An extraordinary concentration of the finest vineyards in the world are to be found in the very southwest parts of Gevrey Chambertin. As you enter the commune from the south, the various Climats of Charmes and its satellites, a mere thirty hectares, all appear within the first kilometre of Route N74. The parcels of Dugat-Py are amongst the youngest, they are however the most fastidiously managed, trained to completely organic regimens of viticulture which have remain unchanged for centuries. Fewer than two hundred dozen bottles are made each year.

The invaluable Lieux-dits des Charmes are planted to a crest of superior vineyards along the Routs des Grands Crus. The family of M. Dugat shares a history with the great and timeless appellation of Charmes Chambertin, claiming the prestigious Tasse d’Or for Best Grand Cru. Domaine Dugat-Py are respected by peers and enthusiasts alike, admired for the excellence of their viticulture, venerated for the purity and virtue of their wines, managed from vineyard to bottling, with uncompromising and obsessive attention to detail.

The vines of Charmes Chambertin are planted to rocky brown soils, partly alluvial and rich in limestones clays, a fortuitous mix which yields harvests of the most extraordinary Pinot Noir. Elegantly perfumed, eloquent and statuesque, the wines of Aux Charmes have been revered for centuries by kings and emperors alike. The proprietors of Dugat-Py have been local winegrowers since the days of the three musketeers, their parcel of Charmes is a relatively recent acquisition, brought to an uncompromising standard of excellence within the life of a generation.

Dry River are a first growth of Martinborough. One of the region's earliest believers. The crescent shaped appellation lies along the edge of a river terrace formed by the Ruamahunga and Huangarua Rivers. An artisanal accord of Tempranillo and Pinot Noir, Viognier and Shiraz. All the varietals are in balance though the tannin profile might give it away. Delicate acidity to underline the fruit, a story of exquisite balance and harmony and elocution, a mineral thread entwines with the faintest hint of dried herb, the finish is long with the freshness of lingering flavours.

The great virtues of Martinborough are the lowest rainfall anywhere on the North Island and a heat summation that's idyllic for Pinot Noir. Seasonal rains are limited to a tiny locality, five kilometres in radius. At the heart of these unique mesoclimes lies an auspicious terroir of wonderfully free draining gravels, the home of Dry River Pinot Noir. Its full and round palate over elegant, velvety textured tannins, defined by delicacy rather than power. The finished wine is aged for a year in a selection of seasoned and new French oak puncheons.

Dawn and Neil McCallum had been looking for a quality site since 1979, it became clear that Martinborough was the place. Beginning in 1986, the wines of Martinborough were given a seal of origin. Authentification is administered through Martinborough Terrace Appellation of Origin System. A mere 600 plantable hectares in size, the special soils are comprised almost completely of free draining gravels with the same meagre rainfall, aspects and temperatures, unique and homogenous from a viticultural point of view.

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.

The winemaking at Dominique Portet has one foot planted firmly in tradition and the other in the latest developments. It is ultimately an empathy for the grape and respect for the shared experiences of winemaking pioneers which drive the Portet wineworks, nestled amongst the flourishing vineyards of Victoria. It is from these propitious sites on the benign aspects of Yarra Valley, that Dominique Portet identifies auspicious parcels, so akin to the peerless quality of harvest that he husbanded during his childhood amongst the vines of Château Lafite.

André was Dominique Portet’s father, role model and mentor. The eigth generation in a distinguished lineage of vigneron, André raised Dominique amongst the world's most sacred vines during his tenure as manager at the illustrious Château Lafite-Rothschild. An assemblage of parcels Cabernet Sauvignon, hand picked and hand sorted from elite blocks in the Pyrenees and Yarra Valley, Andre can only ever be made from the most exceptional vintages.

Inaugural release of a superior Margaret River Cabernet, destined to be only ever made from the most outstanding vintage years. Crafted from the pick of an elite parcel in the northern precinct of Wilyabrup, where the warmer maritime climes encourage vines to yield a precious harvest of elegantly statuesque Cabernet Sauvignon. The icon of the Devils Lair marque and a preeminent regional flagship, replete with impenetrably rich, blackberry lozenge fruit characters, framed by a veneer of ebony oak, lined with the most astonishingly silky tannins.

An assemblage of fruit from the terroirs of Vion, Saint Jean de Muzols, Mauves and Tournon. The ancient vineyards of Saint Joseph, planted almost exclusively to Syrah, occupy a few hundred highly precious acres on the right bank of the Rhone. Vines are grown to terraces on the rocky granite hillsides, where Delas select only the finest harvests for Francois de Tournon.

Crozes Hermitage is the largest of the northern Valley Rhône appellations. Domaine des Grands Chemins is vinified from a complex cépage of grapes which are exclusively Cotes du Rhône. All the contributing vineyard plots lie on a unique geological formation known as Le Chassis at the confluence of the rivers Isere and Rhône. The texture is exquisitely silky and the balance exceptional, Des Grands Chemins pairs well with meats, feathered game or agneau en croute.

The wines of Chateauneuf du Pape are amongst the most prestigious of the entire Rhone Valley. These prized efforts are vinified from grapes grown to the region's stoney hilled terroirs, off vines pointedly planted to soils of varying depths. Haute Pierre Rouge is mostly Grenache with a tenth of Syrah, from vineyards on the famous red clay/ quartz soils of Chateauneuf du Pape.

