The fruit for the 2016 Vat 9 Shiraz was sourced from Tyrrells super premium vineyards on the Ashmans property with an average vine age of 50 years. Predominately from the Weinkeller and Short Flat vineyards. Winemaking The blocks were all hand picked and sorted in the vineyard before arriving at the winery. All the fruit was then destemmed but not crushed, followed by fermentation in traditional open top concrete vats. After fermentation the wiens were matured in newer 2700L French oak casks for ten months.

One of the benchmarks of Barossa Shiraz, Peter Lehmann's Stonewell is a classic example of the rich concentrated old vine style. While bold on the palate, there is always an inherent complexity to the Stonewell that enables it to be compared with all of the great Australian wines produced today.

Back in 1998 Chief Winemaker, Chris Hatcher, decided it was time to take Wolf Blass into the modern world and the result was a single varietal Shiraz that was 100% aged in French Oak, unlike their famous flagship the Black Label which is a blend and aged in American Oak. A wonderful contemporary version of Wolf Blass that is a cavalcade of rich blueberry, blackberry and complex elements of dark chocolate and warm spice. Superbly long on the palate with an obvious hint to a long future in the cellar.

Coming from one of the best vintages in recent Barossa history, the Old Block from St Hallett shows what careful vineyard management can do for a wine. Rich, dark and conerntrated but with seamless tannin intergration.

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.

TWO HANDS Dave's Block Single Vineyard Blewitt Springs Shiraz, McLaren Vale

Penfolds RWT Shiraz is a big juicy Barossan Shiraz refined by the use of older French oak barrels. 1998 is considered to be one of the classic vintages of the modern age. Drinking wonderfully now but with many years still to come in its development, this is a great addition to any cellar.