthew Deller MW said: ‘At a time when the Australian wine industry is facing real challenges, we’re choosing to invest in quality, authenticity and long-term growth.

‘Larry and Marc have created something truly special. Hahndorf Hill fits perfectly with our vision for the future.’

This represents Wirra Wirra’s second foray into the Adelaide Hills. A decade ago, the family-owned business bought Ashton Hills, one of Australia’s leading Pinot Noir producers.

Hahndorf Hill is primarily renowned for producing four expressions of Grüner Veltliner, but it also makes small-batch reds, including Blaufränkisch, St. Laurent and Zweigelt. The winery produces a 12-variety white field blend, a rosé, a Pinot Grigio and a Shiraz too.

Jacobs, a former intensive-care doctor who gave up medicine to set up Mulderbosch Vineyards in Stellenbosch before moving to Australia in 1997, currently oversees all vineyard and winery operations at Hahndorf Hill.

Dobson, a former journalist and advertising copywriter from Cape Town, is responsible for marketing, while he also runs Hahndorf Hill’s cellar door operations. Both men now plan to retire, leaving the Wirra Wirra team to continue their work.

‘Marc and I are thrilled that Wirra Wirra will be taking over the reins,’ said Jacobs. ‘The Wirra Wirra team has all the skills and enthusiasm to take Hahndorf Hill to the next level.’

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Given the glamour that surrounds the world of fine wine, it can be all too easy to forget that wine is an agricultural product, and that, as such, it’s subject to the vagaries of nature.

Each year is a gamble for wine producers, with a spread bet that the combination of weather, yield and disease pressure will pay out in their favour.

Stephen and Prue Henschke, fifth-generation producers of some of South Australia’s most iconic wines, are only too familiar with the annual roll of the dice.

Scroll down for the Henschke 2021 single-vineyard releases

Production volumes of all of their single-vineyard Shirazes were way down on average – and in some cases non-existent – in the challenging 2019 vintage.

This was the result of a combination of spring frosts and a hot, dry summer, as well as bushfires in the Adelaide Hills.

Worse was to come in 2020, a vintage described by Stephen as, ‘an absolute disaster’.

He says: ‘We literally had vines with no grapes on them at all – we lost a whole vintage.’

A ‘fairy-tale vintage’

As a result the following year, 2021, which he describes as ‘a beautiful, fairy-tale vintage’, came as a huge relief. Volumes were not only back up to normal, but the quality of the wines is immediately apparent to all who taste them.

Stephen believes that the wines stand comparison with the stellar vintages of 1986, 2002, 2005 and 2015 – although, as ever, each vintage has its own particular character.

‘The unique thing about 2021,’ says Stephen, ‘is that it was one of the coolest growing seasons we’ve seen in 19 years. We only had three days over 30°C. In terms of vintage comparisons, it comes closest to 2002 and 2005, both of which were wonderful years.’

The weather conditions in 2021 almost seemed to be trying to make amends for the tribulations imposed on the Henschkes over the course of the previous couple of years. There was sufficient rainfall early in the growing season to nourish the vines, then just enough water stress after veraison to help create balance and concentration in the fruit.

Finally, the growing season culminated in an Indian summer, which allowed the wines to reach near-perfect levels of colour, aromatic richness, depth of flavour and balance.

Fine-tuning in the winery

As far as the Henschkes are concerned, great wines are not made in the winery, where very little has changed over the course of generations. There has, of course, been the odd tweak here and there.

For example, instead of crushing the fruit on arrival at the winery, the bunches are now passed through a de-stemmer and optical sorter. The family also employs a more efficient cooling system than was once the case.

The use of new oak has also decreased over time from around 25% to a figure closer to 5%. Stephen explains: ‘We want the vineyard to be the hero, and not the oak.’

In 2002 screwcaps were introduced as the closure of choice for most of the range.

Vineyard goals

Instead, the Henschkes believe that true greatness comes from a near-infinite capacity for taking pains in the vineyard. As the family’s viticulturist, this is Prue’s fiefdom.

Her work is largely about managing exposure, harnessing sunlight to ripen the grapes and not to burn them.

‘The idea,’ says Prue, ‘is to draw on the cooler light in the morning and then have a very shaded canopy facing the hot afternoon sun.’

She points out that they’re helped in their goal of capturing the essence of each vineyard by the age of their vines. The emblematic Hill of Grace Shiraz vineyard averages out at 85 years old, a relatively sprightly age when you consider that the oldest vines that go into the cuvee were planted in 1860.

‘The interesting thing with the old vines,’ she says, ‘is that they seem to be designed in such a way as to set the fruit up to have beautiful balance.

In the past four years we’ve been picking grapes with high acidities and low pH levels, so the wines almost make themselves.’

Vine age and complexity

The difference between the vines that go into Hill of Grace, and the younger vines from the same vineyard, planted in 1989 – and which are used to create the Hill of Roses Shiraz – is clear, according to Stephen.

‘The palate length [of Hill of Roses] is still building, as is the complexity compared to the old-vine wines,’ he says, adding: ‘The balance is coming into better focus.’ He believes it takes about 25 years for a vineyard to start showing some real complexity.

The truth is there’s no lack of complexity in any of the Henschkes’ single-vineyard wines; just the restrained elegance and precision that speaks volumes about Prue and Stephen’s intimate knowledge of their vineyards.

It also speaks of the confidence they have in the ability of those vineyards to reveal themselves in the glass.

Winemaking may always be a bit of a gamble, but it’s clear that the Henschkes hold many – if not all – of the cards.

First taste: Henschke new releases

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The world’s longest continuing library of vintage fortified wine has issued its latest chapter, with Australia’s Seppeltsfield launching a 1925 Para Vintage Tawny.

Following a tradition established by pioneer Barossa Valley winemaker Oscar ‘Benno’ Seppelt, who first laid down a barrel of vintage fortified in 1878 with instructions not to issue it for 100 years, the 1925 Para Vintage Tawny is released on 20 February 2025.

The 48th consecutive annual release of Seppeltsfield’s 100-year-old vintage tawny coincides with the anniversary of the Seppelt family taking residence in their western Barossa homestead at Seppeltsfield in 1851, having migrated from Silesia earlier that year.

Seppeltsfield remains the home of the Seppeltsfield Centennial Collection – the world’s only unbroken lineage of single vintage tawny. Each wine has spent a minimum of 100 years in oak barrels, within the Centennial Cellar at Seppeltsfield,

before being released to the market.

Historic wines

The first Para Tawny laid down by Benno Seppelt in 1878 comprised a single 500-litre puncheon. In the late 1970s, Para Tawny stocks were increased to four puncheons for each vintage. Since Warren Randal took over as proprietor of Seppeltsfield in 2009, eight puncheons of tawny from each vintage are reserved.

However, the 1925 vintage comprised only a single puncheon, and about 150 litres of this wine remains, due to around 3% volume being lost each year to evaporation.

Seppeltsfield chief winemaker, Fiona Donald, examines many of these historic wines during annual inventories to check their condition. She often decants them into smaller 300-litre hogshead casks to help preserve their freshness. It was during this process 18 months ago that she was struck by the quality and arresting personality of the 1925 vintage.

The 1925 vintage

‘It’s a wow wine,’ she said. ‘When I first started working with Para Vintage Tawny 16 years ago, I assumed that all wines of such profound age would look the same – and this is completely incorrect. The personality of each wine is framed by each different vintage, which is very accurately captured in this incredible fortified time capsule.’

The 1925 vintage is powerfully defined, with an assertive, confident personality: opening with bold notes of coffee and molasses, drizzled with a film of wild honey. The palate entry is electric – surprisingly sharp and alert for a 100-year-old wine, filling the palate with technicolour complexity that is uplifted and propelled by an undercurrent of acidity. Its richness is measured and tempered by clean, sweet notes – but it’s the deep strata of layers that intrigue.

An expansive mid-palate has dense fruitcake intensity, showing brandied raisin character over a bed of dark nutty notes: walnut, roasted hazelnut and scorched almond. A bite of Seville orange peel adds tension, introducing a hint of tight bitterness at counterpoint to the generosity of the wine’s ample, sweet belly and lively pinch of nutmeg.

The seamless meld of luscious Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre components (percentages of each grape variety used in the blend were not recorded at vintage) have darkened with age, showing a rich mahogany tone in the glass, framed by a vibrant amber rim.

Vintage variation

This new release stands in stark difference to recent Para Vintage Tawny releases. The 1922 vintage shows darker, savoury flavour tones with sharp green hazelnut liqueur framed by the bite of dried wild herbs. While the 1923 vintage had ample fruitiness that mirrored the comforting generosity of luscious Christmas pudding.

Such striking contrasts confirm Donald’s belief that vintage variation plays a significant role in each 100-year-old fortified wine.

‘Every vintage tells its own significant story, and it’s our duty to ensure that this is preserved – and that the historic Centennial Collection will remain relevant to fine wine collectors of the future,’ she explained.

The scarcity of Para Vintage Tawny amplifies the value of the treasure contained within each 100ml glass flask, which looks more like an exotic perfume vessel than a wine bottle. Each flask is hand-filled to order, then numbered and authenticated for collectors, bearing the signatures of Seppeltsfield proprietor and MD Randall and friend of the winery Bill Seppelt, the great-great-grandson of winery founders Joseph and Johanna Seppelt.

The wine is packaged in a latched black timber box that’s lined with black velvet and has information printed inside the lid that includes its bottling date. Its specific bottle number is attached to a neck tag on the bottle, while a QR code provides a link to tasting notes.

Seppeltsfield 1925 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny is also available online from seppeltsfield.com.au for AU$1,800, with shipping possible worldwide. In the US it is available via Legend Australian Wine Imports ($1,800).

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Beth Pearce MW, Sara Muirhead MW and Ben Chan tasted 51 wines, with 7 Outstanding and 25 Highly Recommended

Australian Grenache: Panel tasting scores

51 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 7

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 15

Commended 4

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their 100% Grenache wines from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 vintages

With the original plantings taking place in 1838, Grenache was one of the first varieties to take root in Australia. Indeed, the country boasts the world’s oldest productive Grenache vines, planted in 1848, and its wealth of old-vine material has helped fuel the rise of single-varietal Grenache wines of increasingly notable quality.

‘There’s now a spectrum of Grenache that’s different to what people would have expected, even five or so years ago,’ said lead judge Beth Pearce MW. ‘There are the old-school, rich, opulent styles and the new-wave Pinot-like styles,’ explained Ben Chan.

‘The best wines have that sort of concentration that comes from old vines – all that Pinot-like perfume, but with a bit more muscle,’ Pearce added.

Scroll down to see notes and scores of the top-scoring wines from our Australian Grenache tasting

A variety to seek out

Identifying which style is in your bottle isn’t easy. ‘It’s very hard to know what you’re going to get,’ noted Pearce. This is one category where it’s important to identify your favourite producers and wines. But you can certainly expect quality from Aussie Grenache.

An impressive 63% of the wines in the tasting were ranked Highly recommended or above. ‘There was a high quality level,’ noted Sara Muirhead MW. ‘But there were quite a lot of wines that were quite ambitiously priced and the quality didn’t always match up.’

Nonetheless, the panel noted the innovation of some of the winemakers working with Grenache. ‘In terms of the sort of style producers were going after, it’s interesting to see how specific some were about how they age the wines,’ said Pearce.

Which regions should readers look out for? McLaren Vale and Barossa dominated, with the former claiming the lion’s share of the Outstanding bottles.

Within McLaren Vale, one name should definitely be on your radar: ‘Blewitt Springs stood out, as I expected it might, because there are some great vineyards there – those sandy soils are well known for top-quality Grenache,’ said Pearce.

Although it accounts for just 1.1% of Australia’s total vineyard area, Grenache punches well above its weight. Seek it out.

See all the wines from the Australian Grenache tasting

What to eat with Australian Grenache, by Fiona Beckett

The assumption that Aussie Grenache is all about high-alcohol blockbusters is out of date, as this tasting shows. Nevertheless, that full-bodied style is still widely available and popular.

It particularly suits substantial wintry food – dishes such as slow-braised ox cheek and other casseroles, and hearty steak pies – but can also be a great pairing for an American-style barbecue with its smoked meats.

And because of its relatively soft tannins, this style would work well with a cheeseboard, especially with stronger hard cheeses and blues. But the fresher, younger styles are more like Pinot Noir when it comes to pairing – often made in a quaffable style better suited to charcuterie or simply grilled meats, or, like Pinot, to duck.

Those styles would also be good with root vegetable-based dishes, including roast carrots, parsnip and beetroot, and also with roast pumpkin or squash. There’s always a slight sweetness to Grenache that chimes with a corresponding sweet note in a dish.

Australian Grenache panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Beth Pearce MW is the recently appointed head of buying at Flint Wines. Her extensive experience in the wine industry includes roles in retail and buying at Majestic and most recently buying director at Lay & Wheeler

Sara Muirhead MW is a wine consultant and communicator with more than 30 years’ experience in the wine trade. Her current focuses include wine tastings and events. She became an MW in 2008, and is a DWWA judge for Australia

Ben Chan is a senior wine specialist for Berry Bros & Rudd and a DWWA judge. After working as a winemaker in his native Australia, he is now based in London, where he was a sommelier at Hakkasan Mayfair and a WSET examiner

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Clare in South Australia is a small rural town, with a population of just over 3,000 people, yet it produces extraordinary wines. Peter Barry has long been scheming how to make the wider world take notice of a region that punches far above its weight. Especially with Riesling.

Peter is the son of Jim Barry, the first qualified winemaker in Clare, who obtained his oenology degree in 1947 and worked for big wine companies before issuing the first Jim Barry Wines in 1974.

Peter took over the company reins as MD from 1985 (Jim died in 2004) and vigorously took Jim Barry Wines to the world. Now, in the twilight of his working life, Peter is watching his sons Tom Barry (winemaker) and Sam Barry (commercial manager), and daughter Olivia Barry (brand ambassador) lead the family company forward.

Tasting notes and scores for Jim Barry wines are listed below

Peter focused his energy on promoting Clare as a respected region that deserves its place on a global stage. His efforts ensured that racy, citrus-driven Clare Riesling is now a globally recognised style.

However the Barry sons have greater ambition: to have their best wines regarded among the wine world’s elite.

Next generation

This successful generational transition is significant. The question of succession hangs like an ominous cloud over Australia’s wine industry, as small to mid-sized wineries developed by winemaker/operators represent about 90% of Australia’s 2,156 wine companies (source: Wine Australia).

The future for many of these wineries is fraught as the original proprietors approach retirement.

The Barrys have no such qualms. Tom, the third generation to steer the winemaking of Jim Barry Wines, understands classic wine styles and traditions that built success for his grandfather Jim.

In addition, Tom’s experience doing vintages overseas also sees him adopting new techniques to build heightened aromas and finesse in the winery’s outstanding Rieslings.

The recent release of premium red wines from the impressive 2021 vintage also showcases Tom’s aim of promoting elegance through restrained oak use.

It offers an opportune time for the Barrys’ talents and intentions to shine – with more refined character, finesse and significant improvement as a consequence.

‘Our family planted vineyards with a purpose 50 years ago, and now we want to maximise their potential,’ explains Sam. ‘We see it as our opportunity to build on what came before us to achieve the extraordinary.’

Notable vineyards

The Barry family has been at the forefront of promoting the best attributes of Clare’s vineyards since Jim Barry purchased the 133ha Lodge Hill property (historically known as Wolta Wolta) in 1977.

Success grew through expanding the family’s vineyards assets, particularly through purchasing the Florita Vineyard at Watervale in 1986. The source of fruit for the famed 1960s Leo Buring Rieslings made by John Vickery, it is now supplying the fruit for the Jim Barry Florita and Watervale Rieslings.

The Barrys have also established their own superior sites. The Armagh vineyard (below) was planted by Jim in 1964, with 900 Malbec and 2,500 Cabernet Sauvignon vines. This was followed by a further 3.2ha of Shiraz vines in 1968, with a view to producing exceptional red wine.

Yielding less than four tonnes per hectare, The Armagh’s intense Shiraz was initially matured in only new American oak, to produce plush, opulent and persistent wines, before shifting to a mix of French and American oak that encourages a more sleek, elegant framework for the bold, powerful fruit.

Delicious secondary characters of tarry, black earth within savoury blackberry and sour cherry, which sit almost at counterpoint to playful whiffs of brown spice, pepper and fresh-cut brambles, have elevated The Armagh to stand as a modern Australian Shiraz icon.

Riesling developments

The way forward for Jim Barry Wines is based on a willingness to embrace innovation. Several recent significant Riesling innovations are being championed, the boldest being a collaboration with Germany’s Dr Ernst Loosen to make the 2021 Wolta Wolta Riesling.

Matured on lees in a 3,000-litre oak cask for two years, before a further year-long maturation in bottle, this is a unique, rich and highly textural style of Australian Riesling.

Recognising this to be a significant benchmark, the Barry family has retained 40% of the 2021 vintage to be held back as museum stock.

‘This Riesling has power and complexity that will only grow in the bottle, so we want to make sure it can be reintroduced to a global market for important milestones, after 20 years or 30 years in the cellar,’ explains Sam. ‘We are confident it will make a very important statement.’

A new jewel in the crown is the Spring Farm Vineyard, purchased in 2010 from Brian Barry (Jim’s brother, who died in 2020). Tom and Sam immediately noticed that several blocks within the big vineyard produce fruit of exceptional quality that deserve to be isolated for separate vinification.

A suite of new Spring Farm single-block wines includes Block 114 Riesling, which has been bottle aged for 10 years before release.

‘We’ve done this to show the merits of our wines showing at their very best,’ says Sam. ‘And because we want the classic Clare Riesling style to be a part of the global wine conversation.’

Going Greek

Another bold step saw Jim Barry Wines plant the first Assyrtiko vines in Australia. Peter sourced 12 cuttings from 100-year-old vines at Argyros Winery on the Greek island of Santorini during 2007.

They then endured a two-year quarantine before the best two vines were released. From those two mother vines, 32 buds were grafted onto 30 Riesling vines at two Clare Valley vineyard sites in 2011. The following year, 658 Assyrtiko vines were planted on a rugged, bony ridge atop the Barry’s Lodge Hill vineyard in Clare.

Peter was besotted by Assyrtiko’s meld of slate-like minerality and fresh citrus zing, and believes this grape variety’s ability to resist diseases and tolerate drought conditions makes it a good fit for Australia’s marginal growing environments.

‘Planting Assyrtiko may have seemed like a big gamble, but it takes us a step toward growing grapes that have a sustainable future in this region,’ says Tom. ‘We must face up to climate change and water scarcity and adapt our vineyard management appropriately, he adds.

It all fits comfortably within the larger story of Jim Barry Wines moving forward.

‘There’s a huge future here – and it’s all based on our tradition,’ says Peter. ‘The great wines from Clare – our Rieslings, our Cabernets, our Shiraz – sit among the great wines of the world, and that’s the message we have to keep broadcasting.’

Jim Barry Wines: 10 bottles to try

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The idea of Rieslingfreak seems absurd – an Australian winery that produces only Riesling wines, and up to 19 styles each vintage that focus on various different sites, blends and winemaking techniques.

However, the execution of this grand idea over the past 15 years by husband-and-wife winemaking team John and Belinda Hughes shows a spark of focused genius that has made Rieslingfreak a beacon for quality, innovation and excellence in Australian Riesling.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for eight fabulous Rieslings from Rieslingfreak

A family affair

When Rieslingfreak began in 2009, it had a very simple premise – for John to create a Riesling that best defined his parents’ vineyard at White Hut (John prefers the location’s alternative spelling, White Hutt), just north of Clare in South Australia.

They grow Riesling grapes that were traditionally sold to other producers and then blended into generic wines. John wanted to honour his parents with a wine that spoke specifically of their site and carry a label that clearly acknowledged its provenance.

Today, John takes most of the fruit from the five Riesling blocks, and his parents only tend to sell the fruit that is judged to be below Rieslingfreak standard, which depends on each vintage.

‘It was a pretty straightforward idea, but one Riesling was never going to be enough,’ says John, who was given the nickname ‘Riesling Freak’ during his university years, as a nod to his obsession.

‘I had so many ideas in my head, and so many styles of Riesling that I adore. I wanted to make them all, and I couldn’t see any good reason why not.’

So Rieslingfreak has grown, and grown, to now produce more than 144,000 bottles – not only to satisfy John and Belinda’s fascination with Riesling, but also to meet growing consumer demand that escalated after the 2017 Rieslingfreak No. 3 (from Huighes’ White Hut vineyard) won five trophies at the 2017 Sydney Royal Wine Show, including Best Wine of Show.

‘Riesling is a grape that allows – and deserves – many different types of expression,’ says John. ‘So that’s what we’ve done over many vintages, and every style deserves its place.’

Laser focus

John’s journey to realise this moment has been complicated. Born with mild cerebral palsy, which affects his coordination, mobility and speech, John has patiently and diligently set his mind to pursue winemaking with the astute precision that Riesling demands.

After completing a degree in wine marketing at the University of Adelaide, he worked as a technical analyst at the Australian Wine Research Institute for a decade, also travelling through regions in France and Italy to expand his knowledge before returning to the Barossa to work as production winemaker with the renowned Chris Ringland at North Barossa Vintners.

Only then, with considerable knowledge and experience to his credit, did he take the plunge to make his first wine under the Rieslingfreak label.

‘Growing up on an old Riesling vineyard at Penwortham in the Clare Valley and having my old man’s cellar full of aged Rieslings from throughout the world started my appreciation of the Riesling grape at a young age,’ recalls John.

‘Once my parents moved to White Hut in 1998, a big vineyard with five different Riesling sites, each with a different soil profile, I realised this was the resource I could use to start exploring all those different Riesling styles.’

In pursuit of a broad palette

He has a very capable ally in Belinda, whose relationship with John flourished at the annual International Riesling Challenge in Canberra, due to their shared infatuation with Riesling.

In 2021, after almost 15 years of making white wines for Grant Burge in the Barossa, Belinda joined John at Rieslingfreak, and now their great challenge is to see who gets to work with their favourite vineyard sites from across the Clare Valley and Eden Valley, vineyards which are both family and privately owned, each offering particular and distinctive characteristics.

This has seen them explore a variety of styles, far beyond the expected bone-dry Australian expression of Riesling. They make sparkling Riesling, a fortified, several sub-regional expressions with bottle age, and two regional blends designed specifically as export labels to appease growing US and UK interest – No. 33, featuring a meld of North Clare and Polish Hill River fruit, and No. 44, featuring three Eden Valley sites.

John’s personal favourites are the No. 5 Off Dry Riesling and the German-inspired No. 8 Schatzkammer (modelled on a Kabinett style), which show off his masterful judgement to balance sugar and acid in rich, textural styles that pursue a distinctive Rieslingfreak personality rather than simply mimic German benchmarks.

These two were presented during a special tasting which celebrated the July 2024 opening of a new cellar door just outside Tanunda in the Barossa Valley.

An occasion fit for the Queen of grapes

The bespoke tasting room has been designed as a temple devoted to Riesling, with its lofty cathedral ceiling and towering glass windows allowing maximum daylight to best examine the fragile colours of Riesling in the glass.

Imbedded green glass shards from broken Riesling bottles add a dazzling emerald sparkle to the polished concrete floor. Crucially, this large space with four spacious long table settings can accommodate growing demand for Rieslingfreak’s tutored tasting sessions.

John used the occasion to present a decade of the best Rielsingfreak wines, to study their endurance and staying power after time in the cellar. The array of wines tasted was extraordinary, led by a 10-year vertical of No. 2 Polish Hill River Riesling.

