Great Merlot is made in the vineyard. At its best, it is like a fingerprint, inextricably linking the personality and mood of the land. Yarra Valley produces distinctive, elegant and complex Merlot wines. A single parcel of fruit, hand picked off Blocks 3 & 4 of Sexton Vineyard, are treated to an old world style of vinification, into a mostly Merlot wine, which can be topped up from year to year by portions of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc, to enhance the tannins and build enticing complexity.

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.

The Sexton family live in the middle of their eighty acre vineyard on the high north face of the Warramate Ranges, within the dress circle of Yarra Valley's most eminent estates. The vineyard is introducing organic practises with the express purpose of further distinguishing the site and improving grape and wine quality. An assemblage of Pinot Noir and Shiraz, treated to a traditional course of ferments and judicious term of oak, fashioned into an immensely satisfying, seamless yet complex and engaging, bucolic old world style.

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.

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.

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 soil 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 a term of age in small French oak barriques, 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.

After decades of managing vineyards and making wine, Crittenden have formed strong and enduring relationships with Victoria's best growers. Geppetto is a blend of Pinot Noir clones MV6 and 114, 115 and D2V5, all picked by hand from good vineyards in Sunbury and Geelong, Tuerong and Patterson Lakes. Geppetto is judiciously aged in barrels of seasoned oak, the style is intentionally made for early enjoyment, increased vine age and gentle processing makes a wine that articulates the vitality of Victorian Pinot Noir.

Fleurie is such a pretty name, evocative of florals, delicate perfumes and understated elegance, just perfect for such a gracefully fragrant wine. Georges Duboeuf is the king of Beaujolais and retains the pick of crop from best grower vineyards throughout the ten communes of Beaujolais. The wines of Fleurie make a medium bodied Beaujolais, they are characterized by their virile cherry blossom redolence and light velvety tannins, the perfect aperitif wine, Fleurie will drink beautifully alongside good bourgeoise faire.

A light fresh red in jubilant everyday styling, Georges Duboeuf is Roi de Beaujolais, King of Beaujolais. Fashioned from the fruity Gamay varietal which is peculiar to the region, the grape has a thinner skin, characterized by lower levels of tannin for a wine that goes well with everything. By virtue of the traditional carbonic maceration, Beaujolais is excellent when served well chilled, perfectly suited to seafood and very easy to appreciate with ham. Beaujolais is about the unpretentious enjoyment of wine and indulgence of life.

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.

Following traineeship at B Seppelt & Son, a stint in South Africa, tours of duty at Thomas Hardy and Chateau Reynella, Geoff Merrill acquired the beautiful but derelict Mount Hurtle wineworks in 1985. Merrill devoted years of love and hard work to restore the winery vineyard to its former glory. The property yields some of the finest Cabernet in McLaren Vale. An equal part of Cabernet Sauvignon from Graymoor in Coonawarra completes an immaculate wine, matured thirty one months in small oak barrels and assembled after a cull of the most superior stocks.

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.

An assemblage of Cabernet Sauvignon, harvested off three prestigious vineyards, one in Coonawarra for peppermints and violet, black olives and bay, two in McLaren Vale for chocolateyness, bramble and char. Mr Merrill is one of Australia's most peer respected vignerons, a veteran winemaker of our nation's most illustrious brands, an eminent Jimmy Watson winner. He has settled on nothing but the finest, collating the pick of harvest from three superior sites, to be vinified at a grand old wineworks and aged twenty two months under the historic Mt Hurtle cellars.

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.

After years of self management, the ancient Garden Gully vines have been nursed back to health, for harvests of the most exemplary fruit. Exacting regimens of pruning and the close husbanding of vines were an act of faith, the task was completed successfully and the ancient plantings were restored to their former glory. The old block closest to the cellar door, so true to enduring local folklore, yields harvests of world class Shiraz. Vintage 2006 claimed Judges Trophy and Best Wine Victorian Wine Challenge.

Shiraz and Grenache are erstwhile mates which are often paired for fashioning into a well structured, Rhone styled red. Gapsted retain some of the finest Dolcetto vineyards in Australia, the name of the grape is Italian for sweet, it makes a delicious match with Shiraz and Grenache, textural, seamless and soft, with a titillating sprinkle of spice. An amazing refresher when served slightly chilled, revitalizing as aperitif, the red wine of choice to accompany pork fennel sausages and applesauce, mozzarella lasagne or mushroom gruyere pie.

Gapsted are real wines made by real people, a partnership between dedicated viticulturalists and a distinguished winemaking team. The propitious compact means that everything by Gapsted carries the signature and personality of the people involved, the charm of small vineyards and influence of choice microclimes. The labour of love and passion by mates who share a desire to create appealing and personable wines, Tobacco Road is a compelling example of high country Merlot, endowed by ripe red fruit flavours and supported by well structured tannins.

An assemblage of King Valley fruit, some parcels acquire their individuality in the vineyard, while others develop their charm in the vinification and ageing. Previous vintages have claimed conspicuous accolades including a silver medal at the prestigious London International. Much of the fruit is sourced from eminent sites around Whitfield in King Valley, not far from the Gapsted wineworks. Growing conditions can be close to perfect in these higher altitudes and the team make it a priority to capture and preserve the exceptional quality of Shiraz.

Gapsted have taken the opportunity to acquire superior harvests, grown to the upper and middle reaches of Valley King, constructing a Cabernet Sauvignon of wonderful warmth, integrity and charm. A component of exquisite Barossa fruit contributes comforting chocolatey richness, a precious parcel from a choice site in Heathcote adds palate weight and splendid savouryness. A whole that's greater than the sum of parts, suede textural mouthfeel, generosity of fruit and sound structure, finishing in precisely the right direction.

Yalumba have been making the Galway range of wines since the 1940s, named in honour of Colonel Sir Henry L. Galway, governor of South Australia from 1914 to 1920. He was a keen wine man with a good palate and was a regular visitor to the Yalumba wineworks at Angaston. Success with the early editions of Galway were the foundation upon which Yalumba built it's peerless reputation for fine Barossa reds. Galway is still made to the enduring traditional style with rich colour, distinctive spicy fruit and perfectly integrated oak, balanced and elegant.

Galli's Camelback vineyard, situated northeast of the Heathcote township, enjoys a warmer clime, and the rainfall is always very limited. Growing seasons are normally dry with relatively even temperature ranges during veraison. Shiraz wines from this vineyard are delightfully flavoursome with earthy notes and a finely structured palate of some elegance, distinctive varietal character and sturdy tannins.

Freycinet Vineyard lies on a namesake peninsula in northeast Tasmania. Situated on the 42nd latitude, the property enjoys a unique microclimate. The long growing season extends into May, combining much sunshine and warm days, winter rains with no frosts, ideal for the production of excellent quality cool climate fruit. The vineyard sits a hundred metres above sea level, at a distance of twenty kilometres from the coast, the climes here are very maritime. At harvest the grapes are bursting with flavour.