Cantina Tormaresca age their wines under an aristocratic chapel named Saint Pasquale within the estate of Masseria Maime, built in the seventeenth century to service the temporal needs of itinerant farm hands. The gracefully old Negroamaro vines at Masseria Maime were fortuitously planted at the very heart of Apulian viticulture, they yield a tremendous wine that's made for gastronomy. Infused by the aromaticness of lush pine woodlands and surrounding olive groves, a seriously seductive, silken textured wine to match with pork recipes and rustic styled, full flavoured fare.

From harvests of organically grown Aglianico grapes, picked off Bocca di Lupo estate vineyards in the commune of Minervino Murge, at the very heart of Barletta-Andria-Trani province in Apulia. It was the Aglianico of Bocca di Lupo which inspired Tormaresca to invest many years in the rejuvenation of some very old vines and to preserve the timeless eloquence of a most abstruse and historically significant varietal. Aglianico was the first choice amongst ancient Greeks, an intense wine of structured tannins, solid fruit and fragrant chocolate plum perfumes.

Torbreck are strongly influenced by the long enduring, classic French styles of wine. The wild, rugged and earthen aromas associated with France's Bandol provide the basis for The Pict, a powerful single vineyard, pure Mataro wine. Sourced exclusively from a plot of ancient vines near the hamlet of Greenock, the palate is elegantly rich, earthy and beautifully balanced for early drinking, a profound expression of Mataro, untamed and wild, almost certainly enough to satiate a Pictish warrior.

Torbreck believe that they source fruit for The Laird from the greatest vineyard on earth, owned by the Seppelt family, it commands a price for its harvest that's commensurate with the most prestigious first growths of the old world. There have only ever been four vintage releases, such is the strict criterion for quality. Two precious hectares of Shiraz named Gnadenfrei, yield a crop of small, concentrated berries, the envy of all growers and winemakers in Barossa Valley, only the most exceptional years are worthy of The Laird.

A pure, single vineyard wine, from fruit picked off a single plot of Shiraz, planted 1960 and still managed by the same family. The rocky surrounds of Greg and Cynthia Knight’s highly elevated block of vine were so very reminiscent to winemaker David Powell of stone burial grounds on the hills above Torbreck forest. Nestled into the eastern slope of Mt. McKenzie, this cherished site yields a harvest of parched, intensely flavoured berries, brimming with extraordinary character, lined with the most graceful tannins, endowed with remarkable balance, elegance and poise.

In the early 1980s, due to lack of demand, the government paid incentives to growers to rip out their vines and gut some of Australia's most precious old vineyards. The movement to cool climate viticulture made the Barossa, of all places, look rather irrelevant. The Factor is Torbreck's salutation to those dedicated growers who stood by their vines and continue to painstakingly produce small harvests of the most splendid Shiraz. A wine of immense concentration and great purity of fruit that only the most meticulous husbanding of vines can achieve.

The view from Struie down towards Dornoch Firth, is as inspiring as the panorama across Barossa's Valley floor from atop the elevated ranges. David Powell assembles Shiraz from ancient, isolated little Barossa vineyards, some are well over a century of age. Sourced from several elevated sites throughout the Barossa and Eden Valleys, Struie reflects the cooler side of the region and showcases the subtle nuances which can be gained from hillside viticulture, for a full bodied and powerful, rich red wine of purity, focus and intensity.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. From vines up to 140 years of age, planted to the most distinguished sites at Marananga and Moppa, Gomersal and Ebenezer, Greenock and Kalimna. A flagship wine of phenomenal density, a remarkable port like concentration, fashioned from parcels of the most invaluable Shiraz, compounding the wine's irrepressible bouquets and epic palate. The intensity of flavour hits the mouth like a gale, releasing a multitude of layers and complexities that continuously resonate and evolve.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. RunRig was a system that the highland clans employed to distribute property and holdings. It appropriately defines the Torbreck flagship, crafted from small yields of the most precious hand sorted Shiraz, picked off a canon of very old, dry grown vineyards. The emphasis is never on any one proprietor or farm, but rather the communal elements of the whole. RunRig is a wine which exhibits so much power and latent richness, that it is compared with the epicly structured and perfumed first growths of Cote Rôtie.

Dave Powell was honoured when good friend Ignatius Chan asked him to make a wine for his renowned Singapore establishment. Powell sourced a unique parcel of old vines Grenache from the devigorated soils of western Seppeltsfield to create Les Amis, a testament to what the most exacting standards of viticulture can achieve. A harvest of the most precious fruit, gifted with purity, intensity and finesse. Les Amis flaunts the poise, concentration and panache, with which only the world's greatest terroirs are bestowed.