He also shone a light on his flagship wine, Rieslingfreak No. 1 (also known as Grounds of Grandeur Riesling), featuring hand-picked grapes from the best four rows of his parents’ White Hut vineyard, chilled for two days, then whole-bunch pressed, fermented with wild yeast and stored for 20 months in a bespoke 1,500-litre oak cask before bottling.

It now stands as an Australian benchmark with its AU$110 (£56) price tag – and the current-release (2020 vintage) shows its pedigree proudly, amplifying richness, complex textural quality, a meld of savoury and sharp citrus notes, and extraordinary length.

John is as complex as the wines he makes. An enthusiastic and fastidious cook, he entered Australia MasterChef in 2011, only to withhold a dish from the judges because it failed to meet his own exacting standards. He’s generous to a fault, yet unyielding in his assessment of excellence.

And while he’s uncomfortable if any fuss is made of his disability, he is a champion of disability support, having founded the Kicking Goals Scholarship programme that provides mentorship and educational funding for young people living with a disability.

‘I’m quite happy being the Rieslingfreak,’ he offers with a gentle smile. ‘And I’m delighted to be presenting a very different story about the diversity of fine Australian Riesling.’

David Sly’s pick of Rieslingfreak:

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During the first half of the 20th century, fortified wines dominated Australian wine production. They accounted for 86% of total global sales in 1950, versus just 2% of global sales today.

Production may now be tiny but, drawing on precious heritage stock, the faithful few who still make fortifieds can produce wines of unrivalled intensity and complexity.

Among their number is Penfolds. The full-bodied rancio house style of its Rare Tawny fortified wines reflects the older-than-average legal minimum age (see box below) of the blending material within Penfolds’ solera system.

Notes and scores for four old and rare tawnies below

A Tawny tradition

When Dr Christopher Penfold and his wife Mary Penfold founded the eponymous brand in 1844, they embraced fortified winemaking. Mary, a self-taught master blender, evidently had a fine touch.

Penfolds won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris Exhibition for a ‘Tawny Port’. By the end of World War I, the company was Australia’s leading producer of ‘Port’ and ‘Sherry’.*

During this period, Alf Vesey (who had worked under Mary) set aside the 1915 vintage, which is believed to have been the foundation of Penfolds’ first cask of Grandfather Rare Tawny some 50 years later.

According to Penfolds’ current fortified winemaker Matt Woo, this private barrel was originally reserved for family, friends and special guests. That is until, in 1965, Penfolds launched its first commercial release of Grandfather Rare Tawny, which has a minimum average blended age of 20 years.

Heritage stock

The Penfolds tawny family has since grown and is based on fruit from the warm, dry climes of the Barossa Valley, as well as the Riverland for younger tawnies.

Great Grandfather Rare Tawny (which has a minimum average blended age of 30 years) was added to the portfolio in 1994.

Two decades later, the premium range was topped and tailed with the addition of Penfolds’ flagship 50 Year Old Rare Tawny and Father Grand Tawny (which has a minimum average blended age of 10 years).

Together with James Godfrey, Penfolds’ veteran fortified winemaker, Woo helped to create the 50 Year Old Rare Tawny.

He recalls: ‘We had very old rare wines tucked away and were wondering what to do with them. We could have bottled them as single-vintage colheitas, but then they would be gone forever. Instead we engineered a solera system to create a blend with an average age of 50 years.’

Solera ageing

‘Having done all the sums, checking the numbers many times,’ says Woo, they devised a solera (fractional blending) system. This allows Penfolds to draw off enough wine to fill 330 (hand-blown) bottles at a time, while maintaining a minimum average blended age of 50 years.

Thrillingly, the solera included a 2.5-litre glass flagon of the 1915 tawny alongside the 1940 and 1945 vintages, the first two commercial releases of Grandfather (1965 and 1969) and the first Great Grandfather release from 1994.

The use of a solera system is a key point of difference between the three Penfolds Rare Tawnies and tawny Ports from Portugal. The latter – like the Penfolds Father Grand Tawny – rely exclusively on master blenders to create blends from individually matured barrels.

The base wines for Father Grand Tawny are matured as individual vintage and varietal components in seasoned oak hogsheads, before blending.

Base wines for Grandfather Rare Tawny are matured separately for the first 14 years. After that, a barrel selection is blended and becomes the topping wine for the first stage of the ‘Grandfather solera’. Composed of six progressively older stages, the final sixth stage produces a tawny for bottling with a minimum average blended age of 20 years.

Great Grandfather Rare Tawny is drawn from stage six of the ‘Grandfather solera’ and selected exceptional batches of maturing Grandfather Tawny. These components are further aged, then blended and introduced into the ‘Great Grandfather Solera’ for bottling with a minimum average blended age of 30 years.

Uniquely Australian

Varietal composition and maturation in much warmer, drier conditions also differentiates Penfolds’ tawnies from tawny Port.

‘The backbone is Shiraz, for richness, weight, depth of flavour and full-bodied characters. Mataro (aka Mourvèdre) gives savouriness and, because it ages more rapidly, carries lovely wood-aged rancio characters,’ explains Woo.

Grenache, another key player, brings ‘aromatics, juiciness and wonderful brightness.’ Warm-climate (Barossa or Riverland) Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and plummy, not herbaceous, he emphasises.

Bit players include Portugal’s Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão and traditional varieties, including the white grape Muscadelle which, says Woo, ‘was used as a natural acid adjuster.’

He emphasises that, contrary to popular belief, they don’t pick super-raisined grapes. Instead they ‘let the tawny maturation process give those wonderful characters.’

The goal ‘is a brighter fruit spectrum and not vast amounts of tannin; we’re looking for balance,’ says Woo. Once the fruit is in barrel, solera barrels are worked annually.

‘A little bit of air movement just keeps them alive. And looking after your barrels is important, because you don’t want that stale oak coming through,’ explains Woo.

Inside the barrel is where the magic happens. The Barossa’s warm, dry climate drives the rate of evaporation, accelerating concentration and maturation, as does maturing the tawnies in small seasoned 300-litre barrels (filled to 280 litres) under a corrugated metal roof. It is torrid in summer when the top stack of solera barrels can reach 55℃; in winter, the temperature can plummet to less than 8℃.

Because this evaporation, the so-called ‘angel’s share,’ also increases alcohol, sugars and acidity, ‘the wines grow into themselves a little bit more with time in barrel,’ says Woo. ‘There are a lot of very happy angels,’ he quips, reflecting on the process that underwrites Penfolds’ signature rancio flavours and smooth texture.

Heavenly spirit

Rancio characters typically develop after a decade in barrel. With an average minimum age of 10 years, Father Grand’s elegant charm lies in its relatively plush, fleshier palate.

As one might expect, Penfolds’ intensely concentrated Rare Tawnies are darker and richer, with higher residual sugar (around 220g/l versus Father Grand’s 160g/l).

They are satisfying without being heavy, and finish savoury and long. This is attributable to their markedly nutty, woody rancio flavours and impressive backbone of acidity and spirit.

For Woo, the potent yet beautifully integrated, unaged spirit is another hallmark of the Penfolds house style.

‘We’re looking for a bit more purity than Port, with wonderful leather and aniseed flavours and a bit of creaminess and richness to help marry into the fruit right from start,’ he says.

Like tawny Port, Penfolds’ tawnies are made to drink on release. After all, Penfolds has done the ageing for you and the angels have already taken their share.

This is particularly judicious in the case of Penfolds 50 Year Old Rare Tawny which, although drawing on the oldest blending material, is exquisitely balanced for such a charismatic, intense fortified wine.

Australian fortified wine classification system

Australian tawny* – less than 5 years in age

Classic tawny – 5-10 years in age

Grand tawny – 10-15 years in age

Rare tawny – 15+ years in age

*Since 2011, Australian fortifieds cannot be labelled ‘Sherry’ or ‘Port’; tawny styles are simply badged ‘Tawny.’

Penfolds Rare Tawny wines: tasting notes

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History is the foundation on which Penfolds has built its success as an Australian winery of provenance. As the winery celebrates its 180th anniversary this year, the Penfolds Collection 2024 not only echoes this history, but also reinforces the company’s future as a globally minded wine producer.

To unveil these wines in Australia, media were invited to a private tasting at the historic Kalimna Vineyard – one of the most important Penfolds sites in the Barossa. It was a frosty morning in the middle of an especially cold South Australian winter.

These ancient vines have endured such conditions countless times through their 136-year life. Yet they still produce some of the finest and most distinctive Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon in Australia.

The setting underlined what Penfolds does best. Yet while its international reputation rests on distinctive Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon has shone brightest in recent vintages. Indeed outstanding Cabernet accounted for the best talking points of the Penfolds Collection 2024.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for the Penfolds Collection 2024 releases

Anniversary release

Supreme-quality Cabernet is the star component of a special new release, created to mark Penfolds’ 180th anniversary. Inspired by the legendary Bin 60A 1962, the superb Bin 180 Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz, features elite parcels of grapes from the esteemed 2021 vintage.

Chief winemaker Peter Gago emphasised that many previous Penfolds special releases paved the way for such styles to continue through subsequent vintages. It was a strong indication that other wines from Penfolds’ Coonawarra vineyards built according to this model could be expected in coming years.

Napa Cabernet

Smart treatment of Cabernet Sauvignon also defined the highlights of Penfolds’ increasingly impressive portfolio of wines made with grapes from countries outside of Australia. The fourth vintage release of Penfolds’ Californian wines has seen a significant step forward.

Each of four wines that feature Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon demonstrate more confidence and restraint.

Penfold senior winemaker Steph Dutton had smartly suggested issuing a single-vineyard wine from the 2021 Californian vintage: an elegant blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc from Howell Mountain vineyard.

‘It was a response to an extraordinary parcel of fruit,’ says Dutton. ‘It’s not typical of what you’d expect from Napa Cabernet – and it really signifies that we are prepared to make a very different type of wine from this region.’

Bordeaux blends

Cabernet Sauvignon is also the key component of two notable French collaborations. The FWT 585 is a Bordeaux blend featuring Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot. While the ambitious Penfolds II combines Dourthe Bordeaux Cabernet with Penfolds Coonawarra Cabernet.

But the most unorthodox and curious use of Cabernet is in CWT521. This is the first release of a blend from two Chinese vineyards: Cabernet Sauvignon from the southwestern Shangri-La region in Yunnan Province and Marselan from the northern Ningxia Province.

Penfolds fortified and spirits winemaker Matt Woo has overseen the Chinese wine trial project. He has great enthusiasm for the potential of Marselan, which is a hybrid of Cabernet Sauvignon and Grenache.

‘We are only just coming to appreciate the potential of the generous Marselan flavours,’ he says. ‘But this wine points us in an exciting new direction.’

Wines in the 2024 Penfolds Collection will be released globally on Thursday 1 August.

Penfolds Collection 2024: scores and tasting notes

Wines are listed in score order, sparkling, white, then red

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Barossa Shiraz 2022 overall vintage Rating: 4/5

A strong vintage with fruit of superb quality despite small yields. Winter rains nourished the vines, but frost, hail and wind events affected bunch sizes and reduced yields. Summer was cooler than usual; grapes ripened slowly and steadily in ideal conditions. The longer ripening period produced more nuanced, complex flavour profiles.

If you think you know all about Barossa Shiraz, think again. The historic South Australian wine region leapt to international prominence in the 1990s for the sunny generosity and driving power of its old-vine Shiraz. But the 2022 vintage shows things are changing. Significantly.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for wines rated 94 and above

The best new wines from the Barossa have a leanness and nimbleness that belies a long-held stereotype of Shiraz behemoths labouring under the weight of high alcohol and super-ripe fruit. Now, alcohol levels have dipped, palates have lively middle-weight verve and an understated elegance draws you deeper into the charm of these wines.

The 2022 vintage – a strong vintage with fruit of superb quality despite small yields – provides a fascinating viewpoint to observe this transition in motion. The stars of Decanter’s inaugural vintage report on the region have cast the profile of outstanding Barossa Shiraz in a fresh light.

Vintage conditions

Coming on the heels of the esteemed 2021 vintage, grapes from 2022 have produced superb wines, despite some vintage challenges. Strong winter rains during 2021 continued into spring, giving great nourishment to the vines, but this good news was tempered by damaging pockets of frost plus fierce hail and wind events during flowing that affected bunch sizes and reduced yields.

Summer was cooler than usual, but forecasted rains never happened, so the grapes ripened slowly and steadily in ideal conditions. Warm, sunny days and cool nights stretched into early autumn, and the longer ripening period produced more nuanced, complex flavour profiles in the grapes.

Despite its late conclusion, the 2022 vintage produced an ideal set of circumstances for Barossa winemakers to highlight important stylistic changes they have made in handling the finest quality Shiraz grapes.

An evolution of style

The most exciting wines are far removed from the Barossa’s historical ‘reserve’ styles, so prevalent in the early 2000s. At that time winemakers seemed obliged to focus on concentration, the strong use of new oak and strident tannin profiles – often with grapes ill-equipped to handle such assertive treatment.

There was a misguided belief that powerful fruit from old Shiraz vines could only be fully expressed with maximum ripeness, with all those inflated grape sugar levels being converted into high alcohol.

The best new-style Barossa Shiraz shows that notion to be a fallacy. Winemakers using components of whole bunch fermentation have added crucial vitality, pretty perfumes and energy to the depth of old vine complexity. Fruit is being picked earlier, to retain more sharply defined acids that amplify clean flavours.

Suddenly, there’s dramatic contrast at play – a rigorous pull between red and black flavour profiles, as lithe and luscious textures wrestle with tannic grip – proving that more Barossa winemakers have found smart ways to express intense old vine flavours with greater nuance and poise.

Click here to see all the wines tasted for this report

Producers to watch

Several of the most compelling 2022 Shiraz interpretations are provided by people who have come from outside the Barossa. They include Michael Hall, who evaluated jewellery in Switzerland before devoting himself to making wine in France, then in the Barossa; as well as Alex Head, of Head Wines, from Sydney.

Thistledown’s Masters of Wine Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW are UK-based. While Alkina winemaker Amelia Nolan, from Wrattonbully, also spent several decades in the UK wine trade.

Alkina proprietor Alejandro Bulgheroni is from Argentina. Belinda van Eyssen from South Africa is emerging as a striking new talent with The Cutting winery.

Their keen perspective on refined wines of elegance underscores that great Barossa fruit is an asset that shines when treated with tender care, rather than labouring under unnecessary hefty weight.

It’s therefore encouraging to also see stalwarts including Torbreck, Kaesler and Hentley Farm lighten the load of their Shiraz without sacrificing power and persistence. Greenock Creek is also in transition to embrace a more restrained style.

Other Barossans are looking at Shiraz afresh, from the vineyard rootstock up. Winemaker Dan Eggleton, whose Ben Murray Wines Shiraz 2022 is impressive for the lively appeal of its powerful old vine fruit, is now working with grower Matt Neldner to explore different Shiraz clones in greater detail.

They are making small parcels of wine from the 2023 vintage from five different Shiraz clones (R6, 1653, 1125, SAVVI60, PT23), all sourced from the same terroir in the Barossa’s Marananga sub-region.

Barossa: the facts

Founded: 1842

Vineyards: 14,236ha under vine, with 11,847ha in the Barossa Valley (elevation 112m-597m) and 2,389ha in the adjacent Eden Valley (elevation 217m-637m). This represents 9.7% of Australia’s total wine production.

Climate: dry and hot. Barossa average rainfall 160mm; Eden Valley average rainfall 280mm. Mean temperatures during the key January growing period: 21.4℃ in Barossa, 19.4℃ in Eden Valley.

Vine age: Barossa has the oldest producing Shiraz vines in the world planted in 1843. 283ha of vines are more than 70 years of age; 82ha are more than 125 years old.

The 30 top-scoring 2022 Barossa Shiraz

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In September 2020, Wynns Coonawarra Estate‘s 2016 John Riddoch became the first Australian wine distributed by La Place de Bordeaux.

Beloved in Australia, this famed Cabernet Sauvignon, now reaches a prestigious network of international fine wine buyers and collectors in more than 100 countries.

Scroll down for 14 vintages of Wynns Coonawarra Estate John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon

Fans can follow the course of its history in a new book – Imagining Coonawarra: The Story of John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon, written by Andrew Caillard MW of Langton’s auction house.

In keeping with this fanfare, it was timely that Wynns’ senior winemaker Sue Hodder opened a series of John Riddoch back vintages for a public masterclass as part of Coonawarra’s annual Cabernet Celebration festival in October 2020. She showed off examples of vintages from each decade since the introduction of the 1982 vintage of John Riddoch in 1984.

Together, the back vintages of this elegant, medium-bodied style tell a compelling story: that John Riddoch avoids a set recipe to instead pursue different ideas about how to best celebrate Cabernet Sauvignon.

‘Making John Riddoch is my opportunity to point something out about the vintage and the vineyards that I find interesting,’ says Hodder, ‘and I am prone to change my ideas on what’s interesting.’

Making this iconic blend

Hodder initially selects up to 30 separate parcels from at least 16 targeted vineyards that have proven quality levels and distinctive characteristics. She looks for ways to allow the vintage to speak through the resulting blends, mostly from only two or three vineyards.

While fruit from each preferred vineyard has admirable character – from the oldest, Johnson’s (planted in 1954), through to the 2003 nursery block – there’s no guarantee of their place in each year’s combination that makes up a John Riddoch.

Each vineyard shines separately to the John Riddoch blend, with Wynns having issued single-vineyard Cabernet selections each year since 2004. These show a distinctly different personality to the corresponding year’s John Riddoch.

The vertical tasting highlighted the importance of vineyard rejuvenation which viticulturist Allen Jenkins has implemented since 2000.

Tough decisions to grub underperforming or diseased older vines, grafting superior clones and radical retraining of primary canes have resulted in berries producing clean, vital flavours from aged rootstocks.

Hodder is also fussy about whether any particular vintage makes the grade, and is fiercely protective of the prestige that John Riddoch has built up since it was launched in 1982.

On nine occasions, the wine has not been produced –1983, 1989, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2011 and 2014 – meaning that rigid benchmarks of quality have never been compromised.

In Hodder’s mind, it reinforces that every bottle of John Riddoch is a unique statement and a valid chapter in Wynns Coonawarra Estate’s rich history.

John Riddoch: the pinnacle of Wynns Coonawarra Estate

Updated 07/05/2024 to add additional vintages. Wines are listed in vintage order, with the most recent release first. 

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Great Southern wines: Australia’s biggest secret

Years ago when interviewing Ian Hongell, he dismissed generic stereotypes about South Australia’s Barossa Valley: ‘it’s not one flat paddock!’ Back then he worked for Peter Lehmann. Today Hongell is chief winemaker and general manager at Torbreck, a winery that shot to fame in the 1990s by cherry-picking the best of that ‘paddock’.

Influential US critic Robert Parker gave rave reviews for Torbreck’s opulent Shiraz-based wines, sourced from select dry-grown, old-vine parcels, vinified in small batches and seamlessly constructed. Parker awarded 100 points to the inaugural 2005 vintage of The Laird, Torbreck’s flagship single-vineyard Shiraz, now among Australia’s most expensive wines.

Scroll down for scores and tasting notes of 16 Torbreck wines

Dave Powell, a self-taught winemaker intent in his pursuit of high-end Barossa Shiraz, founded Torbreck in 1994. ‘It was remarkable what Dave achieved in the period he was involved with the business,’ reflected Hongell. ‘He broke ground for many Australian producers.’

Hongell admits that, prior to joining Torbreck, he’d not fully appreciated the pedigree of this 85 hectare estate and its 200ha of contract fruit sources.

Torbreck pays more than AU$10,000/tonne for top grapes. Before acquiring The Laird vineyard in 2014 (allegedly Australia’s most expensive vineyard purchase by price per hectare) Torbreck reportedly paid AU$20,000/tonne for its grapes.

Within this elevated price range ‘you’re genuinely accessing different fruit – little bullets that sit on the vine, enduring the season. They give lovely woody tannins and colour, stable anthocyanins and tannins, but the wines are still primary and vibrant.’

Sticking to the Torbreck blueprint

Hongell joined Torbreck in 2017, by which time the company had changed hands twice. First in 2003 (following its receivership), then in 2008 when acquired by American ecommerce magnate Peter Kight, the current owner. Powell remained at Torbreck until 2013, leaving following an acrimonious spat with Kight.

Speculation was rife that Torbreck would falter without its charismatic founder, but the wines continue to sell out. ‘With gentle price increases across the portfolio,’ adds Hongell. Two extraordinarily low-yielding vintages in 2019 and 2020 saw them over-allocated.

Hongell says that with ‘amazing wines and an amazing brand’, his brief was simple: to keep making Torbreck. The core DNA of the wines revolves around the vineyards, which are substantially the same as they’ve always been. They are focused on the elevated slopes and depleted soils of the Barossa Valley’s Western Ridge and Lyndoch, plus an Eden Valley component.

Winemaker Scott McDonald – a veteran of 16 Torbreck vintages – is well-versed in the signature grape handling and maturation regime. There was a blueprint, said Hongell, and making wine is a team effort.

‘We want you to smell the aromas and taste the fruit,’ explains Hongell. ‘Mature, very fine tannins rein the fruit in, setting the wines up for longevity.’ He enjoys the reds in their first five years when they are upfront, and then around 15 to 20 years from vintage ‘when the vineyard character really shows up’.

Taking the risks on ripeness

Torbreck’s ‘go hard or go home’ methods of late picking and dry farming in a region that sometimes goes without rain for 300 days in a year has given Hongell sleepless nights. If a weather front comes in but the grapes are not ready to pick ‘we hang on the edge and gamble – we’re about creating flavours and textures that only time can give’. Hongell’s nickname is ‘rhino hide’ for his steadfast resistance to growers anxious to pick.

And this ability to pick so late is thanks to site selection, deep-rooted old vines and chief viticulturist Nigel Blieschke’s rigorous vineyard management. Blieschke zealously measures bud counts and yields to avoid fruit cooking inside the berry and collapsing – ‘we hate undesirable Porty or sweet and sour flavours,’ asserts Hongell. With such low yields, ‘awesome pH’ contributes to the wines’ natural balance.

To balance its ultra-concentrated fruit, The Laird’s lavish oak comes courtesy of ‘magic barrels’ from Dominique Laurent, the Burgundian winemaker who established his own cooperage.

Exclusive to the flagship Shiraz, the extra-thick staved barriques are made from particularly tight grained French oak, seasoned and toasted slowly for slow-leaching tannins and oxidation.

At the other end of the spectrum, Cuvée Juveniles – a luscious Grenache–Shiraz–Mataro blend – sees no oak. In between, Hongell uses fine, tight barriques, up to 50% new, plus an increasing number (currently 30) of French oak foudres ‘in quite judicious ratios relative to the wines’. The wines are all unfined and filtered, and Hongell recently introduced temperature and humidity management in the cellar.

Latest vintages

There is no such thing as normal, or even new normal, when it comes to harvest dates these days. Famous for its long hang times, ‘Torbreck never starts picking in February, but this year we did!’ exclaims Hongell during our tasting of the winery’s recent releases.

Save for 2021 – which Hongell describes as ‘a Goldilocks vintage – perfect in every way’ – the Barossa has experienced a roller-coaster run of vintages, savaged by yield-scything frost and hail events. With drought in 2019 and 2020 and three wet starts in 2021-2023, he observes: ‘You’ve got to have dry and wet racing tyres’.

On joining Torbreck, Hongell avowed ‘to keep the wines “Torbreckian”, but improve them, with consistency across the range’, while understanding ‘the best fit’ for each vineyard. ‘All children are different, and need a different upbringing,’ he quipped.

This tasting of predominantly new releases reinforced that he has remained true to his word. Through thick and thin vintages, irrespective of price point, the wines are resolutely Torbreckian in their hedonic fruit power and high alcohol. They also continue to gain in finesse. Even at 15 to 15.5% alcohol, Torbreck’s seductively perfumed reds have striking balance, detail and precision.

