Bruno & George Old Vine Shiraz, Barossa Valley Shiraz may be the archetype of the Barossa, but there are those expressions that transcend the usual heavy-weights by virtue of the experience of those behind them. Such is the case with Bruno & George. Here, deep local knowledge and vast international experience applied to both viticulture and winemaking, comes up trumps. The result is a more transparent wine, mid-weighted of feel and flecked with scents of lilac, salumi, clove, iodine and ample blue fruits. A smooth operator in the mouth, with a long glide to the finish, chaperoned by polished tannins and a peppery lilt. The choice of used, rather than new wood, appropriate.

Krondorf 121 Settlers Barossa Valley Shiraz The 121 Settlers Old Vine Shiraz is sourced from a single site at the cooler southern extremity of Barossa, in St. Jakobi, abutting the western ridge of the Lyndoch sub-zone. Here, a conflation of red clay and loam promotes earlier ripening, a mitigating factor against inclement weather and the growing risk of early season frosts that Climate Change has foisted upon us. As importantly these dense soils imbue the wines with a firm tannic carriage, ensuring passage to greater complexity in the cellar, while serving as a structural harness for typically exuberant Barossan fruit. The average age of the vines is in excess of 35 years, with gnarled octogenarian survivors among them. Yields are inherently low as the established root systems reach deep below the soils substrata in search of water and the requisite nutrients drawn through it. Yet the fruit that is produced is immaculate: vibrant, concentrated and firmly stamped with the regional postcode of generosity. The winemaking is dutifully sensitive, chaperoning the fruit from vineyard to bottle with minimal intrusion: gravity feeds, gentle pigeage and 16-18 months in used, rather than new, oak. The result is one of dark fruit allusions from plum to blackberry, underlain by a potpourri of spice including black pepper, clove and star anise, all melded to a pungent thread of mineral. The oak is apparent, but only as an adjunct to propel the finish long. As with many Barossan greats, the fruit weight allows for early appeal, albeit, this is a wine that will easily cellar for 15 years onwards.

Alkina Spice Garden Shiraz, Barossa Valley A very welcome inclusion into the Premium Barossa Shiraz Club, Alkinas Spice Garden is 100% organic and biodynamic certified Shiraz from one specific block from which they produced just 44 cases (and some rare magnums). It looks and tastes like a high-gear Barossa Shiraz, with all the ripeness and power matched with a unique minerality.

HENSCHKE Marble Angel Vineyard Cabernet, Barossa Valley

At the foot of the iconic Kaiserstuhl mountain, the early Silesian settlers of the Barossa constructed a stone altar a sanctuary for prayer in their new homeland. The Krondorf Stone Altar Shiraz is a tribute to the settlers resourcefulness and resilience. Made from the best parcels of Grenache from the vintage, this showcases expressive aromas of turkish delight, dark cherry and raspberry, with notes of liquorice and spice. Aged in French oak hogsheads, this wine showcases a core of supple fr

At the foot of the iconic Kaiserstuhl mountain, the early Silesian settlers of the Barossa constructed a stone altar a sanctuary for prayer in their new homeland. The Krondorf Stone Altar Shiraz is a tribute to the settlers resourcefulness and resilience. This wine has been carefully crafted from a very low yielding, exceptional single vineyard site in the Light Pass sub-region of the world-renowned Barossa Valley. The old vine fruit has been picked at optimum ripeness to produce a wine that

A big 1.5l MAGNUM of a "lovely contemporary Barossa Reserve Shiraz" (Halliday) with three Golds and 2 x 95pt scores. The Schild Estate can boast Shiraz vines planted by Ann Jacobs in 1847. The Schild's first arrived in Australia in 1866, and the family moved to the Barossa and purchased vineyards here in 1952. They did not make their first 'Schild' branded wine until 1998, but the estate's reputation grew steadily. Although no longer owned by the family, the estate's vineyards are all still under the family's control. This Ben Schild Reserve is named in honour of Ben Schild, who died suddenly back in 1956, leaving son Ed Schild to manage the business. This 2021 boasts three Golds and several scores of 94-95pts. It is, as Sam Kim Wine Orbit writes: "Instantly appealing ... plump and opulent in the mouth with plush texture backed by loads of silky tannins... with seductive complexity. 95pts" WinePilot complements its "sumptuous palate... bright and vibrant with tremendous juicy ripe fruits..." For Dave Brookes, The Halliday Wine Companion, “There's a real creaminess that I like here. It's not an oak creaminess, more so a plum and blueberry cream with underlying hints of dark-chocolate-dipped cherries, black forest cake, vanillin oak, panforte, olive tapenade, violets and earth. Luscious and mouth-filling with fine tannins and a velvety flow at the back end. It's a lovely contemporary Barossa shiraz. 95pts, Great Value.”

A hallmark of the Utopos Vineyard on Roennfeldt Road is the pitch perfect acid to tannin balance we can achieve in fully ripened fruit. This provides for delicious, highly approachable wines in their youth, whilst enabling them to develop over a 10-15 year period, and maybe more.