The Kay Brothers property is planted to vines which can be traced back to the original Hardy site at Tintara. The relatively small, family operated estate can boast an enviable record at wine shows around the world. Basket pressing by hand through an ancient device, originally designed to process small amounts, is one of the most arduous tasks, yet it can produce the finest wines. Lifted aromatics of rose petal, morello and cherry musk, the fragrances supported on the palate by juicy red berry fruit flavours, cherry and black olive, notes, fine grained tannins for structure and superior length.

A redolent Shiraz wine with an abundance of soft tannins that's drinking beautifully. The major component is from the estate's McLaren Flat vineyards. The second instalment is sourced from good sites at Blewitt Springs and Seaview, with a smaller portion of early ripening, low yield fruit originating from a vineyard in the Sellicks sub region which is very close to the sea. They all combine beautifully to form a wine which offers rich aromas of spicy mulberry conserve followed by a smooth mix of black and red berry fruits on the middle and back palate.

Kangarilla is a main road in McLaren Vale which leads to a small village of the same name. The vineyards, located at the northern part of the foothills, ripen later than other parts resulting in cooler climate, aromatically spiced, dark berry driven wines with intense palate presence and soft velvety tannins. Kangarilla is vinified in a mix of traditional open fermenters, followed by an extended term in the pick of French and American oak barrels. Beautifully integrated fruit and smooth tannins, lingering finish of liquorice, chocolates and dark espresso coffee.

Ingoldby are one of McLaren Vale's most eminent winegrowing families. What they do, they do very well, achieving international acclaim ever since taking the decision to bottle fruit under their own label. The star in the crown of a curiously limited range of value packed wines by gifted growers who have been nurturing their vines for generations, Ingoldby Shiraz has claimed a swathe of wine show awards and amassed a breathtaking list of critical renown. For cohorts of great red wine who aspire to the smooth and seamless style of McLaren Vale Shiraz.

The Ingoldby family has been associated with McLaren Vale grapegrowing for more than a century. Their skill at managing vines which they have husbanded for generations yields harvests of the most splendid fruit bursting with intense flavours. Ingoldby's Cabernet Sauvignon is highly valued and still sought by some of the nation's most popular brands. A highly flavoursome table red, the essential McLaren Vale Cabernet, exuding ripe aromas, sweet and savoury expressions of plum, berries and oak, to pair off with juicy meats and robust cheese.

Selection of site was essential to the success of the Hugo property. The climate, soils and proximity of McLaren Flat to the coast are contributing factors in maintaining the quality each and every year. Colin Hugo established Shiraz vines on the family farm during the 1950s, John Hugo followed in his father's footsteps, assuming responsibility as steward of the vineyard throughout the 1970s, ultimately taking the initiative to retain the best grapes for his own estate label. The finest parcels of Hugo Shiraz are treated to an extended term of maturation in a selection of finely coopered American oak barrels.

The Hugo family property was a mixed farming enterprise, dairy and sheep stud, almonds and tomato, not to mention a paddock or two of grapevine for personal consumption. The first commercial vintage of Shiraz was in 1979 but a Reserve quality Shiraz was not considered for another twenty years. Limited yields from the oldest blocks are treated to an extravagant fermentation in completely new French and American oak barriques, after an inspection and barrel cull, the very finest lots are assembled into the McLaren Flat flagship Hugo Reserve Shiraz.

There are over thirty hectares of superior estate plantings on the Hugo family property, much of the harvest goes to some of Australia's most esteemed brands, the best parcels however, are reserved and released under the Hugo label. Consistency of quality from vintage to vintage is the objective, making wine from the pick of estate grown fruit makes it a reality. A precious component of low cropped, dry grown old vines Grenache, greatly enhances the depth of flavour and overall complexity. A Rosé of precociousness and vitality, to match with salmon recipes, duck prosciutto and all pink fare.

The Hugos are quiet achievers, McLaren Vale agriculturalists for over a century, they always made good wine, not for profit but just for their own enjoyment. Cabernet Sauvignon was planted in 1970, with a view to sharing the tremendous quality of their fruit, the vines are now fully mature and yield vintages of the most wonderful wine. Intensely perfumed and layered with bramble lozenge flavours, swathed in a robe of soft velvet tannins, the proverbial jewel in a velvet glove. Finely integrated French oak is a highlight, dine with Hugo alongside tender beef or gourmandise game.