For Hongell, homing in on ‘super-fine, super-tight grained barrels for a much slower uptake of oak’ has improved the wines, which have become less broad, ‘with less showy oak’. ‘Drilling into everything in the vineyards on a deeper level’ has not only contributed to quality and consistency, but also extended Torbreck’s range.

Hongell is cock-a-hoop about The Forebear Shiraz 2019, the maiden release from 12 original rows from Hillside Vineyard, which were planted around 1850. From Lyndoch in southern Barossa, it is voluptuous; while The Laird from the north is all ripped muscle. Though different children indeed, both sit at the apex of Torbreck’s family of wines.

Paying it forward

There are no plans to expand production, although in 2019 Torbreck acquired Escarpment Winery in Martinborough, New Zealand from Larry McKenna, who continues to make its acclaimed Pinot Noir).

In the Barossa, where land values have skyrocketed, the focus is about securing the highest-quality fruit from existing vineyards and safeguarding the brand’s future. Just as Powell planted the Descendant vineyard with old-vine Runrig Shiraz cuttings in 1994, the Daylight Chamber vineyard has been planted with heritage clones – cuttings from exceptional Torbreck-owned and grower Shiraz vineyards.

Meanwhile, the Hillside vineyard has been supplemented with parcels of Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Viognier, Roussanne, Carignan and Counoise. ‘Salt and pepper,’ says Hongell, ‘to sharpen aromatics, and tweak and tighten up a broader, denser wine without losing its identity or changing our style’.

Hongell believes these new vineyards are less susceptible to modern diseases like eutypa dieback. In 150 years, he speculates, future generations might feel as thankful about working with centenarian vineyards as he does today. ‘Torbreck stands for the preservation of history and sites so we are paying it forward.’

Torbreck: the facts

Founded: 1994 by Dave Powell

Proprietor: Pete Kight, since 2008

Annual production: 75,000 12-bottle cases

Vineyard sources: 85ha Torbreck-owned: The Laird, Hillside, Keller, Descendant, The Daylight Chamber; plus 200ha owned by 35 growers

Vine age: Plantings from 1850s to 2017

Key varieties: Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro, Viognier, Roussanne, Marsanne, Semillon

Production: 18 wines: 14 red, three white, one rosé

Price range: AU$25 to $800/bottle

Torbreck: 16 new releases and older vintages tasted and rated

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Yalumba 175th anniversary: Museum Collection wines released

Yalumba winery was established in 1849 by Samuel Smith, whose success as a gold prospector bolstered his fledgling Barossa Valley property. At the time it stood out as a fiercely independent enterprise built on the endeavour of a strong-minded family that focused on steady growth.

Now, 175 years later, as the Hill-Smith family’s sixth generation is being introduced to the business, careful balance is maintained. One eye is focused respectfully on Yalumba’s history, while the other focuses on the future of a medium-sized wine company with ambitions to have its best wines regarded more seriously.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from an exceptional celebratory tasting

As Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, Yalumba is acutely aware of its place on the world stage. Respected for providing generous wines of superb value, it now strives to attain higher peaks of excellence with a range of elite varietal examples and exceptional blends.

Family values

The family has a passion for history, tradition and self-sufficiency. This was best exemplified when current chairman and former CEO Robert Hill-Smith, his mother Helen Hill-Smith and brother Sam Hill-Smith bought back all the company shares in 1988 to ward off threatening corporate raiders and ensure Yalumba’s tight family ownership. This has allowed the Hill-Smiths to steer their own course, retaining things they value that many wine corporations may consider superfluous.

Click here to read Decanter’s Yalumba Producer Profile

For instance, Yalumba maintains its own cooperage to ensure wine barrel quality control. It also established a vine nursery to propagate less-familiar grape varieties – most notably Viognier, which Yalumba has championed since 1980 – and superior clones to improve underperforming vineyards. This also fuelled the Hill-Smith family’s expansion beyond the Barossa and Eden Valley to include significant vineyard holdings in Coonawarra and the Riverland in South Australia.

Old vines and wines

The winery has been a steadfast champion of preserving and caring for ancient vines. Key Barossa vineyards include Clifton Estate (Shiraz planted in 1854), Shorts Vineyard (Shiraz planted in 1900) and the Tri-Centenary vineyard (Grenache planted in 1889).

It was Yalumba that helped draft a charter to accurately classify different ages of ‘old’ vines into four definite categories – Old (+35 years), Survivors (+70 years), Centenarians (+100 years) and Ancestors (+125 years). In the Yalumba playbook, such attention to detail makes a significant difference.

Yalumba has also maintained an extraordinary cellar at its Angaston winery and headquarters – to examine the quality of the company’s own wines as they age, and to store great wines of the world as benchmarks for the education of its winemakers.

Museum Collection

Central to this vast wine vault is the Yalumba Museum Collection, which is being issued on 17 May as a milestone anniversary celebration. More than 20 years ago, the company encouraged its winemakers to identify wines from superior vintages that would be ideal for long-term cellaring, and reserved significant quantities of these vintages for later release.

Now, the stellar examples of this programme – The Octavius 2009 and 2014, The Caley 2014, The Menzies 2014 and The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz 2009, 2012 and 2014 – are being sold in a limited release.

These wines formed the centrepiece of an extraordinary invitation-only tasting event to mark the winery’s 175th anniversary. It saw the seven mature Yalumba wines presented in the company of many iconic international wines, to compare similar vintages or observe stylistic contrasts.

To mark the unique nature of such an expansive tasting, Robert led a discussion with the assembled group of about 100 media and wine industry tasters about each of the 36 featured wines.

Highlights of the tasting

Both Robert and leading wine critic Andrew Caillard were particularly pleased with the 1974 Yalumba FDR 1A Claret: a model for Yalumba’s extensive history of Cabernet Sauvignon-driven blends with Shiraz. They noted it was: ‘In particularly good shape, with surprisingly good structure, still bound by fine tannins and prevailing acid to retain long flavour notes.’

Hill-Smith Family Estates chief winemaker Sam Wigan highlighted Yalumba’s 1923 Shiraz Port, a rare treasure from the Yalumba Museum Cellar. ‘It was stunning for its complexity, nuttiness and savouriness after so many years,’ he said. ‘A glassful of Australian wine history.’

The expansive discussion even sparked some curious debate, with former chief winemaker Louisa Rose – recently appointed Hill-Smith Family Estates’ first head of sustainability. She defended her belief in Viognier producing wines of distinction from lengthy cellaring, which is a view not shared by Robert.

Final destination

It all served to shed light on Yalumba’s philosophies, its changing views over the years, and the intellectual rigour that it brings to winemaking – particularly its blends of Cabernet Sauvignon with Shiraz. This style stretches back to the 1800s, but advances made in recent decades by senior red winemaker Kevin Glastonbury – especially with The Caley, a blend of elite fruit parcels that was first produced in 2012 – shows Yalumba performing at its best.

According to Glastonbury, the tasting and the selection of Museum Collection limited releases vindicates many of Yalumba’s winemaking intentions and selections. He particularly singled out the lavishly oaked The Octavius old-vine Shiraz that now looks smartly in balance after a decade in the cellar. ‘Like all winemaking, it’s a journey,’ he said, ‘and it’s very pleasing to see these wines arrive at their intended destination.’

Yalumba Museum Collection wines

Tasting notes for the new Museum Collection and a selection of older vintages tasted at the launch event.

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Ancient Australia: World’s oldest vines and 10 wines to try

Wynns Coonawarra Estate is the undisputed grandaddy of Coonawarra. The winery is the oldest and longest-continuing producer of wine here, owning the cream of the region’s vineyards. Its fame is second to none.

So is the quality of its wines, which under senior winemaker Sue Hodder, has never been better. No wonder Wynns is one of the jewels in the crown of its owner, Treasury Wine Estates, topped only by Penfolds.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of new releases and older vintages from Wynns Coonawarra Estate

Yet Wynns hasn’t been content to rest on its laurels. With viticulturist Allen Jenkins in charge, the estate has invested major cost and effort into improving its 500ha of vineyards. The lion’s share are on the revered terra rossa soil over limestone, largely responsible for the success of Coonawarra wines.

Jenkins and team used aerial infrared photography to soil-map the vineyards, and each season they perform thousands of bud dissections in an effort to better understand their vines. They have re-trellised, replanted or reinvigorated many of the old vineyards which had been allowed to run down.

All of these changes have improved the wines, allowing Hodder and winemaker Sarah Pidgeon to harvest ripe grapes earlier and produce wines with lower alcohols. Today, 13% is normal, where not so long ago the same wines were 14%.

At the same time, the use of oak has been moderated with the result that the wines – which are mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and blends – not only avoid overt oakiness, but are more elegant and refreshing.

Hodder no longer feels pressure to make ‘big’ wines, as she did when starting at Wynns in the early 1990s. Today’s wines will age just as well as in the past, but are also delicious to drink young.

Ageworthy wines

The first-ever pure Cabernet Sauvignon, the 1954 vintage, was still drinking well at 63 years of age. A retrospective tasting in 2017 to mark 60 vintages of Black Label attested to their longevity – virtually every wine was still enjoyable.

The Black Label Cabernet is the standard-bearer for Wynns and available in all major supermarkets in Australia. While the recommended price is about A$45 (£25) it’s readily buyable in Australia for half that. Why? Because it’s made in large volume – though the numbers are never divulged. It’s a classic case of price driven down by unfashionability, due to a perception of unlimited supply. The Cabernet drinker is the winner.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate in brief

History: The winery dates to 1897 but David Wynn bought it in 1951. Today it is part of Treasury Wine Estates.

Top wines: Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon is the best-known wine, with the longest history. Icon wines are John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon and Michael Shiraz. Occasional single-vineyard bottlings include Harold Cabernet Sauvignon and Johnson’s Block Cabernet Sauvignon.

Other wines: The White Label range includes a Shiraz, Chardonnay and a very good Riesling. The Cabernet-Shiraz-Merlot blend (with a distinctive red stripe label) vies with White Label Shiraz as Coonawarra’s biggest-selling wine. V&A Lane Shiraz and Cabernet-Shiraz are sourced from southern Coonawarra and made in a lighter, more elegant style. The Gables and The Siding ranges offer less expensive reds.

In her 25 years at Wynns, Hodder has brought positive changes. She phased in a pure French oak regime for the Cabernet while gradually eliminating American oak. In the cellar, she uses a variety of fermenters and sources barrels from different coopers. But there’s been a trend towards larger formats, with puncheons and hogsheads as well as barriques.

‘I’ve learned to be confident in making medium-bodied wines, which the region naturally produces,’ says Hodder.

‘Earlier picking is part of that, and consequently less acid addition. But viticultural changes have meant the vines are in better balance and taking up less potassium, which means we have lower pHs.’

Vineyard work

Indeed, the biggest improvements have been in the vineyard, where Jenkins has been pivotal. He says that Wynns has replanted 25% of its vineyards in the past 10 years. When he arrived in 2002, many trellises were falling down and needed renewing.

‘Much vineyard was renovated to remove the hedge-like mass of wood that had accumulated during the era of mechanical and minimal pruning. We mapped vineyards to identify areas of low and high vigour, as this has ramifications for unevenness in both yield and ripeness.

‘It’s also meant rejuvenating old vines and establishing new cordons, putting the correct varieties on the appropriate sites, with Cabernet on the best Cabernet soils. We also used the best clones and matched them with the appropriate rootstocks,’ says Jenkins.

He has replanted with material from selected vines on Wynns’ own vineyards, as well as new French clones and heritage Australian clones such as the Reynell selection and the Houghton clone.

With a view to getting pruning levels right (which affects crop level the following season), between 5,000 and 10,000 buds are dissected annually before the pruners arrive; this has been ongoing for nearly 20 years. Bud dissection helps in predicting the expected crop level, so pruners can prune in a more precise manner.

Harvesting the best possible fruit at the ideal moment of ripeness is probably the area where the biggest strides have been made. It is also where there is greatest potential for further improvement.

Visionary founders

It’s all a far cry from 1951 when David Wynn went against the wishes of his father Samuel, a Jewish refugee from Poland who made good as a Melbourne restaurateur and wine merchant, and bought the winery – then named Chateau Comaum – and surrounding vineyards and pasture land for £22,000.

John Riddoch founded the Chateau Comaum winery in 1897. The Scotsman arrived in Coonawarra (then known as Penola) from the goldfields in 1861 and farmed sheep. Wool being highly profitable back then, he made a lot of money.

Believing his land was suitable for growing fruit and vines, he established the Coonawarra Fruit Colony in 1890.

In 1891 he had 400ha of his land surveyed and divided into blocks which he leased to other farmers. He planting his first vines the same year. Interestingly, they were Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, with some Malbec and Pinot Noir. Riddoch’s first vintage was in 1895.

The project was so successful that in 1898 he employed the region’s first trained winemaker, Ewen McBain, an early graduate of Roseworthy Agricultural College.

But Riddoch died in 1901 and the Federation of Australia in 1900, which united the self-governing colonies of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, saw the removal of trade barriers, which meant Coonawarra could no longer compete commercially.

From 1918 to the mid-1940s all of the estate’s grapes went to brandy distillation and the property fell into disrepair until the Wynns renovated it.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate – a timeline

1897: John Riddoch builds a triple-gabled winery called Chateau Comaum

1951: David Wynn purchases the winery and renames it Wynns Coonawarra Estate

1952: Ian Hickinbotham makes the first wine, S Wynn & Co Coonawarra Estate Claret

1954: The first vintage of Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, informally known as Black Label

1982: The first vintage of limited-release John Riddoch Cabernet Sauvignon

1993: Sue Hodder arrives at Wynns and becomes senior winemaker in 1998

2004: Release of the first single-vineyard wine, Harold Cabernet Sauvignon 2001

2008: The first V&A Lane wines are produced

2017: Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon celebrates 60 vintages

David had sniffed the wind and realised table wine was going to be a big thing in Australia, where people were drinking mostly beer and sweet local ‘Sherry’ and ‘Port’ at the time.

He was a renaissance man, interested in the arts, so he commissioned artist Richard Beck, to make a woodcut of the triple-gabled winery frontage. It is still the centrepiece of the label.

David also made history by putting a map on the back label, to show drinkers where the still-unknown Coonawarra was.

He kicked off an advertising campaign to promote Wynns Coonawarra Estate wines, always emphasising quality, and the pleasure and sophistication of a glass of wine with a meal.

Bet on black

It is ironic that today Wynns Coonawarra Estate Black Label Cabernet Sauvignon is one of Australia’s greatest wines, as well as one of the most heavily discounted.

However, followers of fashion ignore it at their peril. The fact that it’s also one of Australia’s best value for money wines should not be a turn-off. There is never an off vintage these days (even the 2011, from a notoriously wet summer, is excellent). And in the great vintages – such as 1982, 1990, 1991, 1996, 2006, 2012, 2015, 2018 and the new release 2019 – it is outstanding value for money, even at the full retail price.

With the improvements in viticulture and winemaking, coupled with the superior screwcap closure introduced with the 2006 vintage, the wine is more consistently good than ever. The latest quality acquisition at Wynns is an optical grape sorter, which Hodder says is one of only three in Australia.

One luxury of tasting 60 vintages of the same wine is to chart the industry’s fashions. The low-alcohol and sometimes herbaceous wines of the late 1970s and early 1980s (although on this occasion the 1980 was the only wine from this period clearly showing the malaise), contrast with the riper, juicier, higher-alcohol wines of the 1990s and early noughties.

Meanwhile the large-vat-matured (no small oak) wines of the 1950s and 1960s contrast with the more oaky (barrique- and hogshead-aged) wines of the 1990s. Then the wines of the Hodder era sensibly revert back to more subtle, better-balanced oak.

The quality across the 60 years was quite outstanding. Since 2006 the wines have, if anything, been even more consistent.

This article was originally published in 2018, with updates in 2020 and 2023.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate: new releases and more…

The following are a selection of tasting notes of the current 2024 releases and older vintages from a number of Decanter contributors. Click here to read about Wynns Coonawarra Estate’s icon Cabernet John Riddoch and tasting notes of 12 vintages

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Wynns’ John Riddoch: an Australian Cabernet icon

Behind the label: Wynns John Riddoch 2018

Penfolds Collection 2023: Global ambitions underlined

Ask most people to name a Western Australian (WA) wine region, and it’s unlikely that their first answer would be Great Southern. Yet, according to Wine Australia – source of all the statistics in this article – this GI (Geographical Indication) covers approximately 17,000km² and houses 23% of the state’s vineyards.

And there is vast diversity in terroir and grape varieties in Great Southern’s five official sub-regions: Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker and Porongurup. Fruit quality is high (some of Australia’s leading premium wine brands source fruit for their icon-tier wines from here), and there is competition to access the best growers.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for 30 Great Southern wines worth seeking out

More than half of the region’s production is red, but Riesling is the hero variety, both for quality and excellent value. Of 151 wines submitted for my tasting for this article, 36 were Riesling.

The next largest entry was Shiraz, the grape that best speaks of the personality of this place and its people. Just over 25% of Australia’s entire Shiraz crush hails from Great Southern. However, some outstanding cooler climate Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are produced here too.

The Great Southern is a region that continues to mystify wine consumers for several reasons. Cellar doors are few and far between, and driving distances are vast. It is the epitome of slow travel, but well worth a road trip.

While its vineyards and pioneering winemakers might be steeped in WA’s wine history, recent changes paint the picture of a progressive region. Great Southern has embraced alternative varieties, changes of ownership, new plantings, clonal experimentation, forward-thinking vineyard management techniques and new wine labels.

Reinventing tradition

The vineyard at Forest Hill is a special place. The gnarly old vines of Block One are living history and responsible for the start of the region’s success: a bottle of its 1975 Riesling was the first to make its mark on the national wine show circuit. Tony and Betty Pearce planted these experimental vineyard vines, with Betty playing them music to foster growth.

The 58-year-old roots dig deep into the loam, yet plenty has evolved since winemaker and general manager Guy Lyons returned to the family business in 2015.

‘We’ve got an awesome historic vineyard that can make exciting wines. I’m focused on getting back to basics,’ he explains. ‘In the vineyard I’m looking at vigour, vine and soil health, plus plantings and new clones. In the winery, it’s about making wine we’re interested in drinking.’

Progressive vineyard techniques include layering the old vines to improve vineyard health as well as mid-row subsoil irrigation to combat increasingly unpredictable rainfall and some very dry years.

‘It was a bit of a gamble,’ says Lyons. ‘But because we’ve got dry-grown root structures, we don’t want to change that by drip feeding. We are trying to preserve old-vine structure and character.’

Embracing sustainability

Across the Great Southern, there is an increase in vineyards practising organically, if not actually certified. In Forest Hill’s case, it’s a tricky balance. Sadly, the vineyard was hit with frost in late spring and 40% of this year’s production has been lost.

Gazing over the Block Nine, dry-grown Shiraz, Lyons adds, ‘We’ve never been frosted here. Down near the valley we have, but not here, so it’s unprecedented and disappointing. But that’s farming.’

On the other side of this vast region, in Porongurup, I meet Ben and Sarah Cane, who took ownership of Duke’s Vineyard in 2022. Duke Ranson founded the winery in 1999 with his wife Hilde on the cusp of his 60th birthday and, over time, built a loyal following for their sought-after Riesling, Cabernet and Shiraz.

Ben is busy in the vineyard reworking vines, shifting to organic and biodynamic practices, adjusting trellising techniques and experimenting with wine production.

‘This is a marginal climate for producing late-ripening varieties like Cabernet,’ he says. ‘Duke told me these are white-knuckle varieties: do your viticulture right, then run through the storms and hold your nerve and don’t pick early. Our wines are closer to European styles in their elegance and complexity.’

The aim is total organics in the long run, but he’s keen to get through a few seasons first. ‘There’s being idealistic, and then there’s reality!’ he laughs. They’ve added regional wines to the range, built a clonal and varietal nursery, and tweaked the Riesling with press cuts, time on lees and in oak.

‘I think there’s a propensity for Australian Riesling lovers to want that pure fruit without anything in the way.’

Great Southern at a glance

Location: Great Southern (the First Nations region of Wagyl Kaip in Noongar Boodja) is 420km drive from Perth.

Area under vine: 2,545ha

Sub-regions: Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker and Porongurup. Frankland River and Mount Barker are the largest areas under vine. Denmark offers more cellar doors.

History: The first commercial vines were planted in Mount Barker in 1965 at the Forest Hill Vineyard. Mount Barker was Western Australia’s first official sub-region.

Climate: Largely Mediterranean, although ranges from maritime on the coast to continental inland. Vineyard altitude peaks at 380m. Average rainfall is 240mm, with higher rainfall in coastal sub-regions.

Soils: Ancient and diverse soils, up to 2.8 billion years old. Most are either lateritic gravel or sandy granitic loams over clay and moderately fertile. Frankland River is known for its ironstone soils that often impart a ferrous quality to the wines.

Varieties: Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon are historically identified with the region, and alternative varieties include Grenache, Mourvèdre, Malbec, Mencía, Tempranillo, Grüner Veltliner and Gewürztraminer.

Recent vintages: 2021 was slightly cooler and 2022 was hot and dry. 2023 was troublesome in the vineyard, with late rains and long flowering producing yields lower than normal but of high quality. 2024 looks promising for both yield and quality.

Number of wineries: More than 70, whose fruit goes into their own wine and/or sold to premium wineries not based in the Great Southern.

(Source: Wine Australia)

Striving for diversity

Ten minutes’ drive down the road is Castle Rock Estate. Angelo and Wendy Diletti founded it in 1981 and their winemaking son Rob Diletti now manages the 12.5ha of vineyard. ‘Dad was not a viticulturist or winemaker, but he did a lot of research before planting the vineyard,’ explains Rob.

‘I believe its success is the easterly aspect. It’s in a specific, isolated pocket where the elevation is 300m and we have more rain. The northern side is drier as the Porongurup range acts as a rain shadow.’

The site has proven excellent for Riesling and Pinot Noir thanks to its soil diversity. ‘It’s amazing how quickly they change from granite to coffee rock to ancient sands,’ he says.

Rob, like others in the region, is experimenting with clones, however, he’s also looking at rootstocks – WA is still a phylloxera-free zone. ‘For us, going forward is about having as much diversity as possible, whether that’s the site, clonal material or rootstock.’

He aims for more nuanced management of the vineyard’s vigour by pairing clone, rootstock and site. Is climate change evident? ‘I don’t think 40 years is long enough to see a big trend in rainfall, but we definitely see a five-year cycle and we’re picking earlier than we used to, but canopy management changes brought ripening forward.’

There’s expansion on the horizon too. ‘It’s taken 20 years, but I have a new site. I want something that looks like Castle Rock; the wines to express our site’s uniqueness.’ Changes will include higher vine density – from 1,800 to 4,000 vines per hectare, predominantly planted with Pinot. ‘Shiraz is oversupplied Australia-wide at the moment, but Porongurup Pinot and Riesling are in demand.’

Dreams and legacies

Howard Park’s 60ha Mount Barrow vineyard sits in the neighbouring sub-region of Mount Barker. ‘It was Jeff Burch’s dream,’ shares viticulturist Steve Kirby. ‘He wanted to prove WA could do high-end sparkling and Pinot Noir. They founded the vineyard here for elevation and because it faces the south to receive cooling breezes. It’s never as hot as elsewhere.’

The site is low-yielding and the main hillside was planted like a massive trial, with multiple clones at multiple elevations. ‘The picking difference can be a week from the top to the bottom.’

Plantagenet is a name synonymous with the establishment of WA’s wine industry; Tony Smith established its first vineyard, Bouverie, in 1968. Today the owners are Tom and Jo Wisdom, who purchased it in 2021. ‘We’re trying to re-energise a piece of WA’s wine history and retain its legacy,’ says Tom.

