Select parcels of premium McLaren Vale Shiraz were chosen from 4 different vineyards (Connors Farm blocks 4 and 7, Vassarelli, and Farmilo) each crushed separately. Following extended barrel fermentation over 18 months, the four parcels were blended to create this superb wine.Tasting NotesOur Reserve McLaren Vale Shiraz is deep crimson in colour with a bright purple rim. Dark plums and spice leap from the glass and the palate is rich and smooth with blackberries, milk chocolate and toasty French Oak characters. CellaringDrinking beautifully now, alternatively it will age well from careful cellaring over the next 5 to 10 years. Alcohol14.5% - 8.6 Standard drinks Food PairingCharred fillet steak served with chat potatoes and a red wine jus.

One of Australia's icon wines, this is Cabernet at its very best. This wine is the very definition of power and elegance. Hand crafted by Keith Mugford and his team in the Margaret River, Moss Wood deservedly fits in the Exceptional category of Langton's Classification of Australian Wine.

Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz is a very powerful, concentrated cellaring style with plenty of fruit richness, chocolaty tannins and underlying malty oak. The 1.6 hectare Block 6, which forms part of the Kay Brother's larger 22 hectare Amery Vineyards, was originally a "pumpkin patch" of old bush vines. The Block 6 fruit is batch-vinified in three to five tonne traditional open fermenters originally built by the Kay Brothers in 1895/6. Some parcels are hand plunged while others are fermented under header boards. At completion of fermentation the wine is drained and basket pressed into a combination of one-third each new, one year old and two year old American and Eastern European oak. Maturation takes place for around 18 to 24 months before assemblage and bottling under screw cap.

Bekkers Syrah Grenache McLaren Vale The Syrah is sourced from red clay-loam over siltstone rock in Clarendon (which they now own) and Grenache from sand over orange sandy-clay in the much vaunted Blewitt Springs. Picked by hand, vinified with 15-30% whole bunches and cold soaked for 5-6 days before natural fermentation and basket pressed to aged French oak 500L puncheons. Deep inky purple with a nose of lavender, violets, blueberry, blackberry, Indian spices and a palate of leafy blackcurrant and a long, soft, silky texture.

In 1912, horse fanatic Joseph Osborn sold his stables and horses and bought the family the d'Arenberg estate in premium McLaren Vale. Joseph chose McLaren Vale as it has some of Australia's oldest vineyards, and with an array of soils and the cooling affect of the nearby ocean, it's ideal for vines. Winemaker today is sixth generation Chester Osborn. He continues the family tradition of treading the grapes by foot part way through fermentation. It certainly ensures plenty of dark colour, character and richness in the wines. You'll always spot a d'Arenberg wine with its bold red stripe on the label.

Old, extremely low-yielding McLaren Vale vines are responsible for d'Arenberg's Dead Arm Shiraz - a wine of enormous power, intensity and real complexity - an absolute must for any serious wine cellar and d'Arenberg lover. One of the flagships for McLaren Vale for many years, this wine continues to shine with a balanced between tradition and Chester Osborne driven innovation.

Wirra Wirra's flagship Shiraz has won many accolades over the years, including the 'world's best Shiraz'. It's loaded with distinctive McLaren Vale blueberry and chocolate characters, supported by plums, violets and spice, and tannin structure destined for 10 more years in the cellar.

Exceptionally potent and powerful, initially giving the (false) impression its alcohol is more than 14%. Retasting brings it back into perspective, the two varieties bonded, yet each preserving its varietal integrity and structural architecture. A classic Australian blend of exceptional quality, destined to outlive most who taste it.

This is a smart wine. It feels very harmonious, there's fruit intensity but it's not *too* fruity, there's present oak but it's not *too* overpowering, there's spice and tannin but they're not *too* drying. Everything has been worked into this classy number in thoughtful moderation and the result is a wine greater than the sum of its parts. From the well known, hand-tended, vineyards of the Willunga sub-region of McLaren Vale, picked in the (widely lorded) year of 2021 - it's safe to say we were holding this one to a pretty high standard. Well, this wine exceeded even our lofty expectations. Juicy dark mulberry and black cherry, vibrant spiced plum and chocolate characters are expressed with both intensity and complexity. Subtle, but ever present, oak characters manifest themselves in slight chocolate and vanilla notes along with fine grained tannins and build to a silky, spice driven finish. Happy to sit in the cellar for 15+ years, but why delay happiness right?

A ¾ tonne bell with the name of 'Angelus' sits proudly atop the cellars at Wirra Wirra and heralds the beginning and end of vintage every year on the famous McLaren Vale estate. Previously the bell rang out from the Jesuit Church in Norwood thrice daily and due to this tradition, Wirra Wirra continue to name the bell and their very best Cabernet Sauvignon every year, The Angelus. Always a pungent and concentrated Cabernet with notes of cassis, cedar and trademark bitter chocolate bound with fine tannins. A propensity to age in the bottle for over a decade as well as its approachability early in life will appeal to all.