Chris Ringland lives to grow harvests of peerless quality fruit and make tiny amounts of the most memorable wine. Ringland has worked at the eminent Rockford in Barossa, as well as for distinguished estates in Spain, Italy and America. Parcels of fruit grown to vines between twenty and sixty years of age are vinified into the entry level Ebenezer Shiraz.

Charles Melton's life long passion for Grenache began during a working tour of the Rhone Valley in the 1980s. At the time, Australian Grenache was being used mainly for cheap, high alcohol, fortified wines, Charlie however, started experimenting in the vineyard, pruning the old vines harder so they would produce lower yields of better berries. All Melton's vineyards are unirrigated and dry grown, some are in excess of 130 years old, yielding fruit of the most intense natural sweetness, even when fermented to bone dry, a quality of Grenache that's without peer anywhere in the world.

Melton was christened Graeme but given the nickname Charlie by his long term mentor, the legendary Peter Lehmann. It was during a tour of duty amongst the illustrious vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape that Charlie acquired his deep passion for the sublime grace of old vines Grenache. The Reformation is crafted from precious parcels, hand picked off distinguished Barossa plantings, seventy to a hundred years of age. A mix of destemmed and whole bunch grapes are vinified on skins and pressed into a selection of French and American oak for twenty to thirty months before the final assemblage.

Distinguished Langtons Classification. Based on the wines of Chateauneuf du Pape, or home of new popes, alternate papacy of the 13th century. Drawing fruit from the only other classic Grenache growing area in the world, Melton has given this evocative grape a little Aussie twist, assembling the inspiring varietal with parcels of old vines Barossa Mourvedre and Shiraz. Litigation by the French was avoided, but problem remains, Melton's French skills were a tad light when he named the wine, assuming Chateauneuf du Pape was a reference to the nine popes.

A collation of choice parcels Shiraz from the Krondorf Village districts in Barossa. All grapes are dry grown and great emphasis is placed on the quality of fruit. Yields are extremely low, often only one or two tonne per acre. Parcels are vinified and assembled to contruct the most complete wine, in terms of balance between pure fruit flavours and earthy/ gamey qualities. A style which has a kiss of sweet oak, allowing the rich fragrance and flavours of old dry grown vines to remain at the fore, a Shiraz of intense flavours and richness by a Barossa master.

Charles Melton was road tripping across Australia when his broken down EH Holden forced him to grab the first job. It was Krondorf and he wound up working with Peter Lehmann. Melton travelled to France and developed the beginnings of what would become a life long passion for the wines of vallée du Rhône, in particular Shiraz. Darkly scented plum pudding lift, fine sweet oak in support of generous mouthfilling palate, rich but exquisitely balanced, lovely complex length of flavour, all that we love about the affable, big hearted Barossa style.

The Father in Law is a single block of elite vine, originally acquired to keep Mrs Melton's dad busy after retirement. This superior parcel of Shiraz from Syd Weckert's the father in law site, is enhanced by a backbone of choice Melton fruit. Solidly structured, generously proportioned yet highly elegant, its minty, blueberry perfumes, supported by the dark chocolate and merry spice that's so eloquent of all things Barossa. Whole bunches, stemmed but uncrushed fruit, daily pumpovers and seasoned oak barriques for an extended term of twenty months on lees to infuse flavour and richness.

At Charles Melton vineyards, great emphasis is placed on the quality of fruit, completely dry grown on the estate’s fifty acres of prime Barossa viticulture, ocassionally calling on a distinguished group of devoted local growers for extravagantly priced parcels of the most exceptional fruit. Cabernet grapes must must be fully ripe without passing the softness stage into wrinkled, affording richness while retaining structure. Berries are gently destemmed for vinification, followed by transfer into an extravagant selection of completely new French oak barriques for a minimum two years maturion on gross lees.

Charlie Melton was one of the first to appreciate the overlooked value in Barossa's old vineyard Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. At a time when others were pulling out such vineyards to plant more fashionable varieties, Charlie was convincing farmers to keep their historic plantings. He was one of a small group of winemakers who helped retain the viticultural heritage of Barossa Valley. A soft, plump palate of traditional Barossa ripeness and plummy, festive cake spice, currants and dark fruit, a finish of luscious, rounded tannins underpinning soily Barossa goodness.

Charles Cimicky wineworks and vineyard run a kilometre along the picturesque Hermann Thumm Drive at Lyndoch, on the very floor of the Valley, surrounded by beautiful Barossa Ranges. Charles Cimicky, the man, is held in great esteem by his peers, for his gentle nature and exceptional quality of his wines. His eponymous is a perennial favourite of bespoke Barossa Shiraz enthusiasts, named after a group of local pioneers who would famously retreat to an old vineyard cottage for the relaxing indulgence of claret and cards.

Charles Cimicky was inspired by his father to take over the reins at the family estate, that's when the good wines started turning into awesome wines. Today, Cimicky is one of the most meticulous winemakers in South Australia. Cimicky makes cult wine with a recognizable wow factor, a tiny production and always very limited in availability. Judged first amongst peers, Charles Cimicky won the Barossa Wine Grape Council Trophy for the best wine from a small producer twice in succession, as well as the Vinpac International Trophy for Best Shiraz.