With new ownership came structural changes; the winery infrastructure and several vineyards were sold. ‘We are much leaner now. We own the key vineyard, Wyjup, and we lease others. But most importantly, we hold to the historical Plantagenet style.’

Tom shares that the industry is under significant pressure due to market saturation, and though some vineyards have been pulled, he remains hopeful. ‘The Great Southern has a lot of opportunities. Some of the wines coming out are fantastic, and I think there is more awareness of the region, which will hopefully drive demand. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit here.’

Entrepreneurial spirits

Two of those entrepreneurial spirits are siblings Matt and Janelle Swinney, whose first vintage of their Swinney wines was in 2018. They have been growing grapes on the family farm for much longer but in just five vintages of their own project, their flagship wines have made their mark.

They have assembled an impressive team, including viticulturist Rhys Thomas and winemaker Rob Mann, co-owner with his wife Genevieve of Corymbia in Swan Valley and grandson of the legendary WA winemaker Jack Mann.

‘The wines are getting finer and longer,’ says Mann. ‘Australians are a bit scared of tannins, as there is the tendency to overproduce. But we are farming tannins; that’s how we look at it.’

Swinney farms organically, focusing on labour-intensive bush vines and Rhône varieties. ‘Our fruit is very good quality, but we don’t use it ourselves if it doesn’t stick with our storyline,’ says Matt. With 250ha under vine, Swinney provides grapes for several producers, and there is high demand due to the quality and varieties on offer.

The vineyards have already reaped the benefit of two frost fans – the first in WA – and overhead irrigation as insurance against frost. ‘That’s the next place we are going to plant,’ Matt says, pointing to a steep site with pea-gravel sands in the distance. ‘It’s a huge project, with new irrigation and infrastructure, but that’s where we want to be in five to 10 years.’

Big region, small community

Brave New Wines is one of several avant-garde wineries in Great Southern. Husband and wife team Yoko Luscher-Mostert and Andries Mostert bootstrapped their label in 2013. ‘We were lucky we started then, as we could reach people at a distance through Instagram,’ recalls Yoko.

Since then, the popularity of their initial flagship wines – pét-nats – has waned, with, consumers now wanting chilled reds and oaked Chardonnay. ‘We can be quite flexible,’ says Yoko. ‘We don’t have to make the same wines every year.’

The couple love the diversity that the Great Southern allows them, along with the friendship of like-minded winemakers. ‘We share equipment, we support each other. We’re all mates. It’s a big region, but too small a community not to get along with one another.’

Great Southern wines: 30 to seek out

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When Neil and Lorraine Ashmead acquired their new Barossa Valley home in 1980, the Nuriootpa homestead came with the surrounding 29ha of old vines for free. Thirteen years later, those old vines – specifically Elderton Cabernet Sauvignon 1992, which remains impressive to this day – bagged the prestigious 1993 Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy.

‘It put a million dollars on the top line straight off,’ says their son Cameron Ashmead. With his brother Allister Ashmead, he is co-managing director of Elderton, the Barossa brand founded by their parents in 1982.

These days, old Barossa vines have dizzy price tags. Take the Mengler Hill Vineyard in Eden Valley, which cost Elderton AUS$3.5m in 2023. However, as Cameron explains: ‘We see a very bright future for Shiraz and Grenache especially. We’re investing for the future.’ Describing it as ‘a climate hedge’, at 500m, Mengler Hill is not only elevated, it also receives 50% more rainfall than the family’s Barossa Valley floor vineyards.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 11 current and library releases from Elderton

Having increased the family’s tally of prime Barossa vineyards to four, Cameron is also thrilled at the prospect of extending Elderton’s range with ‘high end’ Mengler Hill Shiraz, Grenache and Riesling.

Meanwhile, the latest vintages of Elderton’s GSM, Neil Ashmead GTS Shiraz and Barossa Shiraz (a superb buy) highlight a traditional advantage of multi-vineyard ownership, namely blending across sites for balance and greater nuance.

Looking beyond Nuriootpa (the lowest vineyard) has undoubtedly helped Elderton to hone a different style for its wines. As Cameron puts it, to make the wines that are ‘a bit more modern – lighter and fresher and more approachable on release, so you don’t have to cellar them for seven years’.

The early days

Winemaking had not been on the agenda when, following a stint in Saudi Arabia, Lorraine and Neil Ashmead moved into the rundown Nuriootpa homestead with their three young sons. Neil’s job selling tractors for Caterpillar and the couple’s attempts at bathtub wine hardly qualified them for the job.

It was Lorraine’s entrepreneurial father, Wellington Rice, who acquired the property in 1980. He was hoping to tempt his daughter and family back to Australia and revive the neglected vineyard, planted in 1894. It worked, but Rice’s grape-growing plans soon fell victim to a disastrous grape glut.

The government’s Vine Pull Scheme offered a way out, but Lorraine and Neil opted to make wine from their ancient vines instead. With help from noted Barossa winemakers Peter Lehmann and Jim Irvine, Elderton released its first wines in 1982.

Looking back, Cameron attributes their parents’ success to ‘equal parts naivety, amazing foresight and hard work’.

During that time, many grape growers were pulling out Cabernet Sauvignon because Shiraz was easier to farm. But Allister says that keeping this variety – more associated with cooler regions – gave Elderton ‘a leg up’. And that manifested in Elderton winning the prestigious Jimmy Watson Trophy.

Elderton: a commitment to Cabernet

Elderton still makes an Estate Cabernet today, but the collector’s favourite is the premium Ashmead Cabernet Sauvignon. ‘We call it the epiphany wine,’ says Allister. ‘People go from, “Are you kidding? A $100 Barossa Cabernet?” to “That’s pretty good!”’ The grapes come from deep-rooted vines, planted in 1944 in alluvial silt near the North Para River.

It’s made, in minute quantities, by Elderton’s head of viticulture and winemaking Julie Ashmead (Cameron’s wife) and winemaker Brock Harrison. ‘Ashmead is a unique site,’ says Julie. ‘It’s a precise wine, very niche, with amazing floral aromas.’

Julie, a fifth-generation winemaker who has worked vintages in Bordeaux as well as at Barossa properties Two Hands and Turkey Flat, says that the Cabernet used for Ode to Lorraine ($50), from younger vines on more clay, ‘is more typical of the Barossa – much greener, with bay leaf notes’.

Elderton is a true family-run business, with Allister’s wife Rebecca the winery’s export manager who also looks after bottlings. The two couples have three children each, which bodes well for the third generation of Ashmead grower/winemakers in the Barossa.

Allister says the family has an ongoing commitment to Cabernet Sauvignon, thanks to his parents tenacity and early success with the variety, and Elderton has since has planted heritage cuttings from Ashmead as well as new Cabernet clones.

Expressive Barossa Shiraz

For all their love of Cabernet, however, it is Shiraz that garners the most attention in the Barossa. The premium counterpart to Elderton’s Ashmead Cabernet is the Command Shiraz. First made in 1984 exclusively from 1894-planted blocks, it was at the vanguard of bold Barossa old-vine Shiraz lavished with new American oak.

But times have changed, says Allister, and now the goal is to ‘make wines which are much more expressive of us and our place’. Elderton introduced French oak alongside the American in 1996, reduced fermentation temperatures in 2010 and, since 2013, Command has spent its final year in seasoned (as opposed to new) oak barrels.

Elderton recently purchased small concrete tulip fermenters to allow for smaller batches than in the traditional nine-tonne concrete fermenters. Advantageously the tulips can be closed, allowing for pre-soaks and extended macerations. Julie believes ‘it will help the vineyard to express itself as purely as it can’.

The Ashmead family started out making single-estate wines, then cast the net wider to buy fruit from select growers for its entry-level E-Series range. Having acquired Barossa-designate vineyards in Eden Valley to the east (2007) and Greenock to the west (2010) to join the original Nuriootpa vines, the Ashmeads have since reined in production.

‘It’s about being in control of quality and consistency,’ says Allister. The Estate Family Vineyards range blends fruit from all three sites ‘to produce a great bottle of wine for $30’. As prices climb, individual site nuances come into sharper focus – sharp contrast even – peaking with Elderton’s Elite Single Vineyard wines. These include the Ashmead Cabernet ($100), Command Shiraz ($125) and the Helbig 1915 Shiraz ($350) from Greenock’s oldest vines.

Grand Tourer and Helbig 1915

Julie says the three vineyards have distinct tannin structures. From Nuriootpa they are ‘deep, silky, long and layered’; from Greenock they are ‘punchier and upfront’; while wines from the cooler, rockier and younger Eden Valley site (Craneford) have ‘slatey, edgy tannins’.

In 2018, the family explored the interplay of Nuriootpa and Greenock Shiraz for the Neil Ashmead Grand Tourer ($50). The wine honours their travelling salesman father, who took his own life in 1997. It’s a more vibrant, contemporary style than the Command Shiraz, thanks to Greenock’s dynamic tannin structure and earlier-ripening Shiraz clone. It also is no longer aged in 100% new oak.

While the vines used for the Grand Tourer Shiraz (GTS) were planted in 1980, the oldest block in the Greenock vineyard was planted by the Helbig family in 1915 – source of Elderton’s so-named blockbuster Shiraz.

‘Promoting this style may not be seen as a good thing in many circles,’ concedes Allister, ‘but it was never about making a “Command Plus”. It’s about what the vineyard has done historically and seeing where we go with it. Like GTS, the style of Helbig 1915 will evolve over a decade before we get to understand it.’

The maiden 2013 release of Helbig (then called Fifteen) was truly ‘hell big’, says Cameron: ‘it was the biggest wine we’d made in the last 15 or 20 years!’ The 2013 vintage was an exceptionally early and dry year, whereas the 2018 release is still big, but relatively approachable with less density and more juice.

Old-school Barossa

Visitors to Elderton’s cellar door can be assured of a big, warm Barossa welcome as well as wines. Renovated a cost of more than AU$1 million, the old Nuriootpa homestead and gardens won a Great Wine Capitals Best of Tourism Award in 2019.

Cameron says being on hand to greet visitors and do tastings at the cellar door, as well as travelling to host dinners with avid collectors, is ‘just old-school Barossa hospitality’. But it also helps people connect with the family and their story: ‘It makes people believe, because it is real.’

Allister admits: ‘We were terrified when the pandemic broke, but then we had a deluge of phone calls and orders. People said “we’re sticking with you”. It makes you feel pretty amazing!’

Elderton: the facts

Founded 1982 by Neil and Lorraine Ashmead

Owners/managing directors Cameron and Allister Ashmead, since 2003

Winemaking team Julie Ashmead and Brock Harrison

Annual production 30,000 cases of 12

Estate vineyards Nuriootpa (27ha), Greenock (25ha), Craneford (15ha)

Key wines Command Shiraz, Ashmead Cabernet, Helbig 1915, Ode to Lorraine, Estate Cabernet, Estate Shiraz

Elderton: Current releases and select back vintages

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Stephen and Prue Henschke are in relaxed form. Vintage 2024 is a fortnight away and, says a beaming Stephen, Henschke’s fifth generation winemaker: ‘The fruit looks amazing.’

Frost fans might cost AU$55,000 apiece, but chief viticulturist Prue notes approvingly: ‘They did their job this year and we have sailed into a pretty nice vintage.’

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores for Henschke’s 2019 single-vineyard releases

Double frost, then hail

It was far from plain sailing in 2019 however. This Scylla and Charybdis year served a double helping of frost just after budburst and again at flowering. A fortnight later, a hailstorm ‘basically wiped out anything of size’ according to Prue. She bristles as she recalls ‘the feeling of devastation when you see your crop turn into little fizzled rats’ tails’.

Shiraz bore the brunt of the hailstorm and 2019 is also a red alert vintage for Henschke fans because, with exceptionally warm and dry conditions too, average yields were 50% down. Mind-bogglingly, average yields for the 2020 vintage were even lower – half of 2019. Some Shiraz blocks produced nothing and Shiraz bunch weights were a measly 80-100g, versus 150g/bunch normally.

Although these vintages of the Eden Valley producer’s iconic single-vineyard Shiraz wines will be thin on the ground, Stephen says: ‘We’re actually very lucky to have that much.’ He observes: ‘Other growers wouldn’t even have bothered to pick, but it is important to make [these wines] for history and posterity, even if the crop is miserably low and I have to send out a search party to find it!’

‘A vintage graced by the nurturer’

In this challenging year, it was imperative to protect and optimise the quality of those precious few Shiraz grapes left after the frost and hail. Highlighting Prue’s uber-green fingers, Henschke has dubbed 2019: ‘A vintage graced by the nurturer’. Drawing on her scientific training in botany, zoology and viticulture, Prue’s long-term investment in regenerative viticulture and organic and biodynamic practices paid off handsomely in 2019.

During the couple’s studies at Geisenheim University in the 1970s, Prue had seen permanent swards (an expanse of short grass) everywhere in Germany. In the Rheingau producers topped up soil lost to erosion every year. It meant that, from the outset of Prue’s tenure at Henschke in the 1980s, she understood the importance of not tilling the earth and leaving a permanent sward to protect the fragile soils of the family’s aged Eden Valley vineyards.

Following many trials, the native wallaby grass that surrounded the vineyards now carpets it too. This sward does not need mowing, it competes with weeds, is dormant during the vines’ growing season (and so does not compete with them) and, crucially, preserves soil moisture. ‘If you look at the native forests, they always have a heavy load of dry leaf matter on soil and it’s there for a reason,’ explains Prue.

Down to earth

That said, in 2019 Prue believes ‘the big saviour’ of the dry-grown vineyards was the biodynamic compost she makes from cow manure and hen egg shells, which is covered with under-vine straw mulch on a three year cycle. When Prue first started using mulch 14 years ago, it was seen as ‘eccentric’ says Stephen. ‘Other vineyard managers said she was going to kill the vines.’ Undeterred, ‘Prue just said: “You wait and see!”’ he adds proudly.

In a year in which South Australia’s Adelaide set the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in an Australian city – peaking at 46.6℃ on 19 January – ‘everything was topped up’ says Prue. Why? Because soil temperatures under this thick under-vine layer of mulch and compost on a hot day are a moisture-preserving 25-28℃, versus a vaporising 50℃ at the surface.

‘A great example of a really tough vintage’

Stephen, who took charge of winemaking 45 years ago, is happy with the balance of the resulting wines. He rates the 2019s as: ‘A great example of a really tough vintage.’ After rigorous selection, the precious surviving grapes were treated with tender loving care in Henschke’s ‘spas’. These are the smaller stainless steel version of the winery’s traditional open concrete fermenters, whose capacity was too big for 2019’s miniscule yields.

‘Because the fruit was riper and smaller, with potentially more stressed tannins and a stronger tannin ratio, we didn’t want to [over]-extract,’ explains Stephen. So the ferments were cooler, with no plunging, instead relying on the submerged cap ‘for a gentle alcoholic leaching’.

The 2019 Shiraz releases are distinguished by a fine but powerful charge of structured tannins, which Stephen describes as having ‘a naturally nutty savouriness’. At this early stage, it keeps the fruit on the back foot compared with recent vintages.

But there can be little doubt about the fruit concentration of these darkly brooding wines. No question either about the baked in pungency – as opposed to lifted fragrance – of the classic herb and spice notes found in Mount Edelstone and Hill of Grace.

Tasted over four days, they retained impressive freshness and line for the year and, effortlessly mopping up the oak (20% new), allowed both vineyard and vintage shine.

Statuesque Shiraz

Because some blocks did not produce, and since Mount Edelstone was picked on 18 March and Hill of Grace on 8 March – as opposed to being harvested over a week as usual – they are particularly statuesque, perhaps unique even, in a year which offered fewer blending options.

In contrast, picked between 10-15 April, Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 is fragrant and distinctly (indeed, irresistibly) broachable in this low-yielding year, although it will age for decades.

Museum releases

Conscious that the flagship 2019 Shiraz wines are in such short supply, Henschke is also releasing two Museum and Rare vintages from its family reserves.

From a warm dry year that produced regular yields, Hill of Grace 2008 is bountiful and plush, with opulent all-new oak. In 2013, a warm, dry and exceptionally low-yielding year, Mount Edelstone shares the firmer, rail-like tannin structure of the 2019 releases.

Youthfully primary with great palate presence and line, it provides a better window on how one might expect Mount Edelstone and Hill of Grace 2019 to develop: slowly. This Shiraz vintage is a keeper.

Henschke 2019: Single-vineyard wines plus other new releases

The 2019 vintages of Hill of Grace, Hill of Roses, Mount Edelstone, The Wheelwright and Cyril Henschke are available from the Henschke cellar door and at (henschke.com.au), in the UK via importer Liberty Wines and in the US via Winebow from 1 May 2024.

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• Around Australia in 20 wines: Matthew Jukes’ selection
• Eden Valley Riesling 2023: Vintage report and 15 wines to buy

Grenache, in the hands of McLaren Vale’s most astute producers, can be the most supple and beguiling of grape varieties. It all depends on the age of the vines and the complexity of the vineyard sites – and McLaren Vale has both in abundance.

The best Grenache vineyards, mostly dry-grown bush vines up to 120 years old, have arguably become Australia’s take on grand cru: rare, idiosyncratic and expressive vines on exemplary sites. And the results from the 67 samples submitted to Decanter by 30 invited producers for this elite regional tasting did not disappoint. The top wines were extraordinary.

Scroll down to see notes and scores for the top 30 McLaren Vale Grenache wines

The secret is in the soils. Flanked by the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Gulf St Vincent, this coastal region’s geology is hugely complex, a fact underlined by the map of its geology, first produced in 2008 (see mclarenvalewine.au). Indeed, the McLaren Vale Grape Wine & Tourism Association states that ‘more than 40 unique geologies are present’ – placing it among the world’s most geologically diverse wine regions – although the 7,375ha of vineyards are planted on only about half of that number. Among the wide range of soil types are some more than 500 million years old.

Single-site surge

McLaren Vale’s geological complexity, and the resulting diversity in wine flavour profiles, has prompted a surge in the number of single-site Grenaches produced in recent years. It has also triggered a tussle among boutique producers to procure the best fruit – especially that from two renowned family-owned sites: the Smart vineyard in Clarendon, first planted in 1922, and the Trott vineyard in Blewitt Springs, which dates back to 1952. Between them, they boast 10 single-site wines from eight different producers.

‘Different sites produce wines of significant difference, and we strive to capture that in the glass,’ says Aphelion owner-winemaker Rob Mack, who produces six varietal Grenache wines from across the region, as well as Grenache-led red blends and a Grenache Blanc.

The single-vineyard focus began with d’Arenberg’s Chester Osborn, who released three single-vineyard Grenache wines from the 2002 vintage, to demonstrate the effect that different McLaren Vale soil types have on vines and the resulting wine personalities.

Common ground

Many producers have expanded on that idea, including Bondar, SC Pannell and Willunga 100. In Thistledown’s seven pure-Grenache wines, winemaker Giles Cooke MW focuses on acidity, light-bodied fruit and sculptured palate texture.

‘I want to find common ground between Grenache’s fruit personality and mineral influence that speaks of site more than winemaking artifice,’ he says. ‘The trick is to be generous without sacrificing terroir definition.’

A raft of winemakers are finding their own answers to this tricky equation, dialling down alcohol and easing away from overt oak to allow the McLaren Vale Grenache fruit to shine.

Grenache can ride a perilous journey. An early-budding variety, it can be vulnerable to spring frosts and is also prone to coulure, which causes irregular flowering and fruit set, and can reduce yields. In 2023, cool, wet, windy and cloudy weather adversely affected fruit set across the region.

Rhône-style blends emerging

Another exciting chapter of McLaren Vale’s Grenache story is just emerging – in distinctive red blends. Wineries such as Chalk Hill, Hither & Yon and Samuel’s Gorge are removing the Shiraz, and sometimes also the Mataro (aka Mourvèdre) from the southern Rhône-style SGM and GSM blends.

This gives Grenache more space to shine as the dominant flavour, with Tempranillo, Touriga Nacional and Graciano stepping in to provide an inspired new take on a traditional style.

But that’s all another story. For now, if you haven’t already, it’s time to discover premium McLaren Vale Grenache.

David Sly’s top 30 McLaren Vale Grenache wines

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Eden Valley winemakers will reflect on the 2023 Riesling vintage for two powerful reasons. First, its long and cool harvest, which guaranteed rich fruit that retained strong acidity. And second, the death of inspirational pioneer and Riesling master John Vickery.

Curiously, the influence of both factors had a bearing on the 2023 vintage, which became evident at a recent gathering of Eden Valley wine producers presenting a comparative tasting of their new-release Rieslings.

Scroll down for notes and scores of 15 Eden Valley Rieslings from the 2023 vintage

Assembling a wine industry tasting of almost 50 Rieslings from this sub-region of the Barossa in South Australia is now an annual event. It celebrates Eden Valley having a very specific identity to the Barossa Valley, with distinctly different soil profiles, elevation and topography.

The tasting also amplifies Eden Valley’s place among Australia’s preeminent Riesling locations, as a strong rival to producers in the Clare Valley, Tasmania and Frankland River in Western Australia.

What was evident among these new releases is the enduring legacy of Vickery, who was instrumental in establishing a style that captured fine, delicate flavours and continues to define the attributes of Australia’s best Rieslings.

His Leo Buring Riesling from 1955 generated unprecedented excitement for Riesling at the time, and signalled the first white wines of consequence in Australia.

The great and the good of Eden

Vickery’s passing on 23 September at the age of 90, having won more than 50 trophies and 400 gold medals across more than 50 years as a winemaker, was acknowledged by the gathered winemakers.

He was remembered for setting exacting standards in his winery, which others in the Barossa noted – especially after Vickery’s major awards began rolling in – and duly followed suit. Excellence throughout the region blossomed, putting Eden Valley Riesling on a pedestal. Standards have never diminished.

It was appropriate that the tribute to Vickery was spoken by Andrew Wigan, an acolyte of the late great Peter Lehmann and master winemaker responsible for the revered Wigan Reserve Riesling made by Peter Lehmann Wines.

Wigan still serves as a consultant in his retirement, offering advice on several impressive Eden Valley Rieslings from the current vintage, including Tomfoolery and Gibson Wines.

Other disciples continue to follow John Vickery’s lead, most notably Phil Lehmann, son of Peter Lehmann, who had worked with Vickery to launch the Vickery Riesling label in 2016.

Phil is now producing his own classic style of Eden Valley Riesling with his boutique Max & Me label. But he also makes Riesling for Eden Hall Wines, remaining true to the Vickery winemaking gospel, with all wines stellar examples of poise and purity.

Divergent interpretations

However, there is more than one way to make Riesling, as the diverse spread of offerings at the 2023 vintage tasting illustrated.

While the favourable 2023 vintage showed generous flavours and long palate length, a broad variety of styles ranged from severe and austere, to lush wines with more rounded mid-palate texture, to vivacious, sunny wines carrying a trace of residual sugar. To presume Eden Valley Riesling is only about citrus blossom, steely acidity and a mineral lick is a mistake.

To emphasise this, several Eden Valley producers now issue more than one Riesling, not only to identify terroir differences but also to experiment with different production styles and textures.

The most enthusiastic purveyors of multiple Riesling expressions are John and Belinda Hughes, whose Rieslingfreak label produces a dozen different styles each vintage, sourced from two regions.

‘It’s a grape that allows – and deserves – many different types of expression,’ says John. ‘So that’s what we’ve done over many vintages, and every style deserves its place.’

Styles of substance

This path has inspired others in the Eden Valley to produce more than one style of Riesling, including Pewsey Vale, Henschke, Hutton Vale, Thorn-Clarke and Chaffey Bros. Even outsiders to the region who buy parcels of Eden Valley fruit from individual grape growers see great merit in releasing more than one expression of Eden Valley Riesling.