One of Piper River's original vineyards, Delamere have established an enviable reputation amongst enthusiats, for releasing a continuity of profound vintages in Tasmanian Pinot Noir. Not just a home of good wine, the Delamere property is a centre of cultural events, hosting Shakespeare in the Vineyard every March, a celebration of gastronomy, the performing and visual arts. An exclusively single vineyard, Pipers River Pinot Noir, from fruit grown to fully mature vines, to be decanted before service, in the tradition of the world's finest growths.

Peter Dawson and Tim James worked together at Hardy's for twenty years. Their Dawson and James label is as much about personal passion as it is about professionalism. Meadowbank single vineyard Pinot Noir is the realization of a long held ambition, also anticipated by industry peers, many of whom have been mentored by the two old hands. Their precious Meadowbank property on the banks of the Derwent makes a quality of Pinot that's highly articulate of it's provenance, tucked away in the cool and collected wilderness of the Tasmanian southeast.

d'Arenberg's love affair with Grenache reaches its pinnacle with Ironstone Pressings. The original block planted in 1918, on the lower side of the winery, has a plentiful amount of ironstone throughout the soil structures, which enhances the body and tannin structure of the wine. As the finished wine is a cepage of three grapes it is a matter of selecting and screening the very best Grenache barrels. They complement the Dead Arm Shiraz component which likewise complements the 28 Rd Mourvedre portion to a point where the Grenache is beautifully framed.

Excellent Langtons Classification & Gold Medal 2008 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles. Dead Arm is a vine disease caused by the fungus Eutypa Lata that randomly affects vineyards all over the world. Often vines affected are severely pruned or replanted. One half, or an arm of the vine slowly becomes reduced to dead wood. That side may be lifeless and brittle, but the grapes on the other side, while low yielding, display amazing intensity.

One of Australia's most celebrated reds, renowned globally as much for the struggle of the diseased vines to produce the vigorous berries, as for it's spellbinding palate, and peculiar name. An excellent vintage that ripened without interruptions.

The Dead Arm Shiraz is the very best Shiraz from one of the oldest producers, in arguably the best Shiraz producing region in the world. After time in bottle the d'Arenberg Dead Arm gains a biscuity, cinnamon, caramel and eucalyptus based bouquet on top of rich blackberry pie smells. The accent is on powerful full-bodied berry fruit flavour, with a little sweet English toffee- like oak evident on the juicy, rolling finish.

Outstanding Langtons Classification, one of Australia's most revered red wines, highly sought by enthusiasts around the globe. Named after a notorious vine blight which strikes fear into the heart of viticulturalists around the world, Darenberg's construct of Dead Arm Shiraz is an aberration of ancient, truncated, gap toothed vines which date back to 1912. A powerful red wine, vinified from the most intensely flavoured hand picked fruit, renowned by enthusiasts throughout the world, it remains one of Australia's most accessible, great icon wines.

Coppermine Road is named after an avenue, very near the d'Arenberg property which runs parallel to the finest block of Cabernet Sauvignon vines to be found anywhere in McLaren Vale. The precious grapes are descended largely from a curious and near extinct unnamed clone which yields no more than a single tonne per acre because of its very poor setting ability and tiny berries. The quality of the fruit however is far superior, with wonderful violet and blackcurrant aromas, great acidity and long but intense, finely grained tannins.

From a single precious block, planted to an inhospitable reef outcrop, dynamited for levelling and planted to the eminent Concongella clone of Shiraz in 1995. The dry and bony soils yield meagre harvests of the most amazing concentration, parched little berries bursting with flavour and lined with velvet tannins. Grampians Shiraz of the highest order and most distinguished peerage, its amazingly rich perfumes and bridled elegance, black fruit characters throughout, black cherries, black raspberries and black roses, salacious yet refined.

Full bodied, single block Shiraz of controlled power and amazing grace, crafted from a small parcel of precious fruit, picked off a rare clone, transplanted to Moonambel from an ancient Barossa vineyard in 1997. An opaque, masculine wine treated to an extended term of age in an extravagant choice of medium toast Allier French oak, its virile bouquet of musky jube aromas and seasoned sandalwood precedes a voluminious palate of dark berries, bramble and cassis, a wine of intense concentration supported by the splendour of masculine, savoury tannins.

Excellent Langtons Classification. A more masculine style of Shiraz, a wine of immense power and complexity, vinified from parcels of small, gnarled berries with massive concentration of fruit characters, picked off the most enduring vines grown to the parched western districts of country Victoria. The structure and complexity is impressive, exhibiting the taste and nose of Grand Cru Hermitage. An appealing freshness to the wine brings it forward, Dalwhinnie ages magnificently but is a profound experience to savour immediately upon release.

Excellent Langtons Classification. The Dalwhinnie vineyard is situated on the 37th parallel, within a unique amphitheatre which has its own unique mesoclime. The poor fragile soils left over from alluvial mining projects in the early 1800s are some of the hardest and hungriest anywhere. The first Shiraz vines, planted to the Grand Piano Block, were rootlings from the eminent Sunraysia Nurseries at Mildura. The site is totally frost free and harvests achieve complete physiological ripeness nine out of ten years, all vintage releases must surpass expectations.