From an elite site between Seaview Ridge and Blewitt Springs in the McLaren Vale, cropping at a bit over two tonnes an acre. As a single vineyard wine, a limited quantity of Mad Hatter is made each year. Mad Hatter is not a reference to Alice in wonderland, rather it is the nickname Dean Hewitson's closest friends have called him for many years. And why mad? Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with Hewitson will surely be able to explain.

From a sensational block of Touriga in Willunga basin, the laboriously manicured vines are trained to yield fruit that's destined for a decidedly old world style of vinification. Fruit is sorted bunch by bunch for a course of natural open ferments, basket pressed into a selection of well seasoned French oak barriques for a tasteful and timely nine months. Its bullish tannins in support of lifted Earl Grey florals and cherry blossom perfumes, plush and perfect dark fruit flavours, tensioned by fine, etching acid line. A big Touriga style that unwinds and blooms within a big wine glass.

Tintara tastefully embraces the best of new age winemaking whilst artfully retaining and utilizing much of the original plant and techniques from Hardy's distant past. Tintara Shiraz is fashioned from premium fruit grown to some of the better vineyards across the valley. A delicious wine that's been hand crafted with a view to enhancing the fine quality, intensity and distinct qualities of McLaren Vale Shiraz, all carried on a balanced structure of pliant, juicy tannins, achieving a palate of measured opulence and refined persistence.

Tintara is a winery of two worlds. A living treasure house of tradition on the one hand, a testimony to new age winemaking on the other. Tintara Reserve is only ever produced in the best of years, vintage 2006 being the first release since the superlative 2003 edition. Sourced predominently from ancient McLaren Vale vines, well over a century old, Hardy's employ the original Tintara apparatus to hand craft some of Australia's most precious grapes into a rich Shiraz wine with a remarkably smooth palate, extraordinary complexity and conspicuously gentle tannins.

The first Tintara vines were planted by Dr Alexander Kelly in 1862. Thomas Hardy recognised the potential that lay within the rich loamy soils of McLaren Vale and purchased the splendid property. Built against the rolling hills at the foot of Mount Lofty Ranges, the ancient Mortlock Flour Mill has been converted into the present day operating winery, its ingenious sloping design harnesses gravity in the winemaking, translating into a gentler handling of the juices. Tintara is a rarity in every sense, each sip remains a truly memorable experience.

Oomoo was among the first of Thomas Hardy's great bestowments to the nascent Australian palate. In its day a rich and robust red wine, Oomoo has been reintroduced in commemoration of Hardy's third golden jubilee. This multi award winning Shiraz has been widely acclaimed as one of the great value red wine buys in Australia and abroad. Hardys take the pick of the crop from the best vineyards in McLaren Vale and set it aside for Oomoo, a Shiraz of reliability and abundance of ripe fruit flavours, stylishness and satisfying, savoury tannins.

Following the extraordinary success of Oomoo Shiraz, Hardy's have assembled the holy trinity of noble Rhône Valley red grapes into a complex and stylish wine. An assembly of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, grown to mature vines in McLaren Vale, some up to seventy years old. Spicey, fruit driven characters are the hallmark of Oomoo GSM, undominated by any one varietal, expressing all three. Seasoned oak is employed to let Oomoo's primary fruit profiles speak for themselves. A generous wine with weighty palate and flourish of piquant spice.

A living legend of the Australian wine industry, Merrill Reserve has claimed Australia's most prestigious awards, including Jimmy Watson and Visy Great Australian Shiraz Challenge. Merrill Reserve is a compilation of his best wines, as selected from a vintage of small parcels which have been treated to an extended maturation. Merrill Reserve can be best described as voluptuous and seductive, laden with complex chocolatier flavours and tensile textures, beckoning and beguiling before revealing the stately structure within.

Three choice acres of viticulture surrounding the Mount Hurtle wineworks, were established to a fortuitous planting of Reynella clone Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot vines in 1985. Picked to varying schedules of ripeness, they are vinified into a sensational accord of remarkable complexity and finesse. Matured an extravagant thirty two months in the choicest French oak hogsheads, Pimpala Vineyard is redolent with a prominent Cabernet nose of cassis, black olives and mint, its affable, muscular tannins in support of Merlot plummyness, dark brambles and pastille.