‘Each vineyard has such individual personality, that they insist on being handled separately,’ explains winemaker Elena Brooks of Dandelion Vineyards, based in McLaren Vale.

‘Fruit from the Wonderland vineyard, planted in 1912, is super special. It has such purity; you can’t blend it. The Enchanted Garden vineyard produces fruit of a fuller flavour, with less stern acidity and is more immediately approachable. It’s okay for us to have two different styles and celebrate both.’

Producing more than one version of Riesling also has a commercial rationale. Sam and Angus Wardlaw’s Brothers at War label offer a pair of starkly different Rieslings, deliberately designed to appease separate aesthetic and commercial objectives.

‘We love serious Riesling, but that style seems too severe for a big part of the marketplace,’ says Sam, ‘so we also make a fresher, low alcohol, more approachable style of Riesling as well, to introduce a new, younger audience to this grape variety.

‘It’s working, so we get to expand the Riesling fan club a little bit further.’

Eden Valley 2023 Riesling: 15 top wines to try

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During South Australia’s ruinous grape surplus of the late 1970s, Peter Lehmann famously put his neck on the line, buying grapes from Barossa growers whom his employer, Saltram, had dropped.

It was a huge risk for the winemaker and his wife Margaret, who called the fledgling negociant business they went on to found Masterson Barossa Vignerons, after the inveterate gambler Skye Masterson in the musical Guys and Dolls.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 14 Peter Lehmann wines, including a vertical of Stonewell Shiraz

Then again, by 1979, the 49-year-old winemaker had learned his craft from a Barossa legend, Yalumba’s Rudi Kronberger, before making his mark at Saltram.

The new business attracted major investment and, says senior winemaker at Peter Lehmann Wines (PLW) Brett Schutz, Peter (who died in 2013) ‘was a saviour of the Barossa; he led the industry and made our region viable and beautiful, so people really looked up to him’.

Shared values, family and community

Barossa born and bred like Lehmann (who gave his name to the business in 1982), Schutz was thrilled to join PLW in 2022. ‘With Shiraz running through its veins and a lasting legacy of pride and community, it’s somewhere you are proud to be,’ says the man who got married at the winery in 2005.

Lehmann’s loyalty to his community has been repaid in kind over the years, and not just in the precious Barossan grapes which, from the outset, have been supplied on a handshake (and still are today).

When one of PLW’s early major investors pulled out in 1992, growers rallied to help the Lehmanns save the company via a public float on the Australian Stock Exchange. The capital was subscribed almost overnight, with investment from 3,600 people, including Barossa growers, staff and friends.

In 2003, together with the Hess family (whose business had been selected as PLW’s US distributor), the Lehmanns saw off a takeover bid from the multinational drinks company, Allied Domecq. When the Hess Group sold its 86% shareholding following Peter Lehmann’s death, PLW was sold to Casella Family Brands in 2014, with Margaret’s blessing.

Managing director John Casella recalls: ‘Margaret and I often sat down and discussed our shared values of family and community, and these conversations provided the assurance that the brand would continue to keep its core values and return to Australian family ownership. It has been both a personal delight and an honour to be able to uphold the family’s enduring legacy, ensuring that the Lehmann name remains at the forefront of Australian winemaking and maintains its grower relationships.’

Little black jewels

The strength of PLW’s enduring grower relationships and the quality of the resulting fruit go a long way to explaining why Stonewell, the company’s flagship Shiraz, has been made every year since 1987 (when it was called Peter Lehmann Show Dry Red). It was even produced in 2011, a notoriously wet year, with leading Australian wine critic James Halliday remarking of the wine: ‘You would never pick the vintage in an options game [a blind tasting], its black fruits are perfectly ripe.’

Over the years, about 60 of PLW’s 80 growers from across the Barossa Valley have provided top-grade Shiraz for Stonewell. While originally centred around the hamlet of Stonewell (hence the name), these days the fruit tends to come from the northwest of the Barossa, especially Lights Pass and Ebenezer, although there are no hard and fast rules – Stonewell was sourced from just two vineyards in 2011 and only three in the cool 2017 vintage.

Casting the net wide for, as Lehmann put it, Stonewell’s ‘little black jewels’ has guaranteed consistency and the requisite colour, depth and mouthfeel. You need small berries, though; those tasting like red wine gum sweets do not, observed Schutz, have the ageing potential of riper black fruit.

Schutz dubs Stonewell’s distinctive tannin architecture ‘Christmas tree tannins’. He explained: ‘You build a foundation with some really muscular, rich tannins and envelope that with mid-weight tannin. These provide the structure and weight, then you coat it with tinsel – the fine grain and finesse.’ The wine’s densely layered but long, ripe tannins indeed stood out and contrasted strikingly with the velvety, fruit-forward style of 8 Songs Shiraz 2017.

Power and grace

The tasting also highlighted the shift from partial barrel fermentation and ageing in sweeter, aromatic American oak, to subtler French oak hogsheads, which started in 1996. Since 2012, exclusively French oak has been used and time in barrel has reduced from a giddy 30 months to as little as 12.

Another step change which reflected Casella’s major investment took place in the barrel hall in 2015, specifically in the upgrading of its temperature and humidity control. The old barrel cellar relied on foil insulation and regular rotation of barrels that were stacked six high. ‘The angels were happy in those days,’ quips Schutz, referring to the loss of wine through evaporation during ageing, the so-called ‘angel’s share’.

The dividends for freshness and precision, especially fruit definition, were readily apparent in Stonewell 2016 and 2017 (two contrasting vintages). Compared with the monolithic 2008, I anticipate that both vintages will age with power and grace.

Released five years after vintage for optimal ageing, Stonewell is broachable, but the vertical underscored its capacity for ageing – the 1989 in magnum showed well during the tasting and was holding superbly a couple of hours later.

As if that is not testament enough to Lehmann’s winemaking talent, the Semillon he named after his wife Margaret has bagged more gold medals than the best long distance runner. One does not expect a Barossa Valley white to age comfortably for 18 years, as the Margaret Semillon 2005 has, and it held its own within this remarkable Stonewell vertical.

See tasting notes and scores of 14 Peter Lehmann wines, including a vertical of Stonewell Shiraz

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Think of Australian wine, and one region probably pops to mind: the Barossa. With its picturesque landscapes of lush vineyards and sun-baked stone farmhouses, this corner of free-settled South Australia isn’t the country’s oldest wine region but – thanks to a worldwide thirst for Aussie Shiraz – it’s definitely the most famous.

Home to respected names like Yalumba and Torbreck, Barossa has developed over the past 180 years from pastureland and bush to oenophile wonderland, with now more than 150 glossy wineries and 80 cellar doors welcoming visitors for tastings.

Built in 1856, Kingsford has been there to witness almost all of this vinous transformation. Originally a private home, today the property sets the gold standard for boutique regional accommodation, fusing history with sublime vintages – providing a real taste of Australia’s favourite wine region.

Heritage & innovation

When Lincolnshire man Stephen King left Britain in the mid-1800s to settle in South Australia, he couldn’t have known what Barossa was to become. The wealthy pastoralist and entrepreneur built his grand two-storey Georgian-inspired home on his sprawling land outside the settlement of Gawler – drafting in sandstone from Edinburgh for the exterior, a grand Gothic cedar staircase and cellars for storing local produce. For decades set among relatively sleepy landscapes, Kingsford was a watering point for coach parties passing through the region; you could almost consider it the original cellar door.

Fast-forward 167 years and Kingsford is now one of Barossa’s most appealing boutique hotels. Acquired by the locally rooted Ahrens family over a decade ago, it benefitted from a multi-million dollar rethink in 2020. Australian stonemasons crafted a sympathetic expansion, so among the original property’s Georgian elegance there are fresh draws: dedicated wine vaults, multiple bars, expanded accommodation. In the original homestead building, timeless suites in warm neutral hues largely come with chandeliers, Louis XVI-inspired chairs and floral prints. In the new wing, contemporary View Suites with minimalist furnishings feature floor-to-ceiling glass opening up to the Barossa landscape. It’s a judicious – and luxurious – blend of old and new that doesn’t compromise the property’s soul.

Discovering Barossa wine

Of course, for any Decanter reader, it will be the vinous programme that makes Kingsford especially appealing. You need only take a look at the newly built wine tunnel – home to a museum collection of Penfolds Grange and a complete line up of Henschke Hill of Grace – to know that it takes Barossa wine seriously.

Much of the liquid joy centres around meals in the main Orleana restaurant, where by-the-glass pours of local treasures meet native yabbies (a freshwater crayfish), Coffin Bay oysters and wagyu beef with a Langmeil Valley Floor Shiraz reduction. Though you can also enjoy tastings in a number of private dining spaces – including the original 1856 slate-floor cellar – or sip on something casually by the pool.

Once you’ve exhausted the vinous options on site, the rest of Barossa is at your disposal for discovery; and you’re really spoilt for choice in terms of proximity and quality. Rockford Wines, with its exceptional Basket Press Shiraz – made from vines aged between 60 and 140-plus years – is just a 20-minute drive away. Only 15 minutes away, historic Seppeltsfield (established just five years before Kingsford was built) has a centennial cellar where you can taste a 100-year-old tawny straight from the barrel. Even the lauded Penfolds is nearby, where in its grand environs you can try making your own wine blend or sample a precious sip of Grange.

Wine imbues every part of the Barossa Valley but make time for the region’s other pleasures and you’ll find the visit even more satisfying. Farmers’ markets bursting with fresh produce; fabulous restaurants like fermentAsian; hot air balloon rides. At Kingsford itself, join an ATV tour across the property’s historic 91ha or hike trails where kangaroos, kookaburras and parrots are spotted. Or just kick back in a ‘bush bath’ – an alfresco soak in a deep claw-footed tub, soundtracked by nature and accompanied by a cheese plate. Now, what would Mr King have thought of that?

For further information see Kingsford The Barossa

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Once the domain of bulk wine and the workhorse of the Australian wine industry, the Riverland is the country’s largest GI (Geographical Indication) by tonnage, responsible for a third of the total annual crush.

While quantity is still viewed as a key marker in this South Australian region, 200km northeast of Adelaide, the quality of alternative grape varieties and old-vine plantings are turning heads, playing a key role in the increasing demand for Riverland fruit by boutique producers.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 15 exciting Riverland wines

Old vines and new varieties

‘This property is 100 years old, and at 70 years old these are some of the oldest vines in the Riverland,’ says Ashley Ratcliff of Ricca Terra. Ratcliff, who purchased the estate with his wife Holly in 2003, is passionate about both old vines and drought-resistant Mediterranean varieties and is one of the major players in the Riverland revival.

The backbone of the region’s history is the Soldier Settlement scheme, instigated after World Wars I and II, where returned servicemen planted some of the Riverland’s first vineyards. In 2019 he created a range of wines called Soldiers’ Land ‘to preserve this history and these vines’.

Saving them from being grubbed up or abandoned ‘we’re slowly reconverting the vines by hand picking and hand pruning with the idea that they will age well past a century’.

Ratcliff’s focus is also on shifting the dominance of varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Chardonnay – vast, heavily cropped plantings destined for bulk wine – to alternative grapes better suited to the Riverland’s warm, arid climate.

This idea was formed back in the mid 2000s at Yalumba in the Barossa Valley, where he worked for more than 13 years. ‘We could see the pending climate-change issues even back then and we thought, what else is out there? Let’s look at different varieties.’

Today Ratcliff grows 1,800 tonnes of grapes, of which about 40% are alternative varieties; Fiano, Vermentino and Nero d’Avola are the main ones but there are 30 in all. And inspired by the success of Ratcliff’s own premium wines – he uses just under 300 tonnes of fruit for Ricca Terra (‘rich earth’) – boutique producers across South Australia are clamouring for the farm’s top-quality fruit.

Taking risks

And it’s not just Mediterranean varieties that Ratcliff and others are experimenting with. It’s the techniques too. He pulls his 1971 Dodge truck up to a long row of vintage drying racks. ‘Almost every property has them kicking around,’ he says. ‘Remember, this was originally sultana country.’

However, what he’s got on the racks is much more exciting than table grapes: they’re heaving with Zibbibo, air-dried in the sun for 35 days. ‘The only way to learn is to do it yourself,’ he says of the experiment. ‘I don’t know anybody else making a straw wine in Australia.’ watch this space…

The cost of land is more affordable in the Riverland than in other South Australian GIs, enabling smaller producers to risk-take with unknown varieties and styles. However, the real shift required for the long term is one of external perceptions.

‘I’m fortunate that our business is doing well because we’ve gone down the track of having alternative varieties,’ says Ratcliff.

‘We have 35 growers involved in Terra Vino, our grape-trading business, and about 45 winemakers buying the fruit. There’s a huge future for the Riverland, but it’s all about mindset.

‘There is a preconceived view that the region just makes bulk wine [for wines usually labeled as from South Eastern Australia]. But it has the capacity to produce serious wine too,’ Ratcliff emphasises. ‘Growers need to break away from this mentality that it’s easiest for them to sell off their fruit to the big wineries or to pull up their old vines.’

Rethinking Australian viticulture

Brendan and Laura Carter from Unico Zelo have worked closely with Ratcliff since they started their brand in 2013. ‘The concept behind Unico Zelo was trying to make the most Australian wine we possibly could,’ explains Brendan.

‘Too often we miss seeing wine as something that can connect us to the land. So, our premise was, if we were to rethink viticulture in Australia, how would we go about doing that?

‘We realised that if we use water as the limiting resource around the question of what should we plant where, and why, that leads us down the path of grape varieties that typically come from really warm places.’

Consequently, Fiano and Nero d’Avola are the heroes in the Unico Zelo portfolio, the Carters’ success down to them flipping the narrative around from ‘what can we sell’ to ‘what can we make and then educate the market to enjoy’.

It’s all down to logic, says Brendan. When considering grape varieties suitable for the Riverland that means ones with great natural acidity that can deal with heat and less water, with the fruit picked when it has reached the right pH rather than the right sugar level.

‘Australia is a big place; we can’t all make great Shiraz,’ he states.

‘It also doesn’t add up stylistically: 75% of wine produced in Australia is red yet 78% of wine consumed is white. That means most of the wine that’s made in Australia is not made for Australians. Can you imagine that happening in France?’

Farming sustainably

While organics are still in the minority in the Riverland, the low risk of disease and pest pressure does lend itself to the practice.

Jenny and Eric Semmler of 919 Wines have farmed organically since purchasing their property in 2002. They met while studying winemaking and fell in love over a shared passion for fortified wines, which was the deciding factor in which varieties to plant – largely Spanish and Portuguese.

‘We look after the soil because we know that healthy soil is vital for farming,’ explains Jenny as we walk through the vineyard. ‘So the cover crop suppresses weeds. It shades the soil in summer, knocking about 15°C or 20°C off the soil temperature.

‘A lot of places around here have bare soil in summer, which is just the worst thing as the vines cook from underneath.’

She stops mid-conversation and looks up, beaming. ‘That’s very special. It’s one of our kites. We’ve had up to 37 bird species here because we encourage biodiversity.’

Great wine is impossible without passionate people, and there’s an evident love of the Riverland by those that make wine here. And like Ratcliff at Ricca Terra, the Semmer’s love extends to saving the region’s old vines.

The couple managed to gather up Palomino cuttings the day the vineyard supplying them with fruit was pulled out. ‘Suddenly, we became custodians of one of the very last remaining patches of this grape variety in Australia,’ recounts Jenny.

It was a passion project; their solera-crafted Pale Dry Apera made from those grapes had never been financially viable – that is until it won a major award in 2011. Jenny tears up. ‘I still get the shakes when I talk about it. We’re just this tiny little producer.’

Taking Riverland to the world

In addition to a growing presence throughout Australia, the export market has been a key driver in the premiumisation of the Riverland.

Unico Zelo and Ricca Terra have importers in major markets such as the UK and US, as do wineries that champion Riverland fruit, such as Thistledown, founded by British Masters of Wine Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan.

Another distinctive Riverland label on international shelves is that of Delinquente Wine Co, made by Con-Greg Grigoriou. A fourth-generation wine grower, born and raised in the Riverland, Grigoriou says he has seen a considerable shift in the region since he started making wine in 2014.

He was initially drawn to crafting Riverland wine in a style that he enjoyed drinking: ‘lighter, fresher and alive’. And It was clear early on that consumers were looking for this style too.

‘It’s allowed us to grow and assist with controlling the Riverland narrative through being able to tell our story,’ Grigoriou explains. ‘Commercially, the wines offer incredible quality and value for money at an appealing price point.

‘We’ve been able to grow the export side of the business through just fielding inquiries. I also think there’s a lot of interest the Riverland because it is, for all intents and purposes, new for people.’

Brendan Carter of Unico Zelo agrees. ‘The Riverland is one of the most fascinating places to make wine. What’s more new and interesting than crafting wine in the most sustainable way from what is the hottest, most unsustainable place in Australia to do it!’

Riverland: the facts

Area under vine 22,032ha from a total GI of 4,105 km2

Producers About 30 wineries and more than 1,000 grape growers

Altitude 0-99m

Rainfall 148mm

Soils Varied over a region of this size. The river valley has of loams and clays from the flood plain of the Murray River. Higher ground is slightly undulating Mallee landscape, with windblown sands over layers of lime and clay.

Climate Continental; this is semi-arid inland Australia. Long sunshine hours and little humidity mean low disease pressure.

Grape varieties There are more than 85 planted, but the main ones are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay and Shiraz plus white and red Iberian, Italian and other Mediterranean alternative varieties.

Rise of the Riverland: 15 top wines to try

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The Penfolds Collection 2023 includes 25 new releases, retaining a strong international focus, with wines sourced from three countries in two hemispheres.

Last year’s rumours of a Chinese wine launching this July were founded, although with limited quantities of the wine – Chinese Penfolds Winemaking Trial 521 Cabernet Sauvignon Marselan 2021 – produced, it will not be available in the UK/Europe initially and was therefore not included with the other new releases tasted for this article.

At an exclusive preview launch in Melbourne on 21 June and then in London six days later, Penfolds’ chief winemaker Peter Gago presented an expanded suite of five wines featuring California grapes and two experimental blends with Bordeaux fruit.

Scroll down for Tina Gellie’s tasting notes and scores of the 25 wines in The Penfolds Collection 2023

It represents a powerful positioning statement that underlines Penfolds’ expansive global winemaking view.

‘These wines show that the Penfolds house style can be consistent across many viticultural regions around the world,’ said Gago at the Melbourne preview tasting. ‘When people try these wines, we want them to think immediately of Penfolds, but we also want them to recognise that they are significantly different.’

The third vintage release of Penfolds’ California wines has seen noticeable tweaks and refinements. The 2020 vintages of the Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon and Bin 704 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon are more seamlessly bound, while the 2020 Bin 600 Cabernet-Shiraz blend has a much warmer mid-palate embrace. The ambitious ‘Wine of the World’ blends – 2019 Quantum and 2020 Bin 149, fusing Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley and South Australia – are surprisingly lifted yet remain powerfully structured.

There are greater curiosities among the French duo. Penfolds II is a multi-vintage meld of Bordeaux Merlot (sourced from Dourthe vineyards) with South Australian Cabernet Sauvignon, while the 2020 FWT 585 is Gago’s vision of a Bordeaux blend, using Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and Merlot sourced in Bordeaux but shaped with a familiar Penfolds tannin profile and matured in a mix of French and American oak.

Outside the Collection, Penfolds also has a collaboration with Champagne house Thienot, and attendees at the London preview tasting were treated to the new 2013 vintages of the Blanc de Blancs and Blanc de Noirs (released in February earlier this year). Preview tastings were also held in Bordeaux, California and, for the first time in three years, China.

Classic Australian releases

True gems were found among classic Australian releases from noble varieties. This included an exemplary 2021 Yattarna Chardonnay and a highly approachable 2019 Grange Shiraz. But it was the Cabernet Sauvignons that stood out: a supremely elegant 2021 Bin 169 from Coonawarra and the 2021 Bin 407 multi-region Cabernet which punches well above its weight compared to big brother Bin 707 (also impressive), and is arguably the best buy of this year’s range.

Aware that the 2019 Grange follows gushing accolades for the acclaimed 2018, Gago presented the new release alongside three decades of other ‘9 vintages’ – the 1989, 1999 and 2009 – which had each been overshadowed by dominant prior vintages. On tasting the magnificent 1999 Grange, it certainly suggests that the quality of the handsome 2019 vintage will endure.

‘Nothing stands still,’ says Gago, so yet again Penfolds has spread its wings with a new addition to the already sizeable portfolio, as well as making significant adjustments to several existing Bin Series wines.

A new style of Grenache – Bin 21 – was introduced for the first time, so called because it marks 21 years since Penfolds released its first Cellar Reserve Barossa Grenache. The new wine is significantly different in style, with haughty tannins framing a concentrated fruit profile.

The source region for Bin 23 Pinot Noir has moved from the Adelaide Hills to Tasmania, with the resulting wine shifting from a blocky, dry red palate to a more slender, nuanced style. Also notable is the vibrant 2021 Magill Estate Shiraz, revitalised thanks in part to the Magill Estate vineyard being partly grubbed in 1996 and replanted with superior heritage vines from Penfolds sites.

The Penfolds Collection 2023 wines will be released globally on Thursday, 3 August.

The new Penfolds Chinese wine, Trial 521, combines Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from Shangri-La in Yunnan Province and Marselan grapes from Ningxia region. The initial release, later this month (July 2023), will be small and have limited distribution.

The Penfolds Collection 2023: Tina Gellie’s assessment of Grange 2019 and 24 others

Wines are listed in score order white then red by country; Australia, California, Wines of the World then Bordeaux

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This year marks 15 years since photographer Dragan Radocaj first visited the Barossa in South Australia. Initially a landscape specialist unfamiliar with wine, his powerful images have come to speak volumes about the vineyards, people and wines of this famous region. 

‘Marketing geniuses are always coming up with ideas to sell wines, but photographs are the way to get to the centre of the wine story. My photographs make the connection between the vines, the landscape, the people and the process of making wine.

‘I look long and hard, from every possible angle, to see what’s special about a vineyard. Once I’ve found the perfect angle, I’ll keep shooting again and again to capture all of its personality. I’ve done this for Rockford, Seppeltsfield, Henschke and a year-long photographic essay on Langmeil Winery’s The Freedom vines from 1843.

‘Old vines look like sculptures. After years spent revisiting them, I’ve come to treat them like peers, like friends. I give them respect.

‘At Henschke’s Hill of Grace vineyard, I had taken photographs of one particularly striking Grandfather vine captured over three different seasons. When I went back to photograph it to complete the seasonal story, I couldn’t find the right vine, even though I was so familiar with it. Then I realised one of its brittle arms had broken off. It made me so sad, so deeply upset. Like seeing a friend who has lost a part of their body.

‘In lots of shots I’ve taken, the vineyards don’t look the same anymore. My images are important historical documents about their life and journey.

‘I came to wine photography as an outsider, so I look at everything from a fresh perspective. I was completely swept away by the incredible canvas of colours: the vineyards, the mountains, the ferments, the grapes in the basket press. I was like a kid in a chocolate factory, shooting photographs every single day. I was living with my wife by the beach in Adelaide and travelling up to the Barossa. Eventually she said we’ve got to move, so in 2010 we bought a house in Tanunda.

‘I’ve found so much support in the Barossa. The people are very welcoming. And I’m familiar with this, because I grew up in a village of only 1,500 people in the former Yugoslavia. I was born in Sydney, but sent to live with my grandparents in the old country. I came back to Sydney when I was 23 and I didn’t speak any English. I had to start again.

