Rich and ripe, blueberry and chocolate flavours, tempered by savoury tannins and well balanced acidity. Pikes Wines is a beautiful location at Polish Hill River, near Sevenhill in the wonderful Clare Valley. With a history dating back to 1878, the Pike family has a past rooted in winemaking. Current custodians, Neil & Andrew form a formidable partnership creating wines that express terroir magnificently. Neil Pike grew up amongst his father, Edgars vineyards in Langhorne Creek and Padthaway . After doing a vintage in 1978 at Wynns Coonawarra he decided to study wine production and marketing at Roseworthy College. After he graduated in 1981, Neil worked as a winemaker making wine for several Clare Valley wineries before starting Pikes with brother Andrew in 1984. He has now completed 38 vintages in the Clare Valley. Andrew was introduced to the wine industry through his father Edgars vineyards in Langhorne Creek and Padthaway. Andrew attended Roseworthy Agricultural College, graduating in 1976 with a Diploma in Agriculture, and immediately joined Wynns Coonawarra Estate. After almost 4 years at Coonawarra, he joined Penfolds Wines in 1979 where he established a new vineyard project in the Clare Valley. The seeds for Pikes Wines were immediately sown, as he quickly realised Clares potential. Andrew become General Manger Vineyard Operations for the Southcorp Wine Group where he was responsible for over 6000 ha of corporate vineyard and all grape supply on a global basis. During this time he was also involved in the establishment of Pikes Wines in the Polish Hill River Valley sub region of Clare. In 1998 Andrew resigned his position at Southcorp to assist his brother Neil in the running of the Pikes family business.

Altos R, a boutique winery in the heart of the best terroir in Rioja, achieve an excellent balance of traditional vineyard methods combined with the latest developments in technology, allowing them to create a great range of unique modern wines. Their Crianza style (aged for at least two years) Tempranillo offers a powerful and complex nose, with notes of fresh fruits, spices, balsamic and toasted oak all perfectly integrated. The palate is structured, round, and balanced, making it an ideal companion to red meats or an assortment of cheeses.

Flor de Pingus is produced by the visionary Danish winemaker Peter Sisseck. Truffle-tobacco nose with sour cherry and fruitnnut tree aromatics, theres gamey beast-hide, and a purple storm raining minerals. Fine and radiant, with cool blue fruits - powder-tannined, nutty-inky-and-mineral in the mouth, this Tempranillo is Ribera del Duero from on high.

Made by famed Spanish producer, Martin Codax, who started producing wine in Rias Baixas before expanding into Bierzo, Ribera del Duero and Rioja. Musica En El Camino is fruitdriven, modern, easy drinking with a healthy dash of oak. This is foolproof Rioja.

Created by wine specialists from eleven different countries, this innovative brand aims to bring together the worlds best drops under a single, distinctive, quality mark - the woolly red sweater of Tussock Jumper. This Tempranillo has the aroma of black wild fruit like blackberry and mulberry. The palate is soft, silky and well balanced with a full lingering finish. best served at room temperature and your favourite pizza.

Family owned and operated, Barossa earthworks make its wines from 100% Barossa grapes, grown at small family owned vineyards. Drawing on more than 160 years of local wine knowledge, traditional winemaking methods and minimal processing are used to preserve the purity, integrity, texture and flavour of the wines. Blood red in colour, Earthworks Tempranillo opens with boysenberry, pepper, a hint of charred meats and black forest cake aromas. The soft tannins spread over your palate giving a juicy, ferrous, velvet mouth feel, a must try in our opinion.

Upon much deliberation, our overall masked winner revealed a style and character that provided us with a fairly clear cut insight into the modern day advances of a region etched in history and tradition. Cosme Palacio consistently produces one of our favourite Riojas that always offers incredible value for money. Produced predominantly from Tempranillo grown in cool, relatively high altitude sites, this is modern Rioja that's bright and ready to go thanks to a touch of bottle age. It's medium bodied with fine tannins and juicy in the mouth. Black fruits dominate the flavour profile with some delicate cedar and earthy notes adding complexity to a delicious example from this much loved region.

Just like the noble creature, The Stag wines represent elegance, grace and esteem. Quintessentially Victorian, they are made in a classic cool climate style. On the nose, a little rustic, with savoury spices, red berries, bright cherry and potpourri aromatics. Medium bodied and supple on the palate, with cherry, chocolate and tobacco notes. Tempranillo tannins have a powdery feel about them, leading to a savoury spice finish.

Blue Rock Wines 2017 Eden Valley TempranilloOur cool-climate Eden Valley Tempranillo is ruby-red in colour with bright purple hues. The aromas of cola and black cherry indulge the nose. Enticing fruit flavours of black cherry, blueberries and boysenberries coat the soft velvety palate. Hints of chocolate make this wine reminiscent of Cherry ripe. This Spanish wine varietal pairs beautifully with tapas, marinated mushrooms, olives, chorizo sausage and even BBQ prawns. It doesnt get any more Mediterranean than that.