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The word ‘areti’, Romanized from the Ancient Greek, refers to ‘excellence’ of any kind. Paulmara Estates define it as ‘excellence of character bound with fulfilment of purpose to live up to one’s full potential’. Areti is typically deep in colour, with complex dark berry aromas, rich velvety textures, and prodigious length. Andrew Caillard MW has observed that Areti is distinctly ‘Penfoldsian’ in style, which makes sense as the viticulturist (Paul Georgiadis) and winemaker (Jason Barrette) are both ex-Penfolds. Areti is made from Barossa Valley shiraz (with 5% cabernet sauvignon) from two distinct, estate-owned, Marananga vineyards—Block 1A and Paradigm vineyard. Planted in 1995, Block 1A rises up to 290m, and its soils range from red-brown loams over red clay with ironstone, to red-brown loams over clay and limestone. Paradigm’s vines range from 50 to 90 years old, its soils are predominantly red-brown loams over red clay, with shattered ironstone and quartz, and its fruit carries a reputation for having contributed to Penfolds Grange.

Kay Brothers Block 6 Shiraz is a very powerful, concentrated cellaring style with plenty of fruit richness, chocolaty tannins and underlying malty oak. The 1.6 hectare Block 6, which forms part of the Kay Brother's larger 22 hectare Amery Vineyards, was originally a pumpkin patch of old bush vines. The Block 6 fruit is batch vinified in three to five tonne traditional open fermenters originally built by the Kay Brothers in 1895. Some parcels are hand plunged while others are fermented under header boards. At completion of fermentation the wine is drained and basket pressed into a combination of one third each new, one year old and two year old American and Eastern European oak. Maturation takes place for around 18 to 24 months before assemblage and bottling under screw cap.

Although this wine is plush, dense and rich, it possesses a compelling percussion and balance. Right up there with Grange and Hill Of Grace as one of Australia's best Shiraz, and from one of the greatest vintages too!

Geoff Merrill Henley Shiraz shows a deep brick red colour lined by cherry red hues. A whiff of the wine reveals generous scents of berry fruits and toasty French oak. Ripe fruit flavours combine with fine and powerful tannins on the full flavoured palate, to provide an elegant structure. This delightful Shiraz ends in a captivating finale. It tastes marvellous with lamb shanks in a red wine jus, chocolate-dipped honeycomb, and sharp Cheddar cheese.

The structure of cabernet meets the richness of shiraz. A benchmark Penfolds wine and one of the most collected wines in Australia. Evocative barrel ferment character, plum, blackberry, wild cherry and exotic spice ensure the wine is true to style. Powder-line tannins and acidity ensure length & vibrancy.

Oustanding cool-climate peppery Shiraz from a great vintage in Victoria. Full bodied, powerful and dense this wine is at its best now. Enjoy with meat dishes.

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.

Hoffman Family Vineyard in the sun-drenched North of the Barossa is the sub-region of Ebenezer. There lies a supreme and unique vineyard that has been cared for by the Hoffman Family for six generations.

Elderton's Command Shiraz is one old school Barossa Shiraz. Named because of the special treatment the quality fruit 'commanded', this is a Shiraz of foreboding concentration. The fruit for this 'Excellent' Langton's classified Australian icon comes from the century old Elderton vineyard located on the banks of the Para River and is matured in a mixture of French and American oak. This allows the wine to retain its driven power while also giving the wine a level of complexity and balance unique to this region and producer. Elderton's Command can be enjoyed by lovers of ripe and rich fruit early, yet will reward the truly patient with a wine of true beauty when left alone to mature for a decade.

David and Jenny Jones are making wine with tremendous depth of fruit flavour, reflecting the relatively low-yielding but very well- maintained vineyards in The Pyrenees. Their flagship Dalwhinnie Eagle Shiraz is a perfect example of this. Pristine and fresh with more of everything providing plenty of stuffing, redcurrant, blackberry and sage characters.