Haan are all about the magnificence of fruit grown to the superlative Hanenhof Vineyard. The original property was purchased in 1853 by George Friedrich Schmidt for one pound per acre. Development of the site to the most exacting standards has been the keystone of success, to which must be added the consuming pursuit of excellence. An assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the mesmerising Medoc style of rich Barossa red, deeply flavoursome and powerfully driven by concentratations of fruit.

The pick of Hanenhof Vineyard Shiraz, a superior site of closely coddled vines at Tanunda on Siegersdorf Road, cropped to a scant 3½ tonnes per acre and ripened to 15° baume before harvest. Prestige is inoculated with choice strains of yeasts to enhance the eloquence of fruit and maximize depth of palate, plunged and pumped over thrice daily, as the fermenting wine is allowed to rest on skins for a week. Batches are racked into a selection of the finest French oak barriques for a course of malolactic and an extravagant two years maturation.

The nation's preeminent vintage of pure Merlot, from precious parcels of tightly packed berries, picked off fully mature vines at a magnificent old Barossa site. Treated to traditional vinification and extended term of age in an extravagant selection of French oak, Haan's black cherries and ripe plum bouquets, precede a rich, voluptuous palate, brimming with ripe fruit flavours, festive cake spice and delicate mocha oak, all supported by silky grape tannins. An august Merlot wine of great length and persistence, Prestige should be decanted three hours before service.

There are only two hectares of Merlot at Haan but they have yielded a conspicuous tally of the nation's most memorable vintages in grand Barossa Merlot. The original property along Siegersdorf Road was acquired 1853 by George Friedrich Schmidt for the cost of a pound an acre. The excellence of the harvest from this princely parcel, known to neighbouring Barossans as Hanenhof, has established a celebrity for Merlot which belies its tiny size. An edifying indigo whorl of sweet and savoury fruits, supported by cedar, while seasoned by a soupcon of sage and spearmint spice.

Grosset Gaia is recognized internationally, acknowledged purely on the basis of its extraordinary qualites and distinctive character. A wine that speaks loudly of its site, the rugged, austere moonscape of the Grosset Gaia vineyard on the slopes of a windswept hill at the Clare Valley's highest point. Gaia is a decidedly Bordelais assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with Merlot, an outstanding wine, pure and powerful, artisanally crafted and opulent, ultra concentrated and brooding, designed for development.

Marschall Groom is the culmination of many years accumulated experience in the construct of Australia's most memorable vintages. The dream became reality following acquistion of a barren property in the Kalimna appellation of Barossa, directly adjacent Penfolds Kalimna Vineyard, home of the mighty Grange. Showing less oak than is typical of Australian Shiraz, Groom succeeds in being rich without any overt jammy or tannic qualities. Nose and palate exhibit good spice, anise and berry flavours, a firm, fleshy structure and fine textures.

Alberto Antonini and David Gleave make their living from Italian vino. Alberto is the winemaker and David is a UK agent importing some of Italy's top producers. When Mark Walpole showed Alberto Antonini the Greenstone site, Alberto wasted no time, immediately ringing David in London. A collaboration between Antonini and Morningtom maestro Sandro Mosele, Greenstone combines elegance with the depth and weight that characterises Heathcote Shiraz. A wine of impeccable balance, fine grained tannins and lifted, fruit filled acidity on the finish.

Grapes are sourced from exceptional Barossa vineyards which Grant Burge sanctions as worthy of his estate flagship, hand picked parcels exhibiting a rare intensity of character, structure and finesse. A solid backbone of Cabernet grown to Burge's own Corryton Park property in Eden Valley, flows seamlessly with the pick of fruit grown to superior vineyards lower down the Barossa hills, all characterized by their concentration of rich flavours. A Barossa Cabernet of rare virtue, to be decanted before service and treated to the alchemy of a judicious breathing.

An estate flagship wine and a blockbuster Shiraz, bunches of parched, dry grown grapes are hand picked from the elite Filsell Vineyard, smaller parcels are also sourced from even older Barossa vines, which introduces an amazing depth of character and complexity. This stunning wine is Barossa Shiraz at its best, concentrated, big and bold.

Meshach William Burge 1843-1942, was Grant's great grandfather, a central figure in establishing the Burge vineyards and estate. He was eleven years of age when his family moved from Wiltshire to the Barossa, where he toiled to develop what has grown into a thriving viticultural, wheat and sheep property near Lyndoch. Grant has selected his finest Shiraz to bear the Meshach name. Since inaugural vintage in 1988, Meshach has won several of the nation's most significant trophies and medals, generally regarded as one of Australia's first growths.

A third each of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre, crafted from small parcels of intensely flavoured, hand picked grapes, grown to some seriously old Barossa vines. The backbone for this engaging accord is sourced off a canon of distinguished, dry grown Barossa parcels, generally a hundred years of age. The maturity of these gnarled old plantings translates into meagre yields of the most tremendous concentration and sublime elegance.

