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This wine is deep purple in colour with expressive aromas of black forest fruits, pepper and spice and an inviting palate with bags of flavour including black berries, black plums and cherries layered over smooth tannins and savoury toasty notes. A gentle, yet lingering finish. The newest independent winery run by Alex Dale and friends in the Helderberg sub-region, is an emerging star on the Cape wine scene producing wines of complete quality, yet expressing their individuality. John Platter the doyen and king maker has already tabbed them as 5 star winemakers.

Sourced from the South Australian regions of Barossa, McLaren Vale and Coonawarra. The wine is full of sweet, spicy dark fruit, rounded out by the quality oak from barrels usually used for Bins 128, 138 and 389. A well-structured, medium bodied wine with a medium finish. Sweet coconutty oak, ripe fruit and an upfront nose of bright red cherry gives this age-worthy red its unique style.

From some of the earliest plantings of Shiraz in the Yarra Valley with vines dating back to 1969. Shiraz (96%) co-fermented with small parcels of Viognier, Marsanne and Mataro aged 12 to 18 months in 50% new French oak barrels produces a wine that is perfumed and feminine with the tannins and acidity as integral to the wine as the fruit. Proven to age for 25+ years, Yarra Yering Dry Red No 2 was the first Cote Rotie style blend made in Australia

The wine has an attractive lemon colour and a bouquet bursting with notes of flowers and crisp fruit. Aromas of hawthorn and jasmine are particularly prominent, as are exotic yellow and white fruits such as peach and apricots. On the palate, the wine is medium bodied and flavoursome, full of fruit, with clear mineral notes. The wine is easy drinking and has an aftertaste of hazelnuts and nutshells. 100% Garganega, from 30-60 year old vines. The grapes are pressed softly before undergoing fermentation at 16 - 18 degrees C. The wine is fermented and matured in stainless steel vats. Located in the heart of the Soave Classico DOC near Verona, Cantine Pra is run by brothers Sergio and Graziano Pra, the former tending the estates 25 hectares of vineyards and the latter in charge of the cantine. The Pra range of wines are considered to be one of the benchmarks for the region including the Soave Classico, an un-oaked Soave Classico Superiore, Monte Grande, the barrique aged Soave Classico Colle Sant' Antonio and a stunning Recioto di Soave Classico. A producer that is totally in tune with their terroir and what the varieties Garganega and Trebbiano are capable of delivering in the glass.

"The world simply cannot have too many small, quality wine producers in the Barossa Valley and Pontifex is another to fit the bill" (Ken Gargett, Winepilot). Pontifex is owned and run by Sam and Helen Clarke. Sam's parents are two of the founders of another great Barossa winery called Thorn-Clarke. Indeed, Pontifex and Thorn-Clarke share a winemaker in the talented Peter Kelly. With their stunning 93pt GSM, youthful primary fruit of dark cherry, plum, raspberry with brambly spice notes filling out the expressive nose. A mid-weight palate is bright with generous rich fruits of dark cherry, plum and raspberry with dry dusty tannins on the finish. Hints of French oak cedar and spice round out the palate. "60/30/10% grenache/shiraz/mourvèdre, from Krondorf, Lyndoch and Ebenezer vineyards. Some whole bunches in shiraz; matured 20 months in seasoned French oak barrels. Sweet and sour. Tart berry fruits and green herbs contrast sweet fruit and sour acidity. Fine, supple tannins" (Tyson Stelzer, Halliday Wine Companion).

William Downie and the Thousand Candles team are keen to expand our understanding of premium wine from the Yarra Valley. A shy complexity; a layered sense of tone and colour, and a nervous acceleration as the wine slips seamlessly from beginning to end. A wine that tells the story of its place more so than its varietals. A wine that pushes the boundaries, from one of Australia's most innovative and skilled wine makers.