‘I actually made three short films before I moved to Adelaide and started studying photography full time. I graduated in 2008. I was mentored by master photographer Andrew Dunbar and, through his introduction, my first client was Langmeil. It was the first time I’d ever been in the Barossa. I didn’t even drink much wine then – but that has changed!

‘I’ve been commissioned to shoot images of other wine regions too: McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley, Langhorne Creek… But the Barossa is home, and even after all these years I don’t feel I’ve exhausted all my photography options here. I keep going back to my favourite sites, because I’m drawn to the light. It’s an urge I can’t resist. I’ve literally taken thousands of images in the same framing.

‘Whenever I need to relax, I take photos. When the moment is just perfect, adrenaline kicks in. I almost stop breathing when the perfect shot happens. It’s an incredible experience.

‘I don’t really like big blue skies. I like the drama of storms – the way light pokes through the grey clouds, lightning storms, dust storms, the rainbows at the end. That’s where the magic is. That’s why I’ll stand out in the vineyard and wait hours for the right moment. When people see these images, they feel emotion.

‘In 2019, I had the incredible honour of being named a Baron of the Barossa. I’ve never entered any photographic competitions, so this is the only award I’ve ever won.’

‘Seppeltsfield had me on a retainer for several years to photograph the property, and I started using the kitchen of the old Seppelt family homestead during Covid-19. Now Seppeltsfield has allowed me to use this as a gallery to exhibit and sell my fine art prints.

‘Because I’m now concentrating on fine art photography, I’m always out exploring the landscapes. I like to travel the backroads. I’ve travelled all my life and that’s where I like to be. You never know what’s around the next corner, and I’m very happy there.’

For more images, visit www.draganfineartgallery.com or visit the studio at 730 Seppeltsfield Rd, Barossa Valley, South Australia 5355.

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Sydney-based TV personality and MasterChef judge Melissa Leong hosted the event at Langton’s, Australia’s leading fine wine auction house.

A total of 250 bidders raised their paddles during the auction, which showcased 34 exceptional lots of rare bottlings from the Barossa.

A bottle of Penfolds Block 42 Kalimna Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 Imperial led the charge, as it fetched A$40,120.

It fell short of the record set in 2021 by a bottle of Penfolds Grange 1951, which fetched A$142,131 at the Langton’s Penfolds Rewards of Patience sale, but it helped drive the total achieved on the night to A$294,882.

The prices include an 18% buyer’s premium on the hammer price, which includes general sales tax.

Fine wines from elite producers such as Henschke and Rockford also contributed to the strong overall performance.

Many of the wines were sold in large formats. Tamara Grishy, managing director at Langton’s, said they are popular with collectors, as they are rare, they come direct from the wineries and they last a long time.

All funds raised will go to The Barossa Australia Well-Being Fund, a foundation that provides the wine region with mental health support.

‘The thirst for Barossan wine, traditional and contemporary, manifests as buoyant sales well exceeding the reserve prices for almost every lot,’ said Ned Goodwin, a London-born Master of Wine, who works on content, education and events for Langton’s.

The company specialises in auctioning exclusive, limited and rare fine wine. Langton’s reported that the secondary market for Barossa Valley wines in Australia has reached unprecedented strength, supporting trends of greater investments in higher-priced wines.

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Kevin Glastonbury, the senior red winemaker for Yalumba, Australia’s oldest family-owned winery, founded in 1849, is in London this week for a trio of premium releases.

And while Glastonbury crafts all three of the wines – which Decanter has exclusively tasted ahead of their UK launches – one is particularly personal this vintage.

Scroll down for Decanter‘s exclusive first taste of Yalumba’s The Caley 2018, The Octavius 2018 and The Signature 2019

Released globally on 1 June for AU$365 (£195), and being shown to UK media for the first time on Tuesday 6 June, Glastonbury will present the latest vintage of its elite blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, The Caley 2018.

Meanwhile, Yalumba’s fifth-generation proprietor Robert Hill-Smith announced last week that The Octavius 2018, the premium old-vine Barossa Shiraz, would debut on La Place de Bordeaux in September. Usually priced around £80 a bottle, its oldest surviving vineyards, from 1844 were planted a year before the 1855 Bordeaux Classification.

Finally, and most personally, The Signature – the flagship Cabernet-Shiraz blend that has honoured Yalumba ‘family members’ on its label since 1962 – is dedicated to Glastonbury in 2019. He shares the accolade alongside former chief viticulturalist Robin Nettelbeck who retired in 2022 after a 45-year career at the winery.

The Signature 2019 – a viti-vini union

This 49th vintage is a fitting tribute to Glastonbury, known as the ‘custodian’ of The Signature, having made the blend since joining Yalumba 24 years ago.

‘I hope my custodianship will be remembered as an era of refinement and great style,’ Glastonbury said. ‘Over the years I have watched Signatories accept their honour, teary and humbled – it puts what I do into perspective.

‘It’s so much more than just a wine,’ he added. ‘To receive this honour makes it worth the effort you put in.’

Glastonbury, known as KG, started at Yalumba 22 years after Nettelbeck, a fourth-generation Barossa grape grower who joined in 1977.

In reflecting on his 45-year tenure, Nettelbeck said his greatest achievement was the initiation, growth and success of the Yalumba Nursery. ‘Through our clonal research and development there has been a seismic shift in grape quality reflected in all our wines.’

Hill-Smith announces the new vintage’s Signatories at Yalumba’s Christmas party. In late November 2022, during a visit to the winery, I was one of the first to taste the newly bottled (but unlabelled) 2019 – well ahead of its Australian release on 14 April and UK launch this week.

Always generous, well-structured and superb value for under £40, The Signature 2019 is a stunner, showing great freshness alongside rich Black Forest gateau-like flavours and supple tannins. A benchmark Aussie red blend, it comprises 52% Barossa Valley Cabernet and Shiraz from both Barossa and Eden Valleys, from vines 45 to 100 years old.

The Caley 2018: the best yet?

Australian wine critics such as Huon Hooke, the joint Regional Chair for Australia at the Decanter World Wine Awards, and David Sly, who writes on South Australia for Decanter, were among the first to taste The Caley 2018 at a preview tasting on 4 April, before its release on 1 June.

Yalumba’s icon wine (AU$365/£195) is only in its sixth vintage and Hooke regards it as the best yet, surpassing – in descending order – the 2015, 2016, 2012, 2014 and 2013.

Only released in exceptional vintages, and with almost two years of bottle age, there was no 2017, and will be no 2020 either, with Glastonbury undecided on the 2021.

He describes the 2018 as a ‘strong, vibrant vintage’ showing ‘beautifully defined aromatics, richness and concentration’.

In Sly’s note on the 2018, he says the highlight of this blend of 80% Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon and 20% Eden Valley Shiraz is its ‘comforting savoury notes that envelop the mid-palate and keep descending through its densely layered structure’.

The Caley is named after Fred Caley Smith, grandson of Yalumba’s founder Samuel Smith. The bottle label of each vintage highlights a leg of a cross-continental research trip he took, the 2018 vintage commemorating his time in Portugal in March 1894.

The Octavius 2018 joins La Place

Announcing the forthcoming September debut of The Octavius 2018 on La Place, Bordeaux’s fine wine marketplace, Hill-Smith said this ‘uniquely Yalumba and uniquely Australian’ old-vine Shiraz represented the best of what the Barossa had to offer.

On tasting the 2018 for Decanter at an exclusive Australian preview tasting in April, Sly found it had ‘dialled down the aggression’ of previous vintages, however still ‘celebrates the muscle of 100-year-old Barossa Shiraz’ just in a more elegant package, helped by cooler, higher-altitude Eden Valley fruit in the blend and less strident oak.

Based on some of Australia’s oldest surviving vineyards, dating to 1854, The Octavius (first made in 1988 with recent vintages releasing at £80) was originally aged in Yalumba-coopered octaves, the small 100-litre barrels imparting a strong oak influence on the wine.

Today the wine matures in new and seasoned barrels of various sizes, from octaves to 300-litre hogsheads, to ensure the old-vine fruit complexity and Barossa terroir shines through.

First taste: Yalumba premium red releases

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Justin Knock MW, Tina Gellie and Roger Jones tasted 68 wines with 11 Outstanding and 34 Highly recommended.

Barossa Shiraz: Panel tasting scores

68 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 11

Highly recommended 34

Recommended 22

Commended 0

Fair 1

Poor 0

Entry criteria: producers and UK agents were invited to submit their still, minimum 85% Shiraz reds sourced 100% from Barossa, Barossa Valley, Eden Valley or High Eden, in pairs comprising a current release and a mature vintage, 2015 or older, of the same wine/cuvée.

The Barossa is a special place for Shiraz. At its best, few regions come close (with any grape variety) in matching the fruit quality, layers of complex flavours, depth and richness of tannin – and in such a wide range of stylistic interpretations. Regardless of price or ambition, the majority of Barossa Shirazes age and mature beautifully, holding their fruit depth for many years as they evolve into the equivalent of a much- loved, supple leather recliner.

So it was somewhat surprising that finding producers, or their UK importers, with both a young and more mature vintage of the same Shiraz cuvée proved so challenging. Our request, canvassed widely over several months, was not for commercially available quantities of one or both wines, but simply a pair of bottles (restricted to one pair per producer): the first being the current release, the other a vintage from 2015 or older. While the 34 pairs entered certainly gave a great overview, we expected far more submissions.

Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores from the Barossa Shiraz panel tasting

It’s an axiom of our trade that the concept of ‘fine wine’ is underpinned by the ability to improve with age. Barossa Shiraz is ‘fine’ by this definition alone, but finding mature examples in the UK is beyond difficult. The UK’s top restaurants love the classic regions of Europe partly because mature stocks are so readily accessible. Should Barossa Shiraz and other Australian fine wine wish to seriously appear on the same lists, then older vintages need to be more widely available.

British consumers and the wine trade still love the boldness of Barossa Shiraz, and there is a loyal fan base on these shores that appreciates the hedonistic pleasure it can bring. We saw a range of styles perform well in this tasting, from those that we may today call ‘traditional’ – that is, riper fruit and more overt use of (deeply integrated) oak – to wines which show that the Barossa is more assuredly moving in the direction of simpler winemaking, alluding to more reductive handling at times, and which allows the wonderful purity of fruit to shine brightly.

‘I’ve always known Australian Shiraz as the best-value wine in the world,’ said Roger Jones. ‘With age it’s absolutely stunning, and so it proved in our tasting. Two decades of ageing should be no problem for top Barossa Shiraz. Even if you buy the cheaper wines from the big names and age them for five years, the benefit you’ll get is incredible.’

See all 68 wines from the Barossa Shiraz panel tasting

The older vintages we tasted covered a range of different conditions: the challenging heat of years like 2008, 2013 and to some extent 2016, to the more balanced but richer vintages such as 2004, 2010 and 2015. ‘The fact that only two of the top 11 wines in the tasting were from younger vintages demonstrates how seductive well-aged Barossa Shiraz can be,’ said Decanter’s Tina Gellie. ‘The regions’ wines are beloved by many for their opulent drinking in youth, but fans should resist drinking these latest releases and lay a few bottles down. With the right storage conditions, they can be cellared with confidence.’

Sadly not all the wines showed well, and the major problems of the weaker wines were often aligned to over-extraction, drying tannins and tired fruit. I would also add that the older bottles blossomed early in our glasses, so don’t linger over the decanter – enjoy them swiftly after opening.

Barossa Shiraz panel tasting scores

The judges

Justin Knock MW is director of wine for luxury wine merchant Oeno Group, overseeing its buying, marketing, trade and retail activities, and he is one of two DWWA joint Regional Chairs for Australia.

Tina Gellie is Decanter’s Content Manager and Regional Editor for Australia as well as several other New World countries. She grew up in Australia, ultimately working at The Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide from 1996 to 2001, where she first developed her love for South Australian wines.

Roger Jones is the retired former owner of The Harrow at Little Bedwyn restaurant in Wiltshire. He is now a wine writer, judge and consultant with a particular interest in the hospitality trade, as well as helping charities. He is a DWWA judge, with a focus on New World regions.

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The new venture comprises a suite of tasting spaces over two levels, attached to a large temperature-controlled, 40,000 wine bottle storage facility. It provides elevated views of the vineyard, into a showroom featuring dramatically illuminated ceramic and oak wine storage vessels, and – via a gantry – into the adjacent winery to observe fermentation vessels and experience aromas during vintage.

The installation of a large biodynamic flow form along the new building’s entrance wall underlines Yangarra’s biodynamic farming principals, while a contour map and vineyard layout overlaid as a decal along a vast glass interior wall explains the winery’s focus on single block wines.

‘It all speaks of our winemaking story, from the vineyard to the completed wine,’ explained Yangarra winemaker and general manager Peter Fraser, ahead of the new tasting room’s public launch on 19 May. ‘We are presenting an environment where tasters can pick up on visual cues about how and where our wines are made, to stimulate larger conversations about our wines.’

With stone tabletops, rich timbers including spotted gum ceiling batons and walnut stools, and artisan hand-thrown crockery made by South Australia’s JamFactory, the rugged materials and earthy colour palate chosen by Georgie Shepherd Interior Design echoes the natural environment and Yangarra’s sustainability policy.

Yangarra has expanded its tutored tastings – previously available at a small cottage on the Yangarra property – to now accommodate 70 tasters, with outdoor seating for a further 30 guests.

The Estate tasting (A$15) offers six Yangarra Estate wines and the Single Block tasting (A$30) provides six examples of current and back-vintage wines from single vineyard blocks. To underline Yangarra’s primary strength, the Expressions of Grenache tasting (A$20) presents six of the estate’s Grenache wines, from Grenache Blanc and rosé to the single site Ovitelli, but excluding High Sands Grenache, which is part of a separate A$200 tasting experience including a vineyard tour and flight of High Sands vintages.

Daily bookings for 90-minute tutored tasting sessions include a tasting plate with some cheese, local olives and cured meat. Guests can also remain to enjoy further wines by the glass or bottle at indoor or outdoor table settings.

Beyond the focus of Yangarra wines presented in the upper-level tasting room, The Hickinbotham Room, a handsome contained boardroom-like lounge on the new building’s lower level, is dedicated to exclusive tasting for up to six people of wines from Hickinbotham Estate Vineyards, also owned by Jackson Family Wines but maintained as a separate estate brand.

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Henschke is releasing the new vintage of its five single-site Eden Valley wines together for the first time on 3 May, in celebration of a series of anniversaries.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the Henschke 2018 releases

The 2018 Hill of Grace marks 60 years since fourth-generation winemaker Cyril Henschke first created what was to become Australia’s most famous single-vineyard Shiraz.

And the wine named in his honour, the Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon, celebrates the 40th anniversary of its first vintage.

The 66th release of Mount Edelstone Shiraz, arguably Australia’s longest consecutively produced single-vineyard wine, the 15th release of Hill of Roses, a mass selection from 1860-planted Hill of Grace vines, and the fourth release of The Wheelwright, whose vines were 50 years old in 2018, make up the Eden Valley single-site reds.

Henschke released Keyneton Euphonium 2018, a Shiraz-Cabernet blend from Eden Valley and Barossa Valley fruit last year.

Fifth-generation winemaker Stephen Henschke and his viticulturalist wife Prue described the 2018 vintage as ‘a standout of the decade’ – a fitting year to mark the 150th anniversary of Henschke family winemaking.

‘The wines from 2018 have wonderful complexity, richness, depth and balance, an expressive sense of place, and fine and mature tannins,’ explained Stephen. ‘They are comparable to exceptional-quality vintages such as 1982, 1990, 2002 and 2010, all from mild seasons that have shown excellent ageing potential in ideal cellaring conditions.’

2018: an exceptional vintage

It’s the fourth vintage in a row the Henschkes have rated ‘exceptional’. During a video call with them, Prue said that while the ripening period leading up to the harvest between 21 March and 14 April was ideal, conditions leading up to that were ‘bizarre’, ‘bamboozling’ and ‘a real climate change scenario’: rain, frost and hail, then very hot weather in mid-January followed by more rain in February which led to cool conditions for veraison.

‘I think that’s why the wines look really well balanced because the vines didn’t have to go through extremes of weather during ripening,’ she said.

In terms of grape maturity on the vine, Stephen felt that 2018 was a ‘picture-book season’ giving ‘beautiful, perfumed, fragrant, complex red wines that are elegant, as Eden Valley always is, but with bright fruit flavours and a lovely plushness alongside that elegance’.

Another distinguishing feature of the 2018s, he added, was the ‘fine, textural tannins’ which run through all the reds.

‘But the thing that Prue and I have attempted to achieve is a sense of place in each of our wines. So the wine speaks of the vineyard, not an oak forest, and you get that beautiful flavour of the unique vineyard site – that you can taste how Wheelwright is different to Mount Edelstone and Hill of Grace and Hill of Roses.’

Tasting the Henschke 2018 wines

That elegance, plushness and texture shines through, not least in the Cyril Henschke Cabernet Sauvignon. Not made in 2017 – ‘we didn’t get the maturity’, said Stephen – the 2018 is a fitting toast to his father, who first planted their Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard in 1969.

‘We have this single vineyard planted to Cabernet, Merlot and Franc on a gentle north-facing slope that acts as a solar panel, so we get lovely maturity in the Cabernet in those warmer years,’ he explained, particularly when combined with the late-ripening season in 2018.

‘We’ll look back in years to come and say: wasn’t 2018 a great vintage? It really is.’

The lightest and most Pinot-esque of the Henschke’s single-site Eden Valley Shirazes is The Wheelwright, named in honour of Stephen’s great-great-grandfather Johann Christian Henschke, founder of the family winery in 1868. Stephen’s father Cyril planted the vineyard in 1968 to celebrate the centenary, so this latest vintage (the fourth release) coincides with the vines turning 50 and the winery’s 150th anniversary.

‘The 2018 has sparked up beautifully,’ quipped Stephen, describing it as the perfect example of the fragrant, red-fruited, spicy, floral elegance of the southern Eden Valley.

Mount Edelstone in 2018 is superb. Typically modest, he said he was ‘really fond of it’, later admitting it is ‘one of our greatest examples of Mount Edelstone’.

First bottled by Stephen’s father Cyril in 1952 from a vineyard now 111 years old, 66 vintages have been released, making it arguably Australia’s oldest consistently produced single-vineyard wine.

‘The flavours really build on the palate,’ Stephen said of the 2018, ‘rolling across it and going forever. It’s a definitive Shiraz for Australia, but particularly Eden Valley because of the distinctive black pepper, sage and blackberry flavours.’

Hill of Grace and Hill of Roses

Always exciting is the chance to taste Australia’s most iconic single-vineyard Shiraz, Hill of Grace, alongside Hill of Roses, made from a mass selection of the original 1860-planted Grandfathers vines.

Prue planted this nursery block in 1989 for eventual inclusion into Hill of Grace. While the concentration is not there yet, its character became unique enough at 12 years old for it to be first bottled as a single-vineyard wine in 2001.

‘We’ve done some verticals to see how flavours of Hill of Grace and Hill of Roses are approaching each other. As the vines are getting older we’re starting to see more similarities,’ said Stephen.

‘But at 29 years old in 2018, it is still young for us,’ he adds. ‘So it’s not there yet but getting closer all the time. Not everybody has 30-year-old vines to compare to 150-year-old vines, so it has been a really interesting exercise to see how they change and when young vines really do become old vines.’

While Hill of Roses has a red raspberry, beetroot and candied prettiness to it, Hill of Grace exudes an exotic, earthy, spicy allure. It’s hugely complex, with concentrated deep, dark fruits and what Stephen highlights as ‘root vegetables’.

While these reds from Barossa old vines (35 years or more), Survivor vines (70+), Centenarian vines (100+) and Ancestor vines (125+) will age superbly for decades yet, Stephen recommends that people not only decant them, but taste them over several days.

‘After two, three, four days you get a completely new story every time you taste. It’s amazing how old-vine Barossa Shiraz can do that.’

Henschke 2018 single-vineyard wines plus other new releases

The 2018 vintages of Hill of Grace, Hill of Roses, Mount Edelstone, The Wheelwright and Cyril Henschke are available from the Henschke cellar door and website (henschke.com.au), in the UK via importer Liberty Wines and in the US via Winebow from Wednesday 3 May 2023.

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Marco Cirillo tends the world’s oldest surviving Grenache and Semillon vines. Planted in 1848 on their own rootstocks in the Light Pass parish of South Australia’s Barossa Valley and growing enough fruit to produce single-vineyard wines, these living relics hold far more than just historical value.

‘These vines aren’t good because they are old,’ says Cirillo. ‘They are old because they are so exceptionally good.’

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of 10 wines showcasing Australia’s oldest vines

While it might be surprising to some, Australia has many of the world’s oldest wine grape vines – classic varieties sourced from France before the ravages of phylloxera in the 1880s. These ancient plantings now produce a raft of exclusive, distinctive wines, with a character quite separate to more youthful counterparts.

Australia’s ancient vine story mirrors the origins of its wine industry, when grapes planted by settlers from the 1840s as part of mixed farm plots, thrived and became a valuable trading commodity. These initial plantings formed the backbone of a robust fortified wine industry for more than 100 years, until a canny new generation of winemakers in the mid 1980s treated exceptional old-vine parcels separately to produce unique table wines.

The shift was led by Robert O’Callaghan’s Rockford Basket Press Shiraz and Bob McLean promoting St Hallett Old Block Shiraz – both harvested from a collection of privately owned Barossa heritage vineyards. The acclaim and demand for these wines saved many plots from being grubbed up to make way for housing developments.

‘We were the first to acknowledge that these old Shiraz vineyards were a rare and valuable resource in the Barossa – something that we should protect,’ says O’Callaghan. ‘There was definitely a distinctiveness about the wines that came from them.’

Age, not terroir, is the magic ingredient

Richard Lindner, co-owner at Langmeil, discovered through the 1843 edition of the The Royal South Australian Almanac that a patch of gnarly vines within a derelict Tanunda vineyard Langmeil purchased in 1996 contained the world’s oldest surviving Shiraz, planted in 1843.

Winemaker Paul Lindner noticed that grapes from this 1.5ha section had unusual concentration and length. Since 1997, he has harvested one tonne of fruit annually to produce 250 dozen bottles of The Freedom 1843 Shiraz. ‘Taste it and you know immediately it has unique depth and complexity,’ he says. ‘The flavours have power, but it’s more the balance between the acidity, fruit and tannins that makes it so outstanding.’

The magic ingredient is vine age not terroir. He knows this, as less distinctive neighbouring vines lie in the same deep loam and red clay soils over a bedrock of limestone, ironstone and bluestone.

The Lindner family say they’re custodians of these ancient vines and take their role as cultural historians seriously. ‘We know the Freedom vines tell a story about Australian wine that is so much older than most of the world realises,’ says James Lindner, Langmeil’s sales and marketing director.

‘Caring for this vineyard is a continual restoration program. The vines are fragile, and we take great care, especially when pruning. We’re determined to preserve them for the future.’

The Freedom 1843 Shiraz now features a gold banner on its label announcing its more than 125-year vine age. Its success prompted Langmeil to release a Pure Eden Shiraz from 1890s vines in Eden Valley’s Wattle Brae Vineyard. This year Langmeil launched The Lineage, a AU$300 limited release from its two ancient vineyards at Tanunda and Eden Valley.

World’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 1888 on four hectares of Block 42 at Kalimna in the Barossa Valley are a crowning glory of Penfolds’ vineyard assets. Penfolds purchased the vineyard in 1945, and winemaker Max Schubert noted the fruit’s intense flavours and rich mineral profile. He included some in early Grange vintages and now it is an important component of Bin 707.

Low yields mean Penfolds hasn’t produced many single-vineyard Block 42 wines, but the 2004 Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon Ampoule is among the winery’s most elite releases – 12 hand-blown glass vessels filled with the wine, each priced at AU$168,000.

‘To fill the ampoule with a great vintage from the world’s oldest Cabernet Sauvignon vines is something absolutely unique that only we could do,’ says Penfolds chief winemaker Peter Gago. ‘It makes a spectacular statement about Australian wine.’

Comparisons with South Africa

Promotion of Australia’s ancient vine treasures is piecemeal – far removed from the clear focus of South Africa’s Old Vine Project, spearheaded by Rosa Kruger, Decanter’s 2022 Hall of Fame recipient. The project has 130 members and works cohesively as a sector. It identifies Certified Heritage Vines, supports growers by linking vine age to grape prices, drives heritage vine tourism bookings and promotes the release of 250 certified heritage wines a year. Producers also share their knowledge through the Old Vine Academy, offering specialised pruning courses.

James Lindner is critical that more Australian wineries have not followed Langmeil’s lead to trumpet the virtues of ancient vines. ‘We’re too often defending what we do rather than asserting the best of what we have,’ he says

To improve the clarity and honesty of identifying mature vine sources on Australian wine labels, Yalumba drafted the Barossa Old Vine Charter in 2007. Working with grape and wine biodiversity experts Vine Health Australia, the charter classifies Old Vines as 35 years or older; Survivor Vines at least 70 years old; Centenarian Vines at least 100 years old; and Ancestor Vines at 125 years old or more.

Yalumba chief winemaker Louisa Rose says recognising ancestor vines is especially significant. They contain genetic material that helped populate the region with cuttings that underpin viticultural tradition.

‘As vines age, the fruit produces a deeper, richer colour and a different tannin profile. I can’t explain it but can certainly recognise it,’ Rose says. ‘These fully mature vines have a deep root structure that draws out greater diversity of flavour and character. They deserve special recognition.’

Bottling 150-year-old Sauvignon Blanc

Australia’s greatest ancient vine surprise is 1870s Sauvignon Blanc, planted on two blocks in McLaren Vale’s Tintara region, originally tended by pioneer winemaker Thomas Hardy and still owned by branches of the Hardy family. This Sauvignon Blanc has provided an unheralded component of Hardys fortified wines.

‘Because these grapes ripen early and have pronounced natural sweetness, they’re perfect for fortified,’ says retired fortified winemaker Bill Hardy. The fifth-generation descendent of founder Thomas Hardy adds that Hardys seemed to be ‘the only winery in Australia that worked with Sauvignon Blanc in the early years’. Today, this fruit remains a component of Hardys Rare Liqueur Sauvignon Blanc. ‘You can taste the heritage in every mouthful,’ says Hardy.

Old vine assets

The volume of Barossa Shiraz that sits within these classifications is significant. In 2017, Vinehealth Australia reported 12.54ha of Ancestor Vines, 100.62ha of Centenarian Vines, 88.48ha of Survivor Vines and 589.06ha of Old Vines, collectively representing almost 10% of the region’s Shiraz.

The charter was forwarded to the Barossa Grape & Wine Association in 2009, broadening industry-wide recognition of the four-tier classification, which helped shine a light on all rare vine assets.

A significant beneficiary is Dean Hewitson, whose Old Garden vineyard at Rowland Flat has the world’s oldest surviving Mourvèdre, planted in 1853. ‘Just calling these old vines doesn’t say enough,’ he says. ‘That’s a term bandied about too much, and these ancient vines need more distinctive explanation.’

Long used as a high-cropped blender, Mourvèdre deserves recognition as an elite stand-alone red wine variety, believes Hewitson. He also wants the value of these rare old-vine assets reflected in high wine prices. ‘Before I bought this vineyard in 1998, the fruit went into Orlando’s cheap sparkling wine, Carrington Blush,’ he says. Now his Old Garden Mourvèdre sells for $90 a bottle. His flagship is Hewitson Barrel 1853 ($450) – a blend of Monopole Shiraz and Old Garden Mourvèdre, both planted in 1853.

‘The great gift that these ancient vines give is absolute consistency,’ says Hewitson. ‘Regardless of vintage conditions, you know the flavour profile you’ll be getting from these sturdy survivors.’

Marketing quality

Cirillo is also assertively marketing its ancient vine resources. The family knew the Light Pass vineyard it purchased in 1969 had reliable and renowned old vines, and initially sold their Grenache fruit to Rockford and Torbreck wineries, and Semillon to Peter Lehmann Wines.

It was only after Marco Cirillo’s discovery that the vines dated from 1848 that he kept the fruit for himself. He made the first Cirillo 1850 Grenache in 2003. ‘Another wine company had already trademarked 1848 for its Shiraz, so we used the more general 1850 on our label to avoid complications,’ he explains. ‘But we knew we had to identify the vine age on the label to draw attention to its unquestionable quality.’

Old vines in Victoria and New South Wales

The Rutherglen appellation in northern Victoria has old vine history that echoes the Barossa’s. Vines arrived during the region’s gold rush during the 1850s, and wineries including All Saints, Morris, John Gehrig and Chambers Rosewood were operating by the time gold mining subsided, producing mostly fortified wines – a tradition that continues today. Notable ancient vines are also in Victoria’s central Nagambie Lakes district, where Tahbilk boasts Shiraz planted in 1860 and Marsanne planted in 1927, which is part of the world’s largest single Marsanne plot, at 40.5ha.

In New South Wales, the Hunter Valley has 11 vineyards with vines of 100 years or more on their own roots – and the Tyrrell family owns seven. Tyrrell’s Sacred Sites label highlights six century-old blocks across four vineyards: Shiraz from 1879 off the 4 Acres Vineyard; Semillon and Shiraz planted in 1908 from Johnno’s Vineyard; the world’s oldest Chardonnay vines planted in 1908 at the HVD Vineyard; and the 3.3ha Old Patch of Shiraz planted in 1867 within the Old Hillside vineyard – the region’s oldest producing vines.

Ancient Australia: oldest vines and 10 wines to try

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There’s definitely something about lazing in the lap of luxury that makes savouring an elegant Grenache even more delicious… I’m surrounded by vines that wind up and over hills, watching them catch the glow of a setting sun while nibbling homemade fudge and honey biscuits. It’s a Thing of Beauty – as is my Tscharke Barossa Valley red.

While Shiraz is king in the Barossa Valley, Grenache has always shone in the background – ever since the first settlers brought bush vines from Prussia in the 1830s. The locals like to say: ‘Grenache delivers what Pinot promises.’

My magic moment is one of many I’m enjoying at The Louise, a luxury boutique lodge that makes guests feel comfortable and spoiled. It’s a star in one of Australia’s most famous wine regions.

All around the resort is a rich tapestry of colours and textures – vines that stretch to the horizon past gum-studded pockets of Aussie bushland. To the west, sunsets throw orange and purple into the sky. It’s spectacular from the pool.

Local heroes

The Louise also has impressive neighbours. Just across the road is Tscharke Wines and The Protagonist wine bar, plus Seppeltsfield Road Distillers (for a sneaky G&T).

Torbreck Vintners and David Franz Cellardoor are around the corner. While along palm-lined Seppeltsfield Road, past Two Hands, Izway and Hentley Farm is historic Seppeltsfield.

If it’s a famous Penfolds Grange or Henschke Hill of Grace that has drawn you to the Barossa, they are just minutes away.

A stylish stay

The Louise has had a few facelifts in its time, but nothing as dramatic as its latest transformation. The style is southern European with an earthy touch of Tuscany. Now part of the Baillie Lodges and Luxury Lodges of Australia families, it boasts a calming, understated elegance.

Each of the 15 villa-sized suites here offers a complete escape. They’re helped by three private courtyards, one at the entrance, my happy place facing the vines and an outdoor bathroom.

You’ll notice the attention to detail from the already lit fireplace to a minibar/coffee station stocked with local offerings (included in the price). The Louise also has its own brand of beautiful toiletries – and there’s even a TV in the bathroom.

The staff are impeccable. There’s no ‘falling over you’ – that’s just not Australian. But they will make your stay memorable for all the right reasons.

Food and wine

Dinner in Appellation restaurant is a highlight. Executive chef Asher Blackford features kitchen garden picks in a five-course degustation menu. Dishes can be matched with local wines and are served with stories of the producers.

Kingfish ceviche, tapioca saltbush and kimchi beignet snacks start the delicious journey – with no cutlery, ‘because it forces people to relax and lose the pretence’, says Blackford.

Our first feast includes beetroot-wrapped sheep feta then quail, lamb rump and ricotta with rhubarb and honeycomb.

Wine pairings offer a glimpse of the 40 grape varieties found in the Barossa. Our selection included: O’Leary Walker Hurtle Sparkling Pinot Noir-Chardonnay NV; Yelland & Papps Single Vineyard Roussanne; Cirillo Estate 1850 Ancestor Vine Grenache Rosato; Izway Mates Aglianico; and David Franz Sticky Botrytis Semillon.

Exclusive experiences

One of the most impressive things about The Louise is its connections. Want to taste 100-year-old tawny from Seppeltsfield – the only winery in the world with premium fortified wines set aside every year since 1878?

How about a private underground cellar tasting at Tscharke or Yalumba – Australia’s oldest family-owned winery? 

You can take the St Hugo & Riedel Glass Masterclass, eat breakfast with kangaroos or make your own perfume at Vasse Virgin. Or you can be chauffeured around with Barossa Bespoke Tours.

All you have to do is ask Louise…

For more information visit www.thelouise.com.au

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You’re not going mad. MMAD is an acronym of the first names of the partners behind this McLaren Vale project, started in 2021. And they could not be more reassuring.

Michael Hill Smith MW, Martin Shaw, Adam Wadewitz and David LeMire MW are also behind sister-labels Shaw + Smith, up the road in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, and Tolpuddle Vineyard down in Tasmania.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the three inaugural releases from MMAD Vineyard

And following form, MMAD is another single-vineyard project – but it represents a change of direction, too. It is based in Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale, a warmer region compared to the Adelaide Hills and Tasmania. It is also planted to old vines which, it is thought, were originally for fortified wines.

Acquired in 2021 with the help of Ray Guerin, an award-winning cool-climate viticulturist, the 14ha MMAD vineyard sits in a propitious amphitheatre at 150m to 220m in the higher part of Blewitt Springs. This is in the hillier north of McLaren Vale, exposed to fresh south-westerlies from the Gulf of St Vincent.

Three hectares of bush-vine Grenache, planted in 1939 by Conge Cassetta Snr on deep sand over ironstone and clay, form a relatively flat section on the ridge. Several blocks of Shiraz – some facing east, some west – total about 5ha. The oldest date from 1941. The west-facing Chenin Blanc closer to the top is, like the Shiraz, on deep sand with ironstone nearer the surface. It, too, was first planted by Cassetta and his son in 1964.

MMAD world

While the fine Maslin sandy soils account for Blewitt Springs’ alluring signature fresh aromatics, MMAD vineyard’s ironstone layer sealed the deal for the purchase. The partners believe it brings structure and complexity; it certainly adds a mineral, cut-finger tang to the reds.

They’d first noticed this when buying Grenache in 2015 for The Other Wine Co, another venture. Adam Wadewitz ‘pretty quickly realised there were some terrific sites’, recalls David LeMire MW. A few years later and the partners’ search was on to buy a vineyard.

While Grenache was the siren call, it wasn’t the only attraction. ‘We had been interested in Chenin Blanc for some time,’ said LeMire. ‘ So it definitely made the vineyard more attractive.

‘Chenin has been undervalued by growers, winemakers and consumers, but there have been some terrific wines. Geoff Weaver [chief white winemaker at Hardy’s for 11 of his 16 years] apparently made an excellent wine in 1982 that won a number of trophies.’

Describing the heritage site as ‘new territory for us’, LeMire has been impressed by the ‘effortless concentration that the old vines give’.

Traditionally in McLaren Vale, old-vine concentration borne of low yields together with a warm, dry climate has produced some of Australia’s most heady, opulent reds. But in combining fruit intensity with the freshness and vivacity of Blewitt Springs, MMAD Vineyard joins a growing number of other producers in striking a distinctly contemporary note for McLaren Vale Shiraz and Grenache.

The maiden vintage

Made in the first year of ownership, the maiden releases in the MMAD range share the restraint, clarity, precision and fruit purity seen in the Tolpuddle Vineyard and Shaw + Smith wines. Helped in 2021 by the mild ripening conditions.

Reflecting on 2021, LeMire observed, ‘It was a brilliant season and we went through and picked out the absolute best sections for the MMAD Vineyard wines.’

The three wines impress. They are impeccably made if perhaps a tad careful. Would a modicum more skin contact for the Chenin Blanc (it saw two hours) or whole-bunch ferment for the Grenache (they were mostly destemmed and fermented as whole berries) enhance phenolic texture and grip?

‘We wanted to get to know the vineyard and do less rather than more,’ explained LeMire, adding that all three wines had natural ferments and matured in used 500-litre French oak puncheons.

After the first vintage, they finessed their viticultural regime: pruning for lower yields, shoot thinning for good air circulation and light exposure and working on the soil with compost, straw mulch, and cover crops to increase carbon in the soil.

‘We think we can take the wines to greater heights of quality,’ LeMire says. Judging by the partners’ exceptional work at Tolpuddle Vineyard over the past decade, I would bet on it.

MMAD Vineyard: the inaugural releases

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A scion of the Bollinger family of Champagne and a farm boy from South Australia’s Clare Valley. They might at first seem strange partners but Xavier Bizot (Terre à Terre) and his father-in-law Brian Croser (Tapanappa) could not be more intertwined.

And not only by marriage. Like his late father before him (Christian Bizot, Bollinger’s sixth president), Xavier Bizot established a pioneering vineyard in South Australia’s cooler climes.

Scroll down for latest releases and older vintages from Terre à Terre, Daosa and Tapanappa

Bringing impetus to Croser’s bold pursuit of distinguished sites – first at Petaluma then Tapanappa – the Bizots have helped engineer a new Australian fine wine landscape in both Wrattonbully and Adelaide Hills. One which now also finds expression in Terre à Terre, the label Bizot and wife Lucy Croser established in 2008.

How did these families from opposite sides of the world attract, and how do Tapanappa and Terre à Terre compare?

California dreaming

The meeting of minds between Brian Croser and Christian Bizot drew inspiration from California. It was here Croser studied his masters in viticulture and oenology at UC Davis (and fell in love with Chardonnay). Between 1972 and 1973 he was one of the last to study under such legendary professors as AJ Winkler and Maynard Amerine.

Californian viticulturalists had been using Winkler’s growing degree days system (matching varieties to climate) for some time. It underpinned the state’s nascent but precocious boutique wine industry which, in 1976, famously triumphed over benchmark Burgundy and Bordeaux in the Judgement of Paris.

The Winkler index informed Croser’s ‘belief in the expression of distinguished sites through the choice of suited variety and appropriate planting regimes’. He says this belief ‘has never wavered and has been reinforced continually’ in his 50-year career.

Armed with his ‘golden rule’ for matching Australian sites to Burgundian and Bordelais grapes – ‘close to a metre of rain a year and then a cool climate, at altitude’ – Croser located his first brand, Petaluma, at 450m in the Adelaide Hills’ highest, wettest, coolest point: the Piccadilly Valley.

In 1979, he planted his Tiers Vineyard (‘Adelaide Hills’ first 20th century vineyard’) to Chardonnay at 3,175 vines per hectare. This was revolutionary, compared with Australia’s then typical 1,000-1,500 vines/ha.

Croser was aiming for a style ‘somewhere between Chevalier-Montrachet and California’. In 2003, when he replanted a parcel to Burgundy clones at 4,444 vines/ha, Chevalier-Montrachet ‘my mind’s eye inspiration’.

The French connection

When Croser visited Champagne in 1984 to find a partner for Petaluma’s ‘Croser’ sparkling wine project, he discovered that Christian Bizot was equally receptive to California’s application of science in pursuit of terroir.

The following year Bollinger not only became Petaluma shareholders, but also partnered with British brewers Whitbread and Tuscany’s Antinori, to plant the pioneering Atlas Peak Vineyard at altitude in the Napa Valley.

In 1995, Bizot acquired a Piccadilly Valley site at 550m for sparkling production. With Croser’s guidance, it was planted at similar density to Tiers, with multiple Chardonnay clones and a small block of Pinot Noir.

Following Petaluma’s takeover by Lion Nathan in 2001, Croser and Bizot founded Tapanappa a year later, cutting in a third partner, the Cazes family of Lynch-Bages in Pauillac.

Rather than planting from scratch (or acquiring a vineyard in Coonawarra, where Petaluma had focused its Bordeaux blend ambitions), Tapanappa acquired the Koppamurra Vineyard in Wrattonbully, renaming it Whalebone Vineyard.

Located on South Australia’s Limestone Coast, Wrattonbully shares Coonawarra’s famously well-drained terra rossa over (older) limestone soil. But Croser observed that Wrattonbully’s cool but less windy conditions ‘bridged St-Emilion and Tain l’Hermitage’.

Being sufficiently maritime to ripen Bordeaux varieties but also continental enough for Shiraz, the Whalebone Vineyard became a seat of ambition for that iconic Australian red blend of Cabernet-Shiraz.

Initially to supply Tapanappa with fruit, Croser also planted the vineyard next to Whalebone in 2004. His daughter Lucy and husband Xavier named it Crayères, and managed it from France for a year before settling in Australia in 2005.

From France to Wrattonbully

Following the 2008 global financial crisis, the young Bizots were faced with a difficult decision, as it became obvious that Tapanappa could not absorb all the harvest from the Crayères Vineyard.

Deciding to take on both management and fruit and make their own wine, the couple founded Terre à Terre.

Xavier’s country of origin may have informed the name of the vineyard and brand, but not the wines. With ‘a fondness’ for Cabernet-Shiraz, the former lawyer says he now feels at ease in his RM Williams boots.

The Bizots vision for Terre à Terre’s Daosa sparkling wines is ‘radically different’ from Champagne or any of Australia’s early-picked Champagne wannabes. ‘Our climate, our sunshine, our soils make fruitier and more approachable wines,’ asserts Xavier, ‘so they are distinctively Australian and all the better for it.’

Sourced exclusively from the Piccadilly Valley vineyard his father planted in 1995 (which Xavier and Lucy now own), Daosa’s full-bodied Blanc de Blancs – a Platinum-winner at the 2020 Decanter World Wine Awards – is testament to the quality.

Terre à Terre’s finely honed, perfumed Wrattonbully reds evoke stereotypical Old World descriptors, versus Tapanappa’s big-boned, densely concentrated, more savoury New World style.

This is particularly evident in Terre à Terre’s Crayères Cabernet Franc, planted from Whalebone cuttings. This might be expected, given Whalebone’s vines are 30 years older and Terre à Terre also uses large-format oak foudres.

While pointing out ‘how elegantly and freshly’ Tapanappa’s Whalebone 2004, 2006 and 2008 Cabernet Francs have aged, Croser nevertheless has ‘absolutely no doubt’ that Crayères’ precocious refinement reflects his higher-density planting regime of 4,444 vines/ha.

It was a regime also implemented at the Tiers Vineyard and Foggy Hill – Croser’s Pinot Noir vineyard in Parawa, the highest point of the Fleurieu Peninsula.

In the family

Spelling out the benefits of high-density planting for ripening in Australia’s cooler climates, Bizot explains it ‘devigorates’ and, by increasing the canopy per hectare, improves fruit spread and sunshine exposure.

Croser forecasts that in 10 years’ time ‘Crayères will be the equivalent of or better than Whalebone, with the same density and same seriousness of tannin, but it will always retain its more floral, juicy fruit element.’

Does it annoy him that Crayères is no longer a Tapanappa vineyard? ‘No,’ he insists. ‘It’s in the family. There are separate ownership structures, but the ambition of everybody is to make a success out of all our assets.’

And it’s not just Croser’s daughter Lucy and husband Xavier who are part of the wider Croser winemaking family. Sam Barlow, the husband of his youngest daughter, Caroline, manages the Tapanappa winery where both labels are made and bottled.

In 2014, the Croser family bought out Bollinger and the Cazes family, taking full ownership of Tapanappa. Reflecting on the ‘immense’ importance of the two families’ roles during his ‘long and mostly lonely battle’ to improve and promote Australian fine wine, Croser describes Christian Bizot and Jean-Michel Cazes as ‘revered mentors’.

Their French perspective gave him confidence to continue on the ‘terroir pathway’ that he discovered as a student in California.

Realising the vision

Despite Croser’s successes, it’s been a rollercoaster ride. ‘Like vines, winemakers mature with time,’ he says wryly.

Reflecting on his vision for Tiers Vineyard Chardonnay all those years ago, Croser says that while he can identify a similar intensity and delicacy of power between Tiers Chardonnay, Chevalier-Montrachet and top California Chardonnay, he has come to appreciate the merits of being ‘totally and joyfully different’.

‘Tiers is an expression of where we are, rather than a copy of somewhere else in the world,’ he says.

The justification for all the ‘hard yards’, says Croser, rests in the family’s desire to be part of the journey. But how his vision will ultimately be achieved he says, ‘will be more and more in Xavier’s capable hands’.

While the pair avidly talk about the potential of new, yet-to-be-discovered distinguished sites in Victoria and Tasmania, Bizot is focusing closer to home, excited by the prospect of working with more mature Piccadilly Valley vineyards, planted by Croser. ‘It’s a privilege,’ he beams.

Terre à Terre: the facts

Owners Xavier Bizot and Lucy Croser

Founded 2008

Winery location Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills

Production 50,000 bottles

Vineyard sources Wrattonbully: Crayères Vineyard – 8ha of Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Shiraz; Piccadilly Valley: Bizot Vineyard – 8ha of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plus five other vineyards totalling 8ha, planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir plus Trousseau Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Mondeuse

Terre à Terre: a timeline

1995/1996 Christian Bizot establishes Bizot Vineyard in Piccadilly, Adelaide Hills, planting Chardonnay for Petaluma’s sparkling Croser label

2004 Xavier and Lucy Bizot manage Crayères Vineyard in Wrattonbully to supply grapes for Tapanappa, planting Sauvignon Blanc (2ha) and Cabernet Sauvignon (3ha)

2005 The pair leave France for Australia, founding fine wine importer Terroir Selections

2008 First release of Terre á Terre’s Crayères Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc; Cabernet Franc (1ha) and Shiraz (1ha) planted in Crayères Vineyard

2009 First releases of Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon and Daosa Blanc de Blancs from Bizot Vineyard

2014 First releases of Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Franc and Shiraz, and Crayères Vineyard Reserve

2016 Xavier and Lucy assume long-term management of five high-altitude, mature Piccadilly Valley vineyards for sparkling production; first vintage of Daosa Natural Réserve

2018 First vintages of Crayères Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon-Shiraz and Cabernet Franc-Shiraz

2020 New higher-density Chardonnay planted in Bizot Vineyard (Tapanappa Tiers block cuttings)

Tapanappa: the facts

Owners Brian and Ann Croser

Founded 2002

Winery location Piccadilly Valley, Adelaide Hills

Production 80,000 bottles

Vineyards sources Wrattonbully: Whalebone Vineyard – 7.5ha of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot; Piccadilly Valley: Tiers Vineyard – 3.53ha of Chardonnay, 6ha of other Chardonnay parcels, 1ha Shiraz (contracted); Fleurieu Peninsula: Foggy Hill Vineyard – 6ha of Pinot Noir

Tapanappa: a timeline

1974 John Greenshields establishes Koppamurra Vineyard, planting Cabernet Sauvignon (4ha), Merlot (1.2ha) and Cabernet Franc (0.8ha)

1976 Brian and Ann Croser found Petaluma

1979 Tiers Vineyard planted to Chardonnay

1996 First release of [Petaluma] Tiers Chardonnay.

2001 Lion Nathan takes over Petaluma

2002 Tapanappa established, with investment from Bollinger and the Cazes family; Koppamurra Vineyard acquired and renamed Whalebone Vineyard; first Tapanappa Wrattonbully red release

2003/2004 Whalebone Vineyard restructured. One third of Tiers Vineyard replanted

2003 Brian and Ann Croser establish Foggy Hill Vineyard, planting 2ha of Pinot Noir

2005 First vintage of Tapanappa Tiers Chardonnay, from thinner, rockier soils on the top of the slope

2007 First release of Foggy Hill Pinot Noir

2014 Croser family acquire 100% shareholding in Tapanappa and reoccupy Petaluma winery, renaming it Tapanappa winery

Terre à Terre, Daosa & Tapanappa: latest releases and older vintages

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The Osborn family patriarch – known as d’Arry among friends, family and colleagues – was a popular statesman of the Australian wine trade.