Take your pick from the estate cellars of Geoff Merrill Shiraz, richly aged two years in a selection of French and American oak hogsheads and puncheons, assemble into the essential meat and vegetable McLaren Vale style. Blood red, mulberry and currant spice, moccha and milled pepper throughout, a lick of menthol, the savouryness of leather, black olive and savoury smoked meats. Jacko's the drink to open and to breathe for service alongside your favourite recipe of red wine casserole, kipflers and shallot, dutch carrots and Jus.

Henley demands a sensory evaluation to identify the finest barrels of Geoff Merrill Shiraz. The choicest parcels are earmarked and set aside each year for a course of maturation in the finest French oak. After fifteen months, the stocks are sampled to identify a short list of the very best, refilled to oak for a further course of maturation into the eminent Geoff Merrill Reserve. The final cut of this elite cull represents a strictly limited edition of the most superlative Shiraz in all McLaren Vale, only ten barrels each vintage are worthy of bottling under the Henley moniker.

Sangiovese and McLaren Vale share a great affinity, a home away from home for the vines, stimulated by the sultry Mediterranean climes around Gulf St Vincent. Geoff Merrill's grandfather grew up amongst the pastorals of old Italy, he would wax poetic about the delights of Tuscan wine and ultimately inspired Merrill to plant Sangiovese. Treated to a lavish thirty two months in American and French oak puncheons, followed by an extended term in bottle, Joseph Cilento has evolved into a more elegant, European style, commendable with Cotoletta, ideal with Agnello.

Equal parts Shiraz and Grenache, a tenth of Mourverdre, all picked off blocks of dry grown McLaren Vale vines, treated to a traditional old world vinification and sent to a selection of American oak hogsheads and puncheons for an extended twenty months maturation. Brick red in colour, leading with an animated nose of savoury spiced meats and wild berry fruits, the tannins are seen but not heard, perfectly in tune with the piquant Rhonesque acidity to deliver impeccable balance and seamless structure, all before a long dark chocolate finish.

Perfect balance in wine cannot be manufactured, it occurs naturally. Gemtree achieves this elusive idyll. Uncut has distinguished itself throughout the vintages with Double Gold in San Fransisco, Blue Gold in Sydney and Silver Great Australian Shiraz Challenge. Hand selected from forty year old vines grown to the estate's Tatachilla Road Vineyard, Uncut Shiraz requires very little intervention. The synergy between fruit and oak, acid and tannin are seamless and sublime.

A beautifully balanced Bordeaux meets Rhone style, an assemblage of McLaren Valeʼs best for a classically arranged cépage of fruit. An Aussie claret with a difference! Cabernet Franc provides aromatics, structure and tannin, Mourvedre contributes juicyness and Petit Verdot is the funk. The Phantom is a product of exacting care in the vineyard, a high percentage of Verdot enhances the complexity and ensures the wine will develop magnificently. Only the most expressive and standout parcels are included into The Phantom.

Gemtree established a block of Tempranillo on heavy clay soils at McLaren Flat in 1999, significant in being the first estate vineyard to be bio dynamically husbanded and to receive organic certification. Grapes are all hand picked and fermented on skins for a fortnight, hand plunged, pressed off skins and drained into a selection of well seasoned oak puncheons for ten months, racked and bottled without any fining or filtration, to retain pastoral sauvage. Think cranberry and raspberries, black olive, prosciutto and spice, delectable savouryness from nose to finish.

Ernest Allan Rivers was a highly gifted agriculturalist who possessed an uncanny understanding of the soil, seasons and harvest. The Gemtree viticutural team have assembled parcels of Shiraz from a number of elite blocks, picked to a schedule holistically determined by the vagaries of vintage for optimal flavour and tannin ripeness, naturally fermented on skins for a fortnight, pressed and drained into French oak barriques for aging on gross lees over the course of twenty months. Assembled to a style that's characterised by seamlessness, generosity and warmth.

Gemtree are back to basics, allowing the outstanding quality of their bio organic fruit to seak for itself. Roughly equal parts Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, fashioned to engage the senses and to be flattering to all good food. Driven by its mineral savouryness and salacious fruit, a mere five months in seasoned French oak barriques, just enough to coalesce all parts into a seamless whole. A delicious, mouthfilling wine, resplendent with gorgeous raspberry flavours, licorice, bay leaf and black olive notes, creamy cherry oak and suave, velvetine tannins.

Bloodstone was originally intended for the UK Oddbins retail chain. It turned into a runaway success and went on to claim a litany of international accolades, 5 Cuisine Magazine Stars & Best Buy, as well as Gold & Double Gold at the prestigious San Francisco International. A wine that exhibits extraordinary balance and integration in its youth, sourced from Gemtree's home block, within the oldest vineyard along Tatachilla Road. Shiraz is co-fermented with a tot of Viognier to enhance the aromatics, sweeten the palate and tame the tannins.