An outstanding assemblage of the most exceptional fruit from the elite Ehrat Vineyard, picked off unirrigated rows of parallel grown Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon along Krondorf Road. The inclusion of choice picks Shiraz from a panoply of terroirs in the Valley Eden, Stockwell and Light Pass, add palate weight and complexity. A traditional ferment and old world standards of élevage, just a few hundred dozen are made, are followed by eighteen months in a luxuriously high proportion of new Leroi French oak hogsheads, purposefully bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Old vine Grenache, a few inestimable rows, planted during the 1930s to a picturesque place in the northern Barossa called Light Pass. Impassioned vigneron Kevin Schild is custodian of these wizened old veterans, yielding barely enough of a crop to make a few hundred cases. The Chaffeys see themselves as oenological parfumiers, identifying the supple complexities of wayward fruit, revelling in the lost art of small batch vintages. They have elected to treat Schild's fruit to a Nouveau style of ferment, a third included as whole bunches, to be judiciously bottled unfiltered and unfined.

Single vineyard Syrah, from a sparse harvest of the most amazing grapes, hand picked off the dry grown, Drögemüller family orchard at Springton in the very southeast of Barossa Valley. Bunches are treated to a six tonnes, open top fermenter, for a week of skin contact and daily pumpovers, followed by a year in a selection of well seasoned French oak barrels. An intensely perfumed, Rhône valley style, redolent of peppercorn and spiced black bramble fruit, its ripe, juicy, loganberry, cherry and morello freshness, lingering on a long, licorice wick of, elegant, tensile tannins.

The ancient winegrowing hamlet of Moculta is at the very northern end of Eden Valley, where altitudes are warmest and soils are propitiously mineral rich. It's an elite little precinct with a history which dates back to Lutheran settlement. Every row of plantings here is sacred, local folklore recounts the establishment of illustrious old vineyards and stewardship by the nation's most esteemed vignerons. Chaffey source a superior harvest from the distinguished Fechner Brothers block, a transcendent parcel of Shiraz, ultimately to be treated to in an invaluable selection of new French oak from France’s oldest cooperage.

A small number of mature Shiraz blocks toward the southern parts of Barossa Valley are identified each year as potential candidates for Centenary Hill. Jacobs Creek were at the very establishment of South Australia and retain access to the nation's most distinguished, long lived vineyards. A highly prestigious Barossa effort, cellared at the Orlando wineworks, treated to the most refined oak maturation before an extravagant term of eighteen months bottle age to develop ornate, seamless complexity.

For well over a decade, Rosedale have been nurturing their splendid vineyards across the western ridge of Barossa Valley. Nine Lives exhibits power with finesse, spice fruit character and weight in unison.

Entourage is both adherent and partisan, an outspoken proponent, cast in the mould of the great Barossa Valley Estate's flagship E&E wines. The experience from generations of viticulture and a succession of internationally acclaimed vintages all play a role in the genesis of Entourage. Parcels of Barossa grown Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon are fashioned into a generously flavoured, forward drinking red wine with polished fruit and velvet tannins, realizing fully the vision of the growers, makers and entourage of devotees who contribute to the experience.

Lawrence and Edna Schrapel toiled away in the vineyards along Bethany Road in Tanunda, establishing one of the great marques in Barossa foothills Shiraz. The work remains very hands on, the choicest parcels are set aside for a course of traditional open ferments, malolactic and pressing to a slection of exclusively new French oak barrels for a year's maturation. Its big, vibrant bouquet of fragrant wild berries, oake clove and spice, precede an opulent palate of blueberries, bramble and plum, supported fine grain tannins and juicy fruit acidity.

Every year, there was a single parcel which kept attracting the attention of Bethany winemakers. The fruit of a small property, less than five acres at the foothills of Barossa ranges, planted to vine sixty years of age, grown to classic Barossa red brown earths overlaying limestone. The small yields here deliver small berries with the most extraordinary flavour, whilst the breezes around the foothills ensure a gradual ripening of the finest tannins. Parcels that are worthy of inclusion are treated to a separate vinification and matured in the finest oak hogsheads.

Bethany's Reserves are wines of evolution rather than creation. GR has achieved the prestigious Trust Mark as one of the Barossa's most eminent Shiraz, but it's not every year that one is made. Parcels of the most exquisite grapes are picked from splendid sites and treated to an exacting vinification. With each vintage, harvests are assessed and a decision is made to determine if there is a parcel of GR quality. A formidable, full bodied classic with an enormous palate and undeniable ageing potential, only a few hundred cases are ever bottled.

From vines up to forty years of age grown to the Schrapel Vineyards, with the inclusion of parcels from neighbour's blocks in the Barossa foothills. The cornerstone wine of the Schrapel family reds, in a style which has made Barossa famous for Shiraz the world over. Parcels of perfectly ripened grapes are treated to traditional old world techniques which date back to early settlement, followed by extended maturation in fine oak. Decant for three hours then savour the spiced fruit aromas and plush plum palate alongside roast or steak.

An assemblage of parcels off a number of Bethany estate blocks, vinified alongside superior picks from Lyndoch and Vine Vale, all coalescing into the magical alchemy between Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. Batches are separately whole berry fermented to a variety of skin contact schedules, tannin extractions and daily pumpovers. Ferments are rack and returned before pressing into fine oak barrels for a judicious term of maturation. Olives and bay leaf, red currants, pencil shave and sage, before a gentle, savoury flavoured palate, so eloquently varietal yet beguilingly seamless.

Grenache is picked very late in the season at optimal ripeness, off three very precious blocks, fifty to ninety years of age on the Schrapel family vineyards. These gnarled old plantings yield grapes of striking intensity, power and beauty, treated to a minimalist vinification, to capture and retain the spectacular quality of fruit within the bottle. A seductively redolent nose of black cherries, hibiscus flowers and cