Ever since the establishment of Scotchman's Hill to the balmy maritime aspects of Bellarine Peninsula, the award winning team have been on the lookout for harvests collated from climes further afield which are worthy of the estate label. In this case, the pick of Cabernet and Shiraz grown to choice vineyards, has been assembled into a solidly structured accord, exhibiting prominent spiced plum and berry flavours supported by firm stalky tannins, all fashioned into the enduring Scotchman's Hill style.

Scotchman's Hill can source grapes from the higher altitudes of King Valley, where the crisp and saturate microclimes develop Chardonnay that's renowned for sparkling wine. A backbone of fruit grown to vineyards nearby the Geelong winery is vinified alongside parcels of cool ripened King Valley Chardonnay, achieving a remarkably mouthfilling blanc de blancs style exhibiting elegance and poise. Offering excellent varietal definition and superb balance, the sparkler of choice to serve at every ocassion, as a smart aperitif or to accompany your favourite cuisine.

One of Victoria's stellar performers puts their stamp on Australian Shiraz. The windswept maritime aspects of Bellarine Peninsula punish vines into extracting the maximum amount of cool climate spice while developing the ripest, luscious berry flavours. The Scotchman displays an engaging intensity of Shiraz fruit characters, pliant tannins and crisp acidity in support of liquorice and plum notes, along with vibrant Bellarine expressions of freshly milled spice, minerality and brine.

One of Australia's most esteemed and enduring white wines, completely unoaked, a fresh and vital Sauvignon Blanc to be consumed in it's youth. Low yields and careful management in the vineyard translate into a wine of elegance, complexity and irresistible varietal charm. A lively wine of intensity and well defined cool climate Sauvignon Blanc characters, brimming with fragrant tropical highlights, vegetal, gooseberry and slate.

One of Australia's most perennially feted and esteemed Pinot Noir, generously flavoured, brilliantly balanced, stylish and approachable. The Geelong/ Bellarine area has a long history of viticulture, which dates back to colonization by Swiss immigrants in the 1840s. Curiously, Pinot Noir is a wine that performs well in the cooler climes of the lower Swiss Alps. It remained however for Scotchmans Hill to establish Geelong as one of Australia's leading winegrowing regions, due in no small part to the quality and consistency of their splendid Pinot Noir.

A powerful yet refined Chardonnay, characterized by its excellence and intensity. Scotchmans Hill is vinified from the choicest parcels grown to low cropped, slow ripening vineyards on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula, a tight and impeccably structured, elegant wine, expressing fully the maturity and quality of the vineyard, as influenced by maritime climes moderated by Port Phillip Bay. Scotchmans Hill is regularly blown by strong, cool Antarctic winds, which punish the vines and encourage the yield of intense grapes exhibiting a concentration of flavour.

Early pioneer Charles Marshall was born in Sydney to convict parents. He discovered an entrance from the ocean into Gippsland lakes where he struck gold. In 1856 Marshall built a store and hotel, transporting stores and passengers aboard his boat, the Sarsfield. The two hectares of vine at Sarsfield, planted between the lakes and wilderness of Victoria's east Gippsland, yield a soft, velvety Pinot of great richness and remarkable depth of flavour.

Several generations later, the progeny of estate patriarch Pietro d'Orsa have returned to the land with a consuming passion to create generously flavoured, impeccably balanced Heathcote wines. Sanguine employ traditional winemaking practices, Shiraz and a small component of Viognier, are hand picked and co-vinified, to achieve a marvelous expression of Heathcote, solid, seamless and exquisitely fragrant. The palate is richly laden with dark juicy fruit characters which roll through to the end, the mouthfeel is textural, the solid weight of fruit is supported by a firm length of balanced tannins.

Sanguine Estate's inaugural release was universally embraced by enthusiasts of fine Heathcote Shiraz, the entire vintage sold out within a week. The vines have aged brilliantly and the quality of fruit has reached stellar heights. Grapes are all destemmed, lightly crushed and naturally vinified through the action of wild indigenous yeasts in small open fermenters, gravity fed into French oak barriques for an extended term of eighteen months maturation. Plum and blackberry perfumes, liquorice and black pepper, a rich textural wine of firm yet compliant tannin structure.

Pietro D’orsa found work in Australia as a winegrower circa 1868, quenching the thirst of miners during the Victorian gold rush. Several generations later, Pietro's progeny returned to viticulture. They DNA tested some heirloom vines established by Pietro in the 1880s, replanting the rootstock to sire a unique block which is destined to yield some spectacular vintages. The most exceptional barrels of Sanguine's annual harvest are set aside for a separate term of aging and assemblage into a superior Heathcote flagship, an opulent, dark crimson homage to the estate's noble patriarch.

Excellent Langtons Classification. Named after winemaker Neill Robb's wife, Sally's Paddock is handcrafted from a single unirrigated vineyard, entirely estate grown, vinified and bottled, universally regarded as one of Australia's first growths. The unique combination of soil, cool to mild climatic and traditionally managed vines produce low yield grapes of high intensity, colour and flavour, achieving the most compelling wines in the classic Pyrenees style. Langtons listed ever since the catalogue's inception, Sally's Paddock is a long lived and enduring national icon wine.

Hand picked Shiraz from the vineyards surrounding Hundred Tree Homestead on Sally's Hill, including parcels from the famous Sally's Paddock. An exceptional Shiraz wine reflecting the wonderfully idiosyncratic flavours of Sally's Hill fruit and unique style of Redbank. Made in small batches, wild yeast fermented, hand punched and basket pressed, Sally's Hill truly expresses the potential of a pure varietal wine from fruit grown to unirrigated vines planted in 1973. The quintessential High Pyrenees Shiraz style, full and delicious, round and distinctively soft.

The wines of Rutherglen are as unique for their provenance and exclusivity as they are for their sound structure and penetrating fruit. The region remains curiously quarantined due to phyloxera, not only are its vineyards amongst the nation's oldest, they are managed by families who have practised viticulture here for generations. Enter Rutherglen Shiraz at its finest, grown and vinified to traditional old world techniques by a heritage winemaker. 100% guaranteed to please, arrives fully labelled with free delivery by the dozen to any destination in Australia.

Unlabelled but not without a breathtaking amount of critical acclaim, Fine Old Muscat by one of the most esteemed, artisanal Rutherglen estates. A favourite of the international wine industry press, she may be demurely attired but her endowments are cherished by discerning enthusiasts around the globe. The fruit of Rutherglen's oldest and most distinguished old vineyards is treated to an old world style of vinification, arrested before completion by the addition of a neutral liquor, followed by an extended term of maturation in a selection of the finest seasoned oak casks.

RED is made for real red wine enthusiasts, a mouthfilling peppery Shiraz wine with a component of Durif. Rutherglen has the soils and climate to ripen fruit evenly and completely, allowing the development of engrossing complexities. Rutherglen is in a declared phylloxera quarantine, which means all the grapes grown within the region have to be vinified locally, itself a guarantee of quality. Crafted to encourage the development of bright, fresh berry flavours and juicy tannins which complement the complexity of exciting barrel ferment characters.

The undulating aspects of the Yarra Valley are endowed with mesoclimes that are idyllic for the nurture of sparkling wine grapes. In sophisticated European styling, the triumvirate of requisite Franco varietals have been fashioned by the venerable De Bortoli into a delightful pink bonbon oozing of raspberries and floral.

De Bortoli have made the most of their highly specialised vineyards by matching the right fruit to the most extravagant vinification. Rather flamboyant packaging prepares you for something special and Rococo really delivers. It's tight and jazzy with nuts and floral to the nose, stonefruit with custard on the palate and just the right amount of dry. An inspiration drawn from the namesake art movement, this effervescent Yarra Valley Cuvee is set to impress even the most discerning artiste or decadant bon vivant, with it's generosity, elegance and finesse.

Each and every vintage presents Robin Brockett with a new challenge, no two growing seasons are the same, a truly great vineyard will take the vagaries of vintage and achieve a harvest that's truly unique. Brockett takes the fruit that's most articulate of terroir and clime, there's never very much of such high standards, enough for just a hundred cases of Bellarine's best. The fruit of Swinburn Vineyard is defined by its dark red fruit pectins, thick skinned cherries and dewy bramble, a curl of cedar oak and twist of the spice mill, a seamless ruby tannin finish.

The finest Shiraz off Bellarine Peninsula bear an uncanny resemblance to the elegant old classics of Cotes du Rhône. It's the blowy chills of Port Philip Bay, so akin to the sobering Mistrals along Valley Rhone, which stimulate the vines and assuage the fruit to ripen slowly, intensifying flavours and cultivating the tannins. A sophisticated Shiraz style, redolent of ripe dark plums, pepperyness and black cherry behind a gentle veneer of costly cedar oak. Welcome old world Syrah in a very Aussie way, firm fine tannins and long lingering flavours on the lasting, savoury finish.

It was the wave of Swiss pioneers in the 1860s who discovered that the balmy coastal climes and rich loamy terroirs of Bellarine make magnificent wine. The region is now best known for its excellence in viticulture, Robin Brockett takes his pick from the most superior vineyards. Fenwick makes mighty Pinot Noir, a rich and complex style of sweet red rhubarb, strawberries and parched forest fruits, pursing whole bunch notes and savoury stalk, its juicy red berryness over soft well defined tannins, pastoral freshness, sasafras spice and timely oak.

Robin Brockett has been chief winemaker at Scotchmans Hill since the 1980s, he knows Bellarine's best growers and is completely conversant with every microclime around the greater Geelong. Amphora is the Tete de Cuvee, the top cut of Shiraz from the most superior vineyards, a cull so strict, that only a hundred cases are made. Its dulcetly sweet perfumes of peppery plum are unlocked by a measure of the fragrant Viognier, underpinned by silky chocoate tannins, lingering on a velvet length of raspberries, rose petal and turkish delight.

Outstanding quality fruit makes exceptional wine, it remains essential however for the process to work with nature and to allow the wine to evolve at its own pace. Pinot Noir is the most articulate of all, it speaks unabashedly about its provenance and place. Lusatia Park makes an intensely fragrant Pinot Noir, all the winemaker need do is let the fruit repose until ready, unworked and unhurried, moved slowly by gravity. A beguiling wine of humbling candor, velvet textured, radiant, fragrant of bouquet garni, fruits of the forest and fresh planed curls of stalky cedar spice.

Established to deep red basalt soils by family Shelmerdine in 1985, Lusatia Park at Woori Yallock in the upper reaches of Yarra Valley, is a very demanding site. Vines are all closely planted and require a lot of work but the quality of harvest is spectacular, consistently yielding vintages of urbane, mineral infused Chardonnay. Fruit is all hand picked and whole bunch pressed, treated to full malolactic and battonage. Its voluble palate of oatmeal, almonds and brioche, is tightly structured, taintless and refined, defined by its crystal elegance and briny, lingering finish.

The Abbey Vineyard at Tarrawarra, on the corner of Old Healesville Rd and Houghtons Lane, is a specialized, low yielding site which delivers a harvest of the most exquisite Pinot Noir. The choice clone MV6 was planted here in 1993 to highly mineral Humevale silt stones, which contribute to the generosity and balance within the fruit, ultimately the character of the final wine. A stately Yarra Valley Pinot noir of elegance, poise and finesse, endowed with sophisticated perfumes, power and control.

Kangaroo Ground in the lower Yarra Valley has seen the establishment of a number of new vineyards due to some idyllic growing conditions. Enter Redbox, a fragrant Pinot Noir in vibrant new world styling, with a generous but elegant, food oriented, mouthfilling palate.

Redbox of Nillumbik are amongst the closest Yarra Valley wineries to Melbourne. The growers and winemaking team here know their vintages intimately and retain access to some of the finest Sauvignon Blanc found anywhere in Victoria. Undulating slopes and a myriad of aspects create a pallette of terroirs and mesoclimes from which to make personable wines. It is ultimately a team effort between growers and winemaker to construct the essential Yarra Valley Sauvignon Blanc. The quality of fruit grown in the vineyard is superb, the finished wine is even better.

Planted to a property named Wildfell in 1851 by the original proprietor, Redbox estate's vines are gingerly husbanded to yield the most essential examples of Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Redbox make the most of an affinity between this slow ripening noble varietal and the condusive climes of Yarra Valley. Re established in 1986, the innovative approach to viticulture and highly skilled efforts of the team translate into a wine of luscious berry fruit characters, supportive oak and mouthfilling tannins, in a graceful contemporary styling.

The Shire of Nillumbik is steeped in history, dotted with villages and towns, each with its own special magic. An exclusively estate grown wine, the eight acre Redbox Vineyard was originally planted to Chardonnay in the 1980s, it's mature vines yield an elegant, creamy style. Delightful peach and stone fruit aromas are supplemented by tropical fruit characters, making Redbox the ideal accompaniment to richer white meat and cheese pasta recipes.

The merry widow? Ned Kelly and his gang laid siege to the Glenrowan Inn, a small hotel thirty minutes northwest of the King Valley, which was run by Widow Ann Jones. The gang held over sixty people hostage in the hotel. The Widow Jones threw a wonderful party for the bushrangers and their captives. A great night was had by all in what turned out to be Ned's last stand.