A wickedly decadent indulgence, an extravagant gratification for the hedonist within the most wayward Barossa enthusiast, here are Torbreck at their nefarious best. Heinously high in alcohol and not for the feint of heart, a single unique parcel is called upon, only ever in the finest vintage years, hand picked off a precious, sharefarmed block at Moppa. Treated to a meticulous old world vinification techniques, Highland Fling is arrested mid way through fermentation with a fortification of Torbreck brandy, lifting the intensity of palate and infusing evocative perfumes.

Excellent Langtons Classification. A single vineyard wine, the Barossa Valley's first ever co fermented Shiraz Viognier, from fruit grown next to the winery block on Roennfeldt Road, planted to cuttings off old RunRig vineyards, some of the oldest genetic material in Australia. Built to last and evolve for many years as time unlocks layers of cryptic complexity within, the Descendant's immediate charm can be enjoyed immediately upon release, after a few hours of essential breathing. A wine of remarkable concentration, supported by silky tannins, suave sophistication and impeccable balance.

The Tolpuddle Martyrs were English farmhands whose only crime was to establish a workers union in the world's newest nation, perfect stock with strong backs to labour as penal colonists, they served out their sentence on the site of Tolpuddle Vineyard. The property is now planted to blocks of fully mature vines, they face northeast and slope gently up from Back Tea Tree Road. Soils are light silica over sandstone, only moderate in vigor, the ideal terroir for minimalist yields of the most remarkably balanced and wonderfully intense Pinot Noir.

Excellent Langtons Classification. When the Birks of Wendouree settled Valley Clare in 1904, they planted their site to Shiraz. Many of these old vines remain productive and offer the backbone of fruit for the icon Tim Adams Aberfeldy. Younger rootings of the same clone yield grapes of the most intense colour, depth of flavour and refined tannins. The intense perfume and muscular nature of the finished wine reflects the character of site as much as the charm and personality of the animated and affable winemaker.

Thomas Hardy was a visionary who embarked upon a journey to deliver a dependable range of the highest quality table wines to the nascent Australian market. He established his brand in the 1850s, at a time when most of his contemporaries were struggling to produce a wine which would appeal to the Australian palate. The Hardy company of today still retain some of the finest viticultural assets in the nation, the princelings of Coonawarra plantings are set aside in the most outstanding vintages, to be crafted into the national icon Thomas Hardy Cabernet.

From three old, dry grown bush blocks at Blewitt Springs, planted to a benignant terroir of deep ironstone sands. Parcels are separately picked at ideal ripeness, crushed and treated to a measure of whole bunch or wild yeast ferments, regularly hand plunged in a mix of concrete vats and open vessels, followed by a course of age in seasoned oak puncheons. So very redolent of wild cherry, violets, rosemary and spice, its polished, multi layered palate, lined of loquacious, liquorice tanins, textural towards a lengthy aromatic finish.

At the Seaview end of Chapel Hill Road, a perfunctory passerine perched her pincers astride a pair of power lines and set herself ablaze. Down she went amongst the dry grown branches of an old Grenache vineyard, setting the valuable veterans alight. The scorched site eventually became part of the Thistledown portfolio, its wizzened old vines make an alluringly perfumed wine that's evocative of florals, petals and pretty Pinot freshness. Cranberries, spices and ripe wild cherry combine with silken textures to define a beautifully elegant Grenache wine.

From the Redman family's forty year old vineyards in the heart of Coonawarra, the most superior parcels each year yield a vintage of just eight oak hogsheads. Bill Redman's consuming passion was to make good red wine. His faith in Coonawarra Terra rossa as a world class winegrowing region was vindicated in 1936 when Redman Claret won the London Empire Wine Show. The best barrels are identified and assembled into the final Redman for a term in oak and a decade of repose in bottle under the estate cellars. A mere 200 dozen are made.

Albert is the namesake of Teusner's grandfather, commemorated for his tireless hard work and commitment. Albert is sourced from two small blocks of low yielding unirrigated vines, aged between fifty and a hundred years, one precious site in the Barossa's north at Ebenezer and the other, near the valley's southern most parts at Williamstown. Pure and expressive, displaying the power, elegance and generosity of splendid old vines Shiraz, Albert is a joy to drink now and will continue to evolve magical Barossa richness.

A solid backbone of Cabernet Franc and Merlot, with smaller components Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. Piero Antinori, the icon vintner who created the concept of super Tuscans in the 1970s, was inspired by unique soils along the Upper Maremma to plant Biserno's specialty, the esoteric Cabernet Franc.