An accord of three very different parcels of superior McLaren Vale vineyard, vinified on skins for a week and a half in traditional open vats, followed by transfer to a selection of seasoned and new French oak barrels for completion of malolactic and eighteen months maturation. The individual Blocks of Cabernet were cannily shifted between different cooperages of oak to impart layers of flavour and enhance structure, the final assemblage is a judicious draught of vineyard parcels to achieve layers of flavour and opulent tannin profile.

Short Row is crafted from harvests of intensely flavoured Shiraz grapes, sourced off the best McLaren Vale blocks and from Fox Creek 's own short rows of vine, adjacent to the estate cellars. Short Row boasts an illustrious history of wine show triumphs ever since inaugural release. Endowed with rich and powerful aromas, an amazing palate of blackberry fruit, toast and sweet red berries, all wrapped in velvety soft tannins, culminating with a long and dry, flavoursome finish. The classic McLaren Vale style, it responds well to a course of decanting.

Excellent Langtons Classification. An eminent performer on the international wine show circuit, one of the nation's most celebrated Shiraz, the best of McLaren Vale. Fox Creek Reserve is assembled from a ruthless barrel cull of the best parcels to come out of each vintage. Offering great weight of fruit on the palate, an extraordinary range of flavours, the finish is long and legendary. Highly cellarable yet fully approachable when young, a Shiraz of great purity and unequivocally fine acidity, decanting and breathing are a must.

The Baron is back, gladly exchanging his bright red triplane for a bottle or two of good red wine. This suave Shiraz is crafted from some of the best Fox Creek estate grown fruit, much in the same way as the eponymous flying ace took out his pick of prey in the skies over France. A smooth, satisfying effort by one of Mclaren Vale's baronial winemaking estates, rich in character, distinctive in style and silky in texture, guaranteed to charm and to captivate. Introduce the Baron to barbequed scotch fillets or a potato crusted meatball pie.

Physicians traditionally harbour a penchant for good red wine. Their analytic skills come in handy when it comes to choosing a site and establishing McLaren Vale vines. Meet the Fox Creek's bespoke elixir for good health and happy life, the perfumed lift of Grenache, juicy red berry fruits, Shiraz for fleshy plum and spice, old vine tannins for elegance and structure. Mourvedre ties the palate together as it adds tannin volume and earthy texture. An, intense berry ridden palate, which will leave you looking forward to the next sip.

James Stanley Malpas, born of Willunga, served with the 27th Infantry Battalion AIF during World War I in Gallipoli and France, decorated with the distinguished Military Cross, he returned to McLaren Vale and cleared the land known as Fox Creek. Three quarters old vine Shiraz, a fifth of Cabernet and soupçon of Franc, JSM makes a wine of complexity, substance and panache, it's all luscious fruit, framed by long textural Cabernet tannins, fully integrated and balanced by the patience of nineteen months in the pick of well seasoned oak.

Fox Creek began to flow when a group of medicos decided to realize a lifelong passion and create the best possible wines out of bare earth and sunshine. The Fox Creek vineyards were established from the ground up to be the most environmentally friendly, whilst the vines themselves are spoiled with attention. Dr Jim Watts writes the recipe for a whole that's greater than the sum of parts, Merlot for elegance and plummy fruit, the silk of Cabernet tannins, aromaticness of Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot for titillating spice and dazzling blueberry fruit.

Excellent Langtons Classification. The Hardys flagship, a compilation of the very best barrels of Tintara Shiraz, originally bottled as an annual birthday gift for founder Bill Hardy's grandmother. Eileen Hardy was awarded an O.B.E. for her outstanding contribution to the wine industry. She is fondly remembered as the matriarch of Australia's most prominent winemaking and yachting family. Eileen Hardy Shiraz represents the pinnacle of achievement, a feast of a red wine embracing the tradition of great Australian icon Shiraz, opulent, powerful and seductive.

The most highly coke addled marketing executive couldn't have come up with a brand like Dowie Doole, but fast forward and the label now enjoys a growing reputation for profound Shiraz wines in Australia and overseas. Small crops of extraordinary quality fruit are grown to some enduring Mclaren Vale vines, to be fermented and matured at the Boar's Rock wineworks.