He was born on the estate in December 1926, the son of Helena d’Arenberg Osborn and Francis Ernest.

The Osborns have tended vines on the South Australia property since 1912, and d’Arry joined the family business at the tender age of 16.

Back then, Clydesdale horses did the work currently performed by a tractor and kerosene powered the motors and pumps.

He had no formal winemaking education, but he learned his trade on the job via a combination of trial-and-error and soliciting tips from neighbouring producers.

He was famed for his unconventional methods, such as wearing dinner shirts in the winery during vintage to ‘give the reds more elegance’.

Throughout his distinguished career, d’Arry oversaw more than 70 consecutive vintages, and he turned the family business into an international powerhouse.

It has earned all manner of accolades, and a variety of individual honours were bestowed upon d’Arry – including the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 1978, a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2004 Queen’s Birthday Honours list, and a South Australian Legend of the Vine award from the Wine Communicators of Australia.

Alongside his pioneering work for d’Arenberg, he served as treasurer, vice president, president and was an honorary life member of the Wine and Brandy Producers Association of South Australia trade body.

He was also known as a great raconteur, regularly regaling family, friends and wine lovers the world over with humorous stories gathered over a lifetime in the industry.

d’Arry is survived by his two children, Chester and Jacki Osborn, and his three grandchildren – Alicia, Ruby and Mia Osborn.

Chester, the fourth-generation family member, currently produces d’Argenberg’s wines using traditional methods in both the vineyard and the winery.

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Inside the November 2022 issue of Decanter magazine:

FEATURES

• Value claret: Top 30 under £20 Georgina Hindle’s pick of the 163 affordable clarets she tasted
• Decanter Hall of Fame Award: Rosa Kruger Tim Atkin MW profiles the inspiring 2022 winner
• Decanter Rising Star Award: Apostolos Thymiopoulos Sarah Jane Evans MW introduces this talented Greek winemaker
• Clairette around the world Dry whites that impress Matt Walls
• Napa Cabernet 2019 Jonathan Cristaldi’s highlights of the vintage
• Thinking inside the box Rupert Joy explains why it’s time now to look beyond glass bottles for wine
• Decanter Retailer Awards 2022 winners With Peter Richards MW

LEARNING

• Wine wisdom Expert tips to help you on your journey through wine

Read the new issue in full on the Decanter Premium app

Unlimited reviews | Exclusive articles | Recommendations | Priority booking | No ads

SPIRITS

• Distilled Spirits, cocktails, insight
• Innovation in Cognac By Richard Woodard

GOOD LIVING

• Perfect pairing Cider vinegar- roasted pork belly & apricots
• Travel: Prince Edward County, a wine lover’s guide Alicia Miller on this stunning Canadian region

BUYING GUIDE

• Editors’ picks Decanter’s editorial team, out and about
• Panel tasting: Barbaresco 87 wines tasted; more than half Highly recommended and above
• Panel tasting: Margaret River Chardonnay Delicious wines to enjoy in a variety of styles
• Expert’s choice: Zweigelt Stephen Brook introduces Austria’s most widely planted red grape variety, with 18 top picks
• Weekday wines White, rosé, red and more: 25 top picks under £20, chosen by the Decanter team
• Weekend wines Priced £20-£50, seven standout buys to impress

COLLECTORS

• Marketwatch investment news Updates and upcoming releases
• Marketwatch spotlight: Burgundy The rarity factor keeps prices high for the top wines

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Inside Decanter’s Spain supplement 2022:

CONTENTS

• Welcome In Spain’s fast-moving world of wine, there’s always something new to be enjoyed, says Julie Sheppard
• Spanish grapes to discover Expand your taste horizons, with Sarah Jane Evans MW’s pick of 10 grapes to try
• Alternative Spanish white styles David Williams picks 12 top wines to add variety to your usual wine choices
• High street Spain David Williams scours the supermarket and merchant shelves to select 18 everyday top buys
• Rioja’s rising stars Tim Atkin MW meets nine of the brightest talents to look out for in Spain’s premier region
• Ribera del Duero: five vintages you can enjoy now Pedro Ballesteros Torres MW recommends 10 great wines from five top years that are drinking well at the moment
• Malvasia de Sitges Unique to a small area on the Catalan coast, this grape with a history is now impressing with its dry whites, writes Miquel Hudin
• Regional profile: Jumilla Where a 1 new generation is revitalising a long tradition. By Sarah Jane Evans MW
• Jerez quality revolution Fine Sherry and beyond, in all its fascinating Lisbon complexity. By Natasha Hughes MW
• Travel: Córdoba Food, wine, history, atmosphere… Shawn Hennessey on why this southern city is a must-visit
• Travel: Navarre Jules Stewart loves the diverse and dramatic attractions of this ancient, northern region

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Treasury Wine Estates has expanded its footprint in the Yarra Valley in Australia by purchasing the 55-hectare Beenak Vineyard from Accolade in a deal worth AU$7 million. The land is planted with 45ha of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, suited for both still and sparkling wine production.

Tim Ford, chief executive at Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), said the company was keen to bolster its cool climate winemaking capabilities. ‘Vineyards producing Pinot Noir are of particular interest as we respond to the very strong consumer demand for our Coldstream Hills and St Huberts brands,’ he added. ‘The opening of our new cellar door at Hubert Estate has further enhanced demand for cool climate wines in the portfolio.’

The Beenak Vineyard, planted in 1988, is located close to Hubert Estate, nestled in the Upper Yarra Valley. Langley & Co., which handled the sale, described it as an ‘outstanding source of premium Upper Yarra Valley grapes averaging 364 tonnes annually’. The deal includes a 71 million-litre water entitlement and various buildings on the land.

TWE is Australia’s largest wine producer, followed by Accolade Wines. In a statement, Accolade said it sold the vineyard due to an oversupply of grapes from the region.

Analysts at IWSR expect the premium and luxury wine market to be worth $120 billion by 2025. In the company’s latest financial update, Ford said that TWE intends to be ‘the clear market leader globally’ in this segment of the market.

He added that the company boasts market leading supply and production and a leading global distribution footprint. However, he also pledged to invest in building up a stronger ‘consumer-led premium and luxury portfolio’.

To that end, TWE recently invested $315 million in purchasing Napa Valley producer Frank Family Vineyards, and it also snapped up four wineries in Bordeaux.

The Penfolds Collection 2022 sees two new Bordeaux wines join an increasingly global family, as well as the release price of the Australian company’s flagship Grange topping A$1,000 (£570/$680) for the first time.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the 21 releases in the Penfolds Collection 2022

The Bordeaux wines are the latest international blending ventures for Penfolds, following last year’s release of four California reds. Two of these were the company’s inaugural Wines of the World, uniting Californian and South Australian fruit.

And word has it that the Penfolds Collection 2023 will feature a Chinese-Australian collaboration.

Penfolds’ French connection

The first of the 2019 Bordeaux wines is Penfolds II – a partnership with Dourthe. Another Wine of the World designate, Dourthe provided the Cabernet Sauvignon (59%) and Merlot (12%) from its Château Belgrave and La Garde properties.

Vinified in Bordeaux, these components were then shipped to South Australia in stainless steel tanks, blended with Shiraz from the company’s Barossa Valley vineyards and matured in French and American oak barriques and hogsheads for 18 months.

The Penfolds II name represents the two winemakers, chief winemaker Peter Gago and his counterpart at Dourthe, Frédéric Bonnaffous, ‘coming together to express quality through a harmonious blend of traditional French winemaking techniques and time-honoured Australian winemaking methods’.

The second 2019 Bordeaux wine is the FWT 585 (French Winemaking Trial). It is the first Penfolds wine made from parent company Treasury Wine Estates‘ recently acquired Bordeaux properties in Haut-Médoc: Châteaux Cambon la Pelouse, Belle-Vue and De Gironville.

A blend of 53% Cabernet Sauvignon, 34% Merlot and 13% Petit Verdot, it is Penfolds’ interpretation of a Bordeaux blend, made at Cambon la Pelouse by Penfolds senior winemaker Emma Wood.

And how did Gago – Decanter’s 2021 Hall of Fame recipient – expect the Bordelais to receive these wines? ‘It will definitely get them talking!’ he said in typically playful fashion.

‘Nothing stands still in wine,’ added Gago. ‘It’s very exciting that Penfolds can become part of the French wine conversation.’

‘Just like our California wines…. we have the French sun above and soil beneath, but everything in between is Penfolds!’

Ongoing collaborations and new blends

The Dourthe partnership is an adjunct to the Penfolds Champagne project that began with Thiénot in 2019. ‘The proposition of what could be achieved if we extended this idea to table wine was met with interest in Bordeaux,’ says Gago.

But he added that, in some ways, these international blending ventures are ‘our reaction to global warming affecting grape harvests’. He explained: ‘It plugs into our risk management about how to make the best possible wines from the best possible fruit – wherever that may be.’

The ventures are ongoing collaborations – underlined by the second vintage of three Californian wines in the Penfolds Collection 2022 releases.

These join signature Australian wines including 2018 Grange, 2019 St Henri and 2020 Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon and Yattarna Chardonnay.

And like a naughty schoolboy who can’t contain his excitement, Gago concluded the Penfolds Collection 2022 preview in Melbourne on 7 June by revealing his next blending trick. Like the G5 Grange, it’s a multi-vintage super-Chardonnay, comprising five vintages of Yattarna blended together.

Code-named V, the cuvée features 20% each of the 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016 and currently unreleased 2021 vintages. Gago says this ‘perfect vision’ of Yattarna Chardonnay from across a decade ‘should get everyone out of their comfort zone’.

With a label design still under wraps, the Yattarna blend is expected to be released before the end of 2022. The other Penfolds Collection 2022 wines are available from 4 August.

Penfolds Collection 2022: £1000 Grange and two new Bordeaux wines

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Seppeltsfield proprietor and executive chairman Warren Randall said The Oscar Seppeltsfield luxury hotel and accompanying restaurant will be an icon of global importance for South Australia’s wine industry and will become ‘the most desirable epicurean destination for tourists worldwide’.

Approval for construction of The Oscar Seppeltsfield was granted by the local Light Regional Council on 1 June, after a heated two-year dispute about the development.

The original application to build The Oscar Seppeltsfield was lodged on 16 April 2020, but public consultation with surrounding neighbours in July 2020 led to a legal challenge against the plan. The South Australian Environment, Resources and Development Court dismissed an appeal against the project last year, but a Barossa action group filed a court action to get the project – which had been categorised as ‘tourist accommodation’ – classified under a different category to allow for greater community consultation.

After further consultation, a revised development application was submitted to Light Regional Council in February 2022, with the hotel location moved 10m lower down a gully within the Seppeltsfield vineyard, to be less obtrusive in the landscape. It means that people in the neighbouring village of Greenock will not see the hotel – although it may be seen along parts of the palm-lined Seppeltsfield Road area that passes the main Seppeltsfield Winery entrance.

The hotel site will cover four hectares of Seppeltsfield, with some bush Grenache vines being removed and replanted to replace dead old vines in existing vineyard, but a patch of Palamino Fino will be grubbed and Seppeltsfield will cease its fortified Fino production.

Randall has spearheaded an extravagant revitalisation of the property since 2009, when he purchased a majority shareholding in the historic Seppeltsfield vineyard and winery, established in 1841, and has since spent an estimated $12m on reviving the heritage-listed winery buildings.

However, Randall has embraced a very different vision for the new hotel. Having proudly called Seppeltsfield ‘the jewel of the Barossa’, Randall has moved far from the sturdy bluestone buildings of historic Seppeltsfield to introduce a futuristic flavour to the new hotel, which appears in architectural drawings as a shining metal and glass cylindrical tower that rises sharply from the vineyard.

Its modernist style offers a nod to the radical Frank Gehry-designed Marques de Riscal winery in Elciego, northern Spain, which includes a 43-room five-star hotel and restaurant within its functioning winery buildings.

‘I wanted to create a modern architectural icon with this new hotel,’ Randall said. ‘I wouldn’t be comfortable building a 19th century structure. That would be blatant copying of what had already been done, and I want this new building to be original, dazzling.

‘I really don’t mind that the design will create discussion and dissention. It will bring people from around the world to see it.’

The project is being funded by a group of South Australian businessmen, who predict that the Oscar Seppeltsfield will attract new visitors to the region and bring an additional $A90m in tourism expenditure within its first five years of operation.

All of the hotel’s 71 rooms, suites and penthouses will feature private balconies, while a viewing deck on the top level will provide 360-degree views of the surrounding vineyards (the original intention to feature a skybar was removed from the amended plan). The hotel will also include a wellness day spa, an infinity pool, a world-class restaurant, private dining room and boardroom, and a helipad.

Project director Toby Yap says a tender process has now commenced to choose a luxury hotel operator, with a view to start building the first six-star resort and spa in an Australian wine region before the end of 2022. It is expected to open after two years of construction.

The developers expect The Oscar Seppeltsfield guests will interact with the neighbouring Seppeltsfield precinct, which includes the 1841 Seppeltsfield Cellar Door, the Centennial Cellar (home to the world’s longest continuous fortified vintage wine collection stored in barrel, from 1878), the 1888 Gravity Cellar (which processes 5000 tonnes of grapes each vintage), FINO restaurant, the Jam Factory Craft and Design Studios, Vasse Virgin natural beauty products salon and Fine Art Photography Gallery.

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The 2018 vintage marks the 60th anniversary since Yalumba first produced The Signature. The wine is viewed with special fondness – not only by the Yalumba brethren whose moniker is immortalised on individual vintages, but because it upholds the distinctly Australian blending signature of Cabernet Sauvignon with Shiraz.

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of eight vintages of Yalumba’s The Signature back to 1996

Yalumba’s senior red winemaker Kevin Glastonbury is called the ‘custodian’ of The Signature, having made the blend for the past 23 years. But his passion and deep understanding of the uniquely Australian style sees him also responsible for Yalumba’s other Cabernet-Shiraz blends, providing each with a distinct point of difference.

Glastonbury views The Signature as Yalumba’s flagship wine. Not its most expensive or elite wine (that distinction belongs to The Caley Cabernet-Shiraz blend) but the benchmark of high quality against which Yalumba is most commonly measured.

‘It’s an important statement because it represents value and satisfaction,’ Glastonbury explains. ‘The Signature bears an emotional connection to the people it honours, and the generosity of the flavour is all connected to that. It’s a wine that speaks of personality and charm.’

Through the past 60 years, 48 vintages of The Signature (see box below) have been issued to wide acclaim. And while there is vintage variation to consider, it is a wine style driven by a consistent philosophy. Cabernet Sauvignon is always the dominant variety, relaxing into an easy embrace with the Shiraz in a harmony of flavours and smooth, velvety tannins.

It takes a stylistic lead from Bordeaux’s old Claret styles, but has a distinctly Australian stamp, framed with richer, sunnier fruit flavours and a more languid mid-palate expression.

No compromise

With the Cabernet Sauvignon often sourced from other areas of South Australia until the mid 1990s, The Signature is now 100% Barossa fruit. However, this focus has led to gaps in the wine’s lineage, with Yalumba chief winemaker Louisa Rose saying that the disappointing quality of Cabernet from a cooler Barossa vintage in 2017 resulted in The Signature not being made.

‘We have a particular style and history to consider with this wine,’ explains Glastonbury. ‘It’s not something we are prepared to compromise if we don’t have fruit that’s suitable.’

Therefore, the release of the 2018 vintage – with outgoing Yalumba managing director Nick Waterman as its signatory – is being heralded by Yalumba as a special moment.

Glastonbury says The Signature is a wine he’s personally committed to – not only because he adores the style and flavour, but because the wines are intrinsically tied to personalities who have made Yalumba such a distinctive family-owned wine company. This strong attachment is why people working at Yalumba don’t refer to different Signature vintages by their year but by the name of the signatory.

This tradition of paying tribute to Yalumba people, which began with company founder Samuel Smith (the inaugural signatory in 1962), is a distinction Waterman says he will carry with him long after he retires in September. ‘Tasting this wine, it’s an honour I’ll happily raise a glass to,’ he says.

The Yalumba Signatories

1962 Samuel Smith

1963 Sidney Smith

1964 Oliver Jenkinson, Percy Smith

1965 not produced

1966 Alfred Wark, Harold Obst, Harold Yates

1967 Clair Chinner, Rudi Kronberger

1968 Eric McKenzie, Mick Hungerford

1969 not produced

1970 Les Falkenberg, Paddy Fitzgerald

1971 Alf Mader, Bruce Coulter

1973 Wyndham Hill Smith

1972 not produced

1974 Christobel Hill Smith

1975 Walter Smith

1976 Ron Skate, Sidney Hill Smith

1977 Harry Mahlo

1978 Colin Hayes

1979 not produced

1980 not produced

1981 Joe Stevens

1982 not produced

1983 Ross Bradbury

1984 John Gillespie

1985 Dennis Reimann

1986 Helen Hill Smith

1987 Dudley Ward

1988 Colin Gerhardy

1989 Graham McDonough

1990 Peter Wall

1991 Mark Hill Smith

1992 Eddy Waechter

1993 Bill Wilksch

1994 Peter Graue

1995 Yalumba’s People

1996 James Wark

1997 Vittorio di Biase

1998 Ross White

1999 John Heine

2000 Peter Lehmann

2001 Geoff Linton

2002 Rhonda Sexton

2003 Alan Hoey

2004 Brenton Fry, John Auld, Brian Walsh

2005 Jeff Smith, Greg Pullen

2006 Kevin Renshaw, Ralph Dunning

2008 Judy Argent

2007 not produced

2009 Clive Weston

2010 Jane Ferrari

2011 not produced

2012 Robert Hill Smith

2013 Andrew Murphy

2014 Chris Greening

2015 Darrell Kruger

2016 Louisa Rose

2017 not produced

2018 Nick Waterman

The Signature: eight vintages of Yalumba’s benchmark Cabernet-Shiraz blend

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Barossa and McLaren Vale Grenache: old vines, new passion

Critical acclaim with his single-block Grenache from the Yangarra estate vineyard in McLaren Vale has inspired winemaker Peter Fraser to follow suit with Shiraz, transforming the wines beyond a more typical Australian expression.

With each parcel of Shiraz, Fraser minimises extraction and gently works the tannins through minimal pump-overs during fermentation, to relax their overt influence and emphasise suppleness on the palate.

His results are evident in two Yangarra single-site Shirazes: King’s Wood (sourced from a 2.3ha block planted on sand and ironstone) and Ironheart (a 1.8ha block planted on gravelly ironstone at higher elevation).

Scroll down for tasting notes and scores of the new releases from Yangarra

‘The different sites definitely produce significantly different flavours but capturing their elegance largely depends on what you choose to do – and what not to do – in the winery,’ says Fraser.

Maturing these fruit parcels in ceramic eggs and concrete amphorae has been integral in helping him create a more relaxed tannin profile in Yangarra’s wines, while simultaneously emphasising textural complexity.

Fraser prefers to pick early, to capture an electric tension between sweet and tart flavours, while fermentation on skins for extended periods ensures great textural quality.

Introducing higher percentages of whole bunches amplifies prettiness in the aromas, while the slender wine structure is elegant without sacrificing full flavour. ‘We’re heightening nuance by speaking in a softer but no less deliberate voice,’ he says.

‘It all adds up to a sum of exciting parts.’

These style changes were first introduced in Yangarra’s top McLaren Vale Grenache bottlings, which include three single-site wines. High Sands (sourced from a 1.7ha block) and Ovitelli (fermented in large ceramic eggs and left on skins for 170 days) have now been joined by Hickinbotham. This features fruit sourced from Yangarra’s sibling estate, Hickinbotham Vineyard at nearby Clarendon – both owned by California giant Jackson Family Wines – and matured on skins in stone amphoras for 156 days.

Jackson Family Wines is most famous for its flagship winery Kendall-Jackson, but it is actually an umbrella company for more than 40 wineries spread across the US, South Africa, Chile, France, Italy and Australia – where it also owns Giant Steps in Victoria’s Yarra Valley.

New white wines

Fraser’s success with red wine ferments in ceramic vessels has also led to a pair of intriguing white wines, also from Rhône varieties. The first is Yangarra’s Roux Beaute Roussanne, beautifully textured yet taut, left on skins for 134 days and fermented in large ceramic eggs.

The new Ovitelli Blanc blends Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Piquepoul and Bourboulenc from vines planted in 2018, along with some older Roussanne. The inaugural 2020 vintage also saw some parcels see up to 126 days’ maturation on skins as well as ceramic egg fermentation.

With vine age and larger yields, future vintages of Ovitelli Blanc will see the percentages of the different varieties change, along with how the individual parcels are handed in the winery. ‘It’s an exciting prospect, especially to be working with Grenache Blanc,’ says Fraser. ‘I can see that variety’s fresh, crunchy apple flavour becoming a defining factor in the blend.’

This year has started well for Yangarra. The estate owns 24% of McLaren Vale’s red Grenache vines that are at least 70 years old, and yields were so prolific in 2022 that it sold some top parcels to fellow McLaren Vale Grenache specialist labels Thistledown and Aphelion.

Useful extra income, as a lavish new cellar door facility is under construction on the Yangarra property, adjacent to the winery building. Opening in late 2022, it will offer a selection of tasting experiences, including the full range of Yangarra single block and Hickinbotham Estate wines.

New releases from Yangarra: Grenache, Shiraz and Rhône-style whites

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Designed by British printmaker and illustrator Tom Frost, whose work is characterised by folk art, matchboxes, children’s books, tin toys, and natural motives, the screen-printed artwork depicts a blossoming tree within a wine glass, referencing Berry Bros & Rudd’s commitment to sustainability.

Officially launching at the end of this month [April], the Platinum Jubilee will be a limited edition run of 10,000 bottles. Berry Bros & Rudd will donate a percentage of its profits to charities The Queen’s Green Canopy and Woodland Heritage Trust.

The bottles have also all been produced capsule-free – the latest Berry Bros & Rudd product to do so after the launch of the UK merchant’s first capsule-free ‘Own Selection’ Châteauneuf du Pape in November last year – to help reduce waste and environmental impact.

‘It was important when planning this collaboration to ensure a synergy between the label design, our choice of charity partners and the brand’s commitments to sustainability for the brand, so we’re thrilled that the final product is such a beautiful incarnation of all of our goals,’ said Lizzy Rudd, chair of Berry Bros & Rudd.

She added: ‘Previous Good Ordinary Claret limited-edition labels have always proved popular among our customers, some even becoming collectors’ items themselves. We’re thrilled that Tom was able to create such a beautiful label for this momentous occasion.’

Elsewhere, VCL Vintners has announced a limited run of a new single malt Scotch whisky to commemorate HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The release of the special bottling is made up of 144 bottles of Islay single malt scotch whisky, distilled at Bruichladdich Distillery and bottled by VCL Vintners. The spirit, available from mid-April from VCL Vintners’ website, was aged for 30 years and finished in an American barrel.

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