Te Mata are New Zealand's oldest winery, family owned and operated, they produce world class efforts, from fruit exclusively grown to estate vineyards in the Ngatarawa Triangle of Hawkes Bay. Originally planted in 1990, the Bullnose Vineyard's old red iron soils are Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand accredited, they yield precious harvests of Te Mata's finest Syrah.

It was the great Cabernet wines of Bordeaux which inspired Bill Taylor to diversify from imports and retail into the highly fraught pursuit of grape growing. An ardent enthusiast of Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Taylor had a keen enough palate and nose to determine that the most auspicious lands for Cabernet Sauvignon were amongst the idyllic rolling pastorals of Valley Clare. Selected on the basis of opulence and intensity, velvet tannins and heady perfumes, the most sensational pickings from the finest vintages are set aside for inclusion into the stately and magnificent, Visionary Cabernet Sauvignon.

St Andrew is the flagship of ultra premium editions by Taylor, a benchmark Clare Valley effort, vinified from Shiraz grown to a distinguished old site. It represents the very best from the Taylor family estate and continues the St Andrews legacy of transcendent, first growth Australian wine, a tradition which dates back to the inaugural vintage of 1892. A true labour of love, painstakingly hand crafted from grapes grown to a historic vineyard. A generously proportioned yet elegant wine, Clare Valley Shiraz at its stellar finest.

Next door to the Taylor estate was a sleepy winery originally founded in 1896, one of the first in the Valley, it had not been operational since 1934. In 1995 Taylor acquired the property and set about the task of recreating history with the re-issue of the timeless St. Andrew. Australia's most enduring flagship Cabernet Sauvignon, with a history of awards at prestigious international competitions including Concours de Mondial Bruxelles, St Andrew continues to attract international acclaim by virtue of its peerless quality of fruit and artisanal winemaking.

Clare Valley Shiraz is internationally renowned, remarkable for its spectacular complexity, elegance and poise. Bill Taylor planted Shiraz with a view to formulating the very style which has won primacy throughout the world of wine. His nascent plantings continue to yield some of the most superlative Shiraz in all Valley Clare. A meticulous cull of the finest pickings are barrel fermented in new oak, followed by two years in the luxury of artisanally coopered barriques. Articulate of boysenberry, eucalypt and plum, its toothsome tapestry, undulating on a fugue of tea tree tannin and polished ebony oak.

The Tatachilla team can be proud of a long and illustrious history, producing the most memorable vintages of salient, award winning regional icon wines. Foundation is the estate flagship, sourced from the pick of crop, assembled from the best blocks on illustrious vineyards at Clarendon and Blewitt Springs, crafted with an uncompromising pursuit of excellence, to articulate the seductive richness and textural elegance of the most exceptional McLaren Vale Shiraz.

At the heart of Barossa culture, is the tradition of Lutheran migrants who were invited by the British Crown, to flee persecution in the old world and populate the new colony of South Australia. Johann Christian Henschke arrived in the 1840s, acquiring property at Krondorf and planting vines, he sold his first vintage in 1868. The Henschkes of today own and operate some of the most distinguished vineyards in Australia, they know the best Barossa growers well and source the most exquisite parcels of Shiraz every year for inclusion into Tappa Pass.

Tapanappa acquired and renovated the precious Whalebone Vineyard at Wrattonbully in 2002. The thirty year old Shiraz and Cabernet vines have responded magnificently. The paradox is that despite being cooler than Coonawarra, the fruit ripens earlier and more completely. The still air, cool night and warm days particularly suit the rejuvenated vines. The quality of fruit is ideal for a masculine Medoc style, not surprising given the similarity of soil, geology and climate to that of St. Emilion in Bordeaux. By maestro Brian Croser, only a few hundred cases are made.

Brian Croser established vines on a foggy, north facing slope of sandy clay loams at Parawa, very near the extreme south westerly point of Fleurieu Peninsula in 2003. The chilly maritime climes on Maylands Farm are a challenge for the vineyard team but they yield Pinot Noir of extraordinary eloquence and exquisite pastoral richness. A week of hand plunging and warmer ferments are gently air bag pressed into a high proportion of new French oak barriques for ten months maturation. Its voluminous palate unravels layers of complexity before an august, satin finish.

A Victorian flagship effort in the uniquely Australian experience of icon Shiraz Cabernet wines. Taltarni blends modern Australian winemaking with traditional French vinification practices, encapsulating the philosophy of forming a nexus between new and old world methodologies. Taltarni Reserve is an accord of two noble red varietals which have brought Taltarni international renown. Grown to superior Pyrenees vineyards, Cabernet lays down the solid structure and contributes profound berry perfumes, Shiraz brings flesh and adds piquant aromatic spice.