Displaying complex aromas of strawberries and cream with hints of forest floor. The palate is seamless and elegant. Red fruits with enticing gamey characters swirl within layers of mushroom and notes of fresh herbs. The French oak adds ample but delicate tannins delivering a generous delightful length. Savour on its own or enjoy as an outstanding accompaniment to a duck or game dish, alternatively stuffed wild mushrooms as a vegetarian option.

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.

Rich and flavoursome the 2018 Cutlass Single Vineyard Shiraz shows thick cuts of red berry and juicy dark plum with some whole bunch derived perfume and spice.The palate is long and persistent with complex fruit flavours overlaid with fresh toasty French Oak.

Winemakers Danny Toaldo and Moreno Chiappin have crafted a seriously flavoursome Shiraz from premium Adelaide Hills fruit. Delicious now but will cellar.Deep red to purple. Fragrant lift of kirsch, cola, dark cherry and vanilla. Powerful yet quite elegant with a sweet mix of black cherry, liquorice and mocha, deep tannins, fresh acidity, lovely oak and a long, sinewy finish.

Wild & Free - Natural fermention, nothing added to ferments - natural yeasts only, slow natural ferments create pure expressions of flavour from our Vineyards in the elevated mountains along the Torrens Gorge, Mt Bera. Richly styled and expressed with dark plum, blackberry, thyme and hazelnut aromas, it's plump and flavoursome in the mouth offering succulent fruit intensity with velvety texture and layers of fine-grained tannins. Bold and generous with a prolonged, delectable finish. At its best: now to 2032.