Vigneron Adrian Hoffmann and winemaker Chris Ringland have been working together for more than 25 years to develop the Hoffmann Vineyard signature labels; Reservation Shiraz, North Barossa Shiraz, Dimchurch Shiraz and Hoffmann Vineyard Shiraz. Occasionally, a specific Shiraz vineyard from one of the 12 local growers that contribute to Chris Ringland Reservation may be singled out. Doris Block gives an opportunity to portray the complexity and unique characteristics of the vintage.

THE STANDISH WINE COMPANY Lamella Shiraz, Barossa The Standish Wine Company produces a number of small-volume, single-site wines from various parts of the Barossa and Eden valleys. This one is 100% Shiraz from Hutton Vale Farm in the Eden Valley. Dan Standish is a sixth generation Barossan and seven generations of the Angas family have worked Hutton Vale. The Lamella is a transcendent Shiraz of great density and purity, yet also has a feeling of elegance maintained through careful and sensitive winemaking. Dan Standish is an important figure in the Barossa. He founded The Standish Wine Company in 1999 and in 2000, after leaving Torbreck (then soon to have two Langtons Classified wines), he co-founded Massena, another label that has played an important part in redefining modern Barossa Valley.winemaking.He has also made wine in Californias Napa and Sonoma valleys, the Rioja in Spain and the Rhone Valley of France. His aim is to showcase some of the Barossas finest sites with seductive wines that combine power and finesse. He has built a reputation for being able to make wines with a distinctive X-factor.

Deep red with purple hues. The nose is complex with chocolate, coffee and raspberry aromas balanced by lifted liquorice, leather and a hint of white pepper. The palate is rich and full bodied with prominent raspberry flavours, alongside beautifully balanced oak with hints of vanilla. 2018 was a high-quality vintage in Barossa, with good yields and excellent flavours and colours in reds. The growing season started off well, thanks to winter 2017 rainfall being around 10% higher than average. Spring rainfall however, was lower than usual and drier soils, combined with warmer than average October and November days meant the vines grew quickly; flowering well and setting a good number of bunches. January and February were warm and dry, with very warm temperatures in February slowing the pace of ripening. The Indian summer of March and early April proved perfect for finishing off ripening before vintage, capping off a very good year.After picking, the grapes were fermented in a combination of five tonne concrete and seven tonne stainless steel fermenters for 7-12 days. The wine was then racked off into a combination of French and American hogsheads and matured for 22 months. One of the largest landholders in the Barossa, Grant Burge wines is a bastion of well made, value for money wines. Drawing on depth of experience in the region, Grant Burge and his wife Helen established the brand in 1988 and have developed a formidable range of wines across a broad spectrum of price points. The history of the Burge family and their long association with winemaking in the region can be traced back to March 1855, when noted tailor John Burge immigrated to the Barossa from Hillcot, near Pewsey in Wiltshire, England with his wife Eliza and their two sons. John worked as a winemaker at Hillside Vineyards and his love of viticulture was passed onto his son Meshach, who continued the tradition making his first wine in 1865, while becoming a prominent community leader. Meshach married Emma in 1883 and they had eight children. First-born Percival established the Wilsford Winery near Lyndoch in 1928. Percival had two sons, Noel and Colin, and Colin and his wife Nancy had one son, Grant. Following in the footsteps of his father and forefathers before him, Grant carried the winemaking tradition into the 21st century. Grant Burge Wines came under the ownership of the Accolade Wines' family of brands in 2015. Since then, the winery has flourished both nationally and internationally.

Grant Burge is the 5th Generation of his family to be involved in winemaking in the Barossa Valley. Such a long and distinguished history deserves to be celebrated and here they do it with their 5th Generation Shiraz. A Barossa icon in itself, Shiraz from region displays ripe, dense and complex fruit weight and the 5th Generation delivers on all fronts. A delicious mid-palate followed by sublime length of flavour round out a fantastic Barossa Shiraz buy.

Colour is deep red. The nose shows aniseed, tar, FruChocs and spicy oak. The fine palate entry has mulberry, cranberry, aniseed and liquorice flowing delicately with Rhone-like spicy, chewy, savoury tannins.

Chris Ringland's Barossa Ranges Shiraz is steeped in the Barossas post-colonial story and the high art and science of winemaking. Typically deep in colour with intense dark berry, paneforte, espresso roasted chestnut aromas, it displays a plush and concentrated palate with blackberry, mocha, paneforte spicy flavours and dense fine chocolaty tannins. Despite the opulence, flamboyance, richness and concentration, the wine has superb percussion and freshness. The wine is a small vinification of around four to five hogsheads or 1500 litres. The "unusually thick skinned" Shiraz is entirely sourced from Chris Ringland's dry-grown vineyard on the edge of the Barossa Valley, but technically in Eden Valley, along Flaxman's Valley near Randall's Hill. The wine is "painstakingly hand-made" in open fermenters and regularly pumped-over to extract colour, flavour and tannins. After draining and pressing through a traditional basket press, fermentation is completed in 100% new French oak hogsheads. A period of up to 50 months oak maturation follows to achieve optimum complexity and balance between oak and fruit. The extraordinarily high release prices (higher than Penfolds Grange), limited production and reputation make Chris Ringland Barossa Ranges Shiraz the stuff of legend.

In the winery: Matured for 20 months in new French barriques, Hungarian, French and American hogsheads. In the glass: Inky dark red. On the nose: Ripe dark fruit, a hint of mint, toasty oak and cedary development.On the palate: Intense black fruit power melding well with deluxe mocha oak a rich, dense and complex reserve style with tight, grainy tannins and spicy acidity.

This is a wine that stays true to more traditional methods in an effort to preserve the purity and flavour of the Barossa Valley. If youre looking for a rich and juicy Shiraz, this may just become a favourite.