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Torbrecks flagship wine, The Laird Shiraz is only produced in exceptional years. The fruit comes from one of the finest Shiraz sites in the Barossa valley; the dry grown Gnadenfrei vineyard dating from 1958. Matured for 36 months in special French barriques coopered by Dominique Laurent, the Laird is the ultimate expression of ultra-concentrated single vineyard Barossa Shiraz.

The 2 ha El Pison vineyard was planted in 1945 on a gentle sloping site in the shape of an amphitheatre with deep sub-soils. Made entirely from Tempranillo, El Pison is a very rich and intense age-worthy style typically showing great purity of fruit and abundant chalky tannins that benefit from additional cellaring.

Regarded a Super Second (but technically a 3me growth), Palmer is capable of producing wines that equal or even outstrip the quality of its famous Premier cru neighbour, Ch. Margaux. Named for the wealthy English military man who bought the estate in the early 19th century, Palmer is now majority owned by the Mahler Besse and Sichel families - famous Bordeaux negociants. Many of the best plots on the property were purchased after the Classification of 1855, explaining in part why Palmer did not warrant higher standing at that time. Certainly today there is no question that the wine is among Bordeauxs best. The estate also makes a separate second label - named Alter Ego - which is made from similarly high quality fruit but treated differently in the winery with the aim of producing a counterpoint in style to the First wine.

The formidable fortress depicted on the famed vanilla Latour label was built to withstand the Gironde pirate attacks of the 15th Century. And, truly, as well as the tower still stands, so does Latour and its consistent excellence regardless of vintage. Nominally Pauillac, this First Growth sits almost astride the border of St. Julien and its output as one would expect is dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon with 10 per cent awarded to both Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Any experience with Latour is to be savoured with patience this notoriously slow-developing wine requires at least a decade or twos development. But the reward for this patience is a fulsome melange of power, finesse, depth and tone.