Auguste Clape first came to Cornas in 1949 to marry his wife Henriette whose family owned 5 hectares of vineyards in the appellation. Today his son, Pierre-Marie and grandson Olivier Clape run the estate, which is considered to be the benchmark producer in the region. An

96 points James Halliday: Deep crimson-purple; spice, tar, liquorice and sombre black fruits on the bouquet lead into an intense, full-bodied palate that catches you by surprise with its (relative) lightness of foot. Savoury tannins are there in abundance, as is French oak, but with sufficient protein on hand, you could enjoy a glass (possibly even two) of this wine. 94 points DMWP: This bold , dark and beautiful shiraz still retains a youthful purple edge. It has density, weight and depth in barrow loads. An amazing array of flavours including vanilla, cacao, the blackest of blackberry, dark chocolate, black olive, licorice, spice, and grainy, cedary tannin are easily identified in a big, big, wine. This will live for a very long time. It's a thumper! 92 points eRobert Parker: From a steep, rocky vineyard, the 2013 Hickinbotham Syrah is still quite stern and tannic. Hints of mint accent black cherry fruit in this full-bodied, concentrated wine that still needs a couple more years to come around.

The Gonnet family has been settled in Bédarrides since 1600. The domain's holdings are made up of several vineyards, most of which are named after local landmarks, including Font de Michelle, La Crau, and La Pierre Plantée. Etienne Gonnet created Font de Michelle in 1950. Since 2006, Guillaume Gonnet has served as owner and winemaker of his family's Châteauneuf-du-Pape estate. In addition, he and his Australian wife Kelly have created this remarkable line of signature cuvées.

Classic Côtes du Rhône from Famille Perrin: Fruity and fleshy with beautiful tannins. This wine is a blend of Grenache (mainly from our Prýbois vineyard in Orange), Syrah from further north (from our vineyard in Vinsobres) and Mourvýdre. Produced by the Perrin family, using the same viticultural and wine-making techniques used at Chýteau de Beaucastel.

This is a vibrantly aromatic and juicy, red fruited wine, with energy and a refreshing, tangy backbone. The long, spicy finish has plenty to keep you engaged.

M. CHAPOUTIER Ermitage Le Pavillon, Hermitage Rare and highly sought-after, M.Chapoutiers brooding Ermitage Le Pavillon comes from a parcel of vines anchored on the granite soils of the Bessard commune lower down on the Hill of Hermitage. Le Pavillon refers to the ruins of an old stone-house located just below the vineyard on the famous Hill. The Syrah grapes are hand-harvested and entirely destemmed before undergoing vinification in concrete tanks. Following an extended maceration the wine is matured in a mix of approximately 30% new and 70% seasoned French oak casks for 18-20 months.

Its fair to say Luke Lambert hasn't looked back since 'relocating' his Syrah to the Tibooburra vineyard. This southwest sloping site lies in the southeastern corner of the Valley, near Gembrook, and might be the coolest microclimate of the Yarra. The site is expertly managed by Greg Kerr, the grower who planted the vineyard in 2001. The soils here are considered very unusual for the Yarra, comprising a seam of black volcanic topsoil over yellow clay with a smattering of granite rock throughout. Furthermore, the quality of the clonal material in Tibooburra supplies Lambert with deeper and darker Syrah fruit that also has more depth and structure. This is what drew him to the site and a good chunk of the reason the Syrah has become a touchstone example of cool-climate Yarra Shiraz.

Sourced from a vineyard nestled in the foothills of the cool southern vales of the Yarra Valley where the grey loam soils show seams of deep red volcanic clay, the 2015 Seville syrah is handpicked, fermented with a high proportion of whole bunches and receives no additions other than a small amount of sulphur dioxide at picking and bottling. It is then aged in older French barrels before being bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Previously labeled Graillot Project Syrah No. 2, the 2016 vintage was the last vintage of this wine to be bottled under the Graillot labelling. In Robs words, we have been working very hard on the viticulture of the Heathcote site for a long time now and we have been organic for the last few years. We have agreed to begin the certification process before the next harvest. As a result of this, and other farming practices that have been implemented, we believe that we have seen some significant improvement in the fruit and the expression of place and we all therefore feel, (myself, Max and Alain Graillot), that the time is right to emphasise the vineyard and region over the makers. The Graillots will continue with their involvement as before. Further, with the wines (from 2018) now made at Place of Changing Winds, the two Heathcote Syrah wines can now be seen as part of the Place of Changing Winds family. This is also reflected on the back label. In most other respects, the song remains the same. All the fruit is hand harvested and the 2017 was blended from spontaneous 100% whole bunch ferments. This 2017 was raised by Luke Lambert, mostly large format, neutral oak (predominantly Stockinger) and no sulphur used through the ageing. As always, the winemaking is extremely simple. 2017 needs little introduction, so lets just say that this vintage gave exceptionally pure, balanced fruit, which we think is borne out in the quality of this release.