Richly proportioned with mouthfilling savouryness and tannins in full bloom, Beechworth makes mighty Shiraz. Golden Ball pick theirs in three stages, based on perfect timing of each parcel, day by day as the fruit achieves optimal ripeness. The wild vineyard yeasts of early morning harvest, secondary malolactic ferments and extended maturation in the finest Bordeaux coopered oak, complete a wine of extensive breadth, beguiling roundness and ingratiating complexity. A dark tempest of fruit around a core of taffeta coffee oak, tactile flint and brooding tannin briar.

A half of Cabernet Sauvignon, the balance in Merlot with a judicious measure Malbec, all picked off the original block of Golden Ball vines, separately treated to wild indigenous yeast ferments for retention of varietal eloquence. Components are for rack and returned for malolactic, assembled and filled to an extravagantly high mix of new, Bordeaux coopered French oak for an extended term of eighteen months age. A deeply cryptic Cuvée, defined by savourynes and intensity of opaque fruit, its dark brooding layers unravel as the tannins soften and glow in the glass.

From a canon of distinguished, ancient vine blocks of Shiraz in the Barossa hamlet of Ebenezer. The eye of Horus is represented as a figure of six parts, corresponding to the six senses, touch and taste, hearing and thought, sight and smell. Ben Glaetzer takes aim at balancing the extraction of all the elements into this flagship Barossa Shiraz, rather than endeavouring to maximize them. The fruit holds such powerful expression that focus must be brought to bear on preserving the characteristics of outstanding old vines Shiraz.

Over many years, Rob Gibson (ex Penfolds and Peter Lehmann as chief viticulturalist) has crafted meagre amounts of the most stately wines from his tiny operation in the Barossa Hills. Vintage 2002 claimed silver at the VISY Great Aussie Shiraz Challenge and vintage 2003 came within a hair's breadth of the Jimmy Watson. Gibson knows the Barossa and all its best growers, varietal selection is expertly matched to site and minimalist winemaking is complemented by assembling the choicest components into the most exquisite balance.

Central Otago is a winegrower's paradise and a Pinot Noir maker's dream, a topographical cornucoppia of microclimes and stupendous terroirs. Planted to rich glacial deposits along the Wanaka Cromwell Highway, under the lee of Sugarloaf near the hamlet of Pisa, the frugal harvest of TOSQ Vineyard is treated to traditional wild yeast open vinification. The active barrels set sail across the Tasman for completion of ferments at the Giant Steps wineworks in Yarra Valley. Central Otago as you like it, gummy, soily tannins, peppery black brambles, gelatinous opulence and palate weight throughout.

Established 1988 to a bounty of rich, grey loam clays at Tarrawarra, the eminent Tarraford site enjoys a fortuitously slower ripening season than its neighbouring climes. Planted to a diversity of aspect and clones, managed to a regimen of old world biodynamic farming practices, Tarraford delivers a magnificent harvest of Rhone styled Shiraz each year. Redolent with licorice, pepper and meats, pursing dark, cherry oak tannins and the astringency of wild bramble, its herb infused palate supported by characuterie notes, sasafras and game.

Sexton Vineyard is wonderfully intricate, exuding notes of wild blackberry, dried mushroom, mulberry bush and braised plum, cinnamon stick and sour cherry. The coolest slopes of Sexton are planted to five Pinot Noir clones, managed according to biodynamic principles, providing several threads of expression to weave into the final wine. Sexton's fruit focus and fine tannins are enhanced by a judicious treatment of Burgundy styled oak.

In exceptional years, parcels of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot are separately fermented. The best lots are assembled into a multiple trophy winer named Harry's Monster and treated to an extravagant maturation in the finest oak. Very strong in primary fruit, generosity and mouthfeel, its ripe seed tannins are simply singing in its youth, showing exceptional balance on a long lasting finish.

The capriciousness of the hard to grow, early ripening Pinot Noir makes its expression of site all the more sublime. The winemaking at Giant Steps is holistic and closely micro managed, a particular objective is to enhance the natural microflora for the facilitation of indigenous fermentations in the winery. The Yarra Valley's cool, slow ripening aspects, afford Pinot Noir the time to develop its seductive labyrinth of aromas, showing bright red fruit notes underscored by earthy complexity.

Heir to a family tradition of dedicated vignerons who treat their vines with devotion, the soil with reverence and environment with utmost respect. A place of superior fertility and favourable climes, the Nebbiolo of La Morra are renowned for their fuller, complete ripeness, grace and finesse. The pick of estate grown fruit is treated to the extravagance of two long years in mostly new 500L French aok puncheons. A beautifully detailed wine in the tradtion of all grand Barolo, saturated with layers of sweet and savoury fruit, engaging and complex, elegant and refined, over a length of opaque, brooding tannins.

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.