The Old Vine Syrah patch was planted in the 1930s and is on a slope of the property with a westerly aspect. These old gnarly vines are planted in heavily decomposed ironstone and quartz. The style of wine is completely individual and the winemaking team always comment on how light the style is and how exotic the spices are in this vineyard. The spices come across like incense mixed with deeply aromatic and smoky lapsang oolong tea. Exotic characters such as sandalwood, cocoa powder, sarsaparilla and cola elements top the roast meat and flinty, strawberry and cream palette of this wine. The lighter frame on this style is highly attractive and the intoxicating spices combine to create something highly exotic.

There's a lot to adore about this Cabernet Sauvignon from a beloved family-owned winery. Halliday deemed it worthy of 92 points, and it's picked up four gold medals from Australian wine shows. But if that pedigree doesn't impress you, one sip of this beautiful red will.

Old, extremely low-yielding McLaren Vale vines are responsible for d'Arenberg's Dead Arm Shiraz - a wine of enormous power, intensity and real complexity - an absolute must for any serious wine cellar and d'Arenberg lover. One of the flagships for McLaren Vale for many years, this wine continues to shine with a balanced between tradition and Chester Osborne driven innovation.

The Vicar is one of Chapel Hill’s flagship wines and is an annual vineyard selection of Chapel Hill’s most outstanding and expressive parcels of McLaren Vale Shiraz. The vineyard blocks were harvested and fermented separately in small batch open fermenters. Gentle plunging was utilised for cap management and all of the ferments were left on skins for a range of 13 days to 22 days. Following gentle basket pressing, the free run and pressing fractions were combined. During the subsequent 21-month oak maturation period, the barrels were periodically racked and returned to ensure the integration of the tannins back into the structure of the wine. To preserve purity and character the wine is made with minimal additions and is allowed to clarify naturally without the use of fining or filtration. This is wonderfully opulent Vicar. Inky black and packed with blackberries, plums and dark chocolate with a twist of aniseed. The nose brims with a complex mix of wild herbs, violets, black liquorice and a sprinkle of wild fennel. A powerful wine that flows across your palate unveiling layers of delicious flavours and succulent tannins with an impossibly long finish. Purity in a glass.

The signature Thistledown lifted aromatics are present but the palate offers more sinew and spice than those from McLaren Vale. Textural, almost chewy but polished dark cherry, mineral and warm spices carry through to a finish of incredible length.

The estate was started in 1955. Patrick and Christophe Bonnefond now control 65 acres in northern Rhone of which 18 acres is in Cote Rotie. Colline du Couzou comes from an assemblage of plots in the north and south of the Cote Rotie appellation. The fruit is 80% dedstemmed and consists of 95% Syrah and 5% Cinsault. The wine is aged in small barrels for 18 months.