The Old Vine Syrah patch was planted in the 1930s and is on a slope of the property with a westerly aspect. These old gnarly vines are planted in heavily decomposed ironstone and quartz. The style of wine is completely individual and the winemaking team always comment on how light the style is and how exotic the spices are in this vineyard. The spices come across like incense mixed with deeply aromatic and smoky lapsang oolong tea. Exotic characters such as sandalwood, cocoa powder, sarsaparilla and cola elements top the roast meat and flinty, strawberry and cream palette of this wine. The lighter frame on this style is highly attractive and the intoxicating spices combine to create something highly exotic.

This single vineyard, award-winning Levantine Hill Melissas Paddock Syrah, has its own inimitable characteristics of the unique site and inherent signature expression. It features a complex nose, featuring blackberry, liquorice, tar, spice and cherry oak. The resounding sophisticated palate features fine tannins leading to a long finish. There is a delicate nervy balance between savouriness and sweet fruit with an emphasis on balance and length for a resounding echo of flavour.

Levantine Hill Syrah has lifted complex aromas of dusty red berries, musk, cardamom and white pepper and vanillin oak. The elegant medium-bodied palate abounds with spice and earthy nuances in a concentration of savouriness. The silky ripe tannins have been deftly integrated with the underlying oak providing carriage for the fruit weight and lingering flavours to a pronounced and persistent finish.

Located within Murrumbateman in the now prestigious wine region of Canberra District, comes Eden Road who are well known for cool-climate, elegant style wines. Here their 'The Long Road' Syrah is actually sourced from vineyards that are both within the Canberra District and other nearby regions, like Hilltops. The result is a Syrah that is lifted in both aroma and flavours of ripe red cherries and strawberry. 14 months in older French oak has also provided a subtle savoury note with extreme elegance.

Gabriel Meffre winery was established in 1936. It has since won the repuation as one of the best producers in the southern Rhone. Their Ventoux vineyard is located mainly on the sediment left by the seas of the Tertiary period at the base of the limestone massif of Ventoux. The wine is made from grenache and syrah, each component vinified separately before blending, then maturation in vats for 10 months. The result is a wine with a deep red robe and a purple hue. The nose is enticing with hints of ripe red fruits and spices, and the mouth is elegant and round with a spicy finish. This Ventoux, with its spiciness and fruit expression, will pair nicely with charcuterie, a vegetable curry or lamb colombo.

Wine Spectator calls Portugal “the most exciting wine place on the planet”, with its terrific range of native grape varieties and wines that always offer standout value. The rich, mouthfilling Lobo e Falcão fits firmly in that category. It’s made at a 17th century estate owned by the Lobo de Vasconcellos family, once the location of the king’s falconry. Special barrels of wine were kept for the king when he visited. Today, talented winemaker Joana Lopes makes this red specially for us, blending Syrah with Portugal’s exciting native grapes. Previously awarded a Wine Enthusiast Best Buy Award, the 2018 has lovely intensity of flavour due to another low yield year. Generous wild berry fruit and spice with a velvet texture – a very moreish red.

The 2017 vintage in Orange was unusually warm and dry, giving this wine a strong backbone of ripe fruit characters.The wine is a bright dense cherry red with a tinge of brick red.The bouquet exhibits lifted spicy ripe fruit and light earthy plummy Shiraz aromas, combined with soft vanillin oak characters. Full bodied, the length of the palate is filled with very youthful plummy spicy Shiraz flavours. These fruit characters are balanced by drying oak tannins which contribute both complexity and length to the wine. With a finish that is typical of cold climate Shiraz fruit crisp, clean and elegant.