'One of Australia's highest quality single vineyard wines. The core has liqueur cassis qualities that are supported by fine velvet tannins that run with terrific length and tenacity. A wine for the discerning hedonist.' - Andrew Woodforth, Vintage Cellars Spit Junction. 'Now listed in the "exceptional" category of the Langton's Classification VI, this landmark red of the region hits you with wow-moment fruit, vibrant to the max and an OTT intensity rating. French oak adds a clove-like spice while the juicy core centres around super-concentrated raspberry rich flavours, the finish seems to last forever. Its history is profound and its cellar potential huge.' 5 Stars - Adelaide Advertiser, 14 May 2014, by Tony Love.

VINEYARD: Fruit is sourced from 120-year-old dry grown Shiraz vines from Martin & Joan Smiths vineyard in the Polish Hill River. Grey loam acid soils over sandstone and slate make up the profile with much of the top soil littered with rock, hinting at just how tough the vines need to be to sustain growth and produce quality fruit - not to mention the work of the vigneron to ensure overall balance. Despite growing these vines organically since their planting in the 1970s, 2012 marked the first year of NASAA Organic Certification for these vineyards. VINIFICATION: Handmade in 2 and 4-tonne fermenters, the fruit is de-stemmed and fermented using natural yeast. Hand plunged up to 4 times daily to control temperature and maximise flavour and tannin extraction. Left on skins post fermentation for 15 days, then lightly pressed and transferred to French Oak barriques for 30 months.Only 630 x 6 packs produced. COLOUR: Deep dark red brick with a slight purple tinge. BOUQUET: Concentrated with blackberry spice with hints of chocolate and cedar. PALATE: Powerful Clare Valley Shiraz with rich mid-palate fruit with long grainy tannins, oak complexity and balance of acidity. FOOD MATCH: A delightful complement to strong cheeses and gamey meats.

"Grown on the vineyard of Carmine and Marina Pepicelli at 480m, one of the highest in the Adelaide Hills. The hue is bright and clear, the fragrant bouquet offers a mix of plum and dark cherry fruit, with gentle touches of spice and licorice; there is a heartbeat of freshness in the wine that lifts it into top quality." 94 points, James Halliday Wine Companion, August 2016.

This lovely Gentleman is back. A man of calm demeanor, strong preserve, intellectual thinking, polite yet meaningful speak and a good upbringing. A fighter for the cause of right with words, not guns.

A vein of ironstone runs through the vineyard producing Syrah of exceptional quality. Landau displays red fruits, a medium-bodied palate with whole bunch influence giving, spice, complexity and structure. Downer naturally ferments the Landau with approximately 50% whole bunches and whole berries in small one tonne, open fermenters. Again, oak maturation is minimal, with the wine raised in older French oak puncheons for roughly 9-10 months. Adelaide Hills is buzzing with change and innovation and Murdoch Hill is a producer that is now at the forefront of this action. Its worth pointing out that Murdoch Hills is not a new player in the Australian wine scene - the Estate vineyards were planted by the Downer family in 1998. But it has been the return of the familys youngest member, Michael Downer, to take over the winemaking duties in 2012, that has created the excitement here. Pumped from stages at Vietti (Piedmont), Best's Great Western and Shaw+Smith, Downer has wasted little time in applying his experience and passion to his family vineyard practices and winemaking. The most obvious changes he has implemented have been bringing the winemaking in house (it was previously outsourced to a neighbouring winery) and the creation of the Artisan range of single-parcel, minimal intervention bottlings. Tapping into the freshness gifted by his high-altitude vines, while keeping winemaking artefact to a minimum, Downers approach has led to a range of juicy, vibrant wines that highlight the detail and freshness of each site. We are not the only ones who have been following this young winemakers progress with interest - Downer was a Young Guns of Wine finalist in 2014 and the joint winner of the Winemakers Choice in 2015. His wines have also been getting great reviews and a number of gongs in recent times (including two wines in the top ten at the Adelaide Review Hot 100 last year). The winemaking specs include wild yeast ferments, various degrees of whole bunch, extended skin contact and more and more older wood in the aging. Bottling is without any fining or filtration. In terms of the vineyards, the original 1998 Estate plantings are situated around the winery, nestled in the undulating hills of Oakbank. The shallow red loam soils here are shot through with varying levels of schist and ironstone. Varieties include Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. In addition to the home vineyards, Downer also works with a range of nearby sites in Lobethal and Basket Range and the high altitude Uraidla vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley. These sources offer Downer a broad range of flavours, structures and textures with which to do his thing.

This is a lovely, easy flowing shiraz from the Adelaide Hills that also packs a weighty punch - full of dark fruit and raspberry with sweet oak and spice flavours. It's a lovely example of what shiraz from "the Hills" can be - and all from a single block off a small family owned winery.

This is the 7th release of this flagship wine sourced exclusively from vines that used to feed Eileen Hardy Shiraz. This nose exhibits white pepper and spice, the palate is full bodied with layers of black and blue fruits finishing with firm yet fine tannins that will see this wine cellar well into the 2030s. One for cellar or decant now for an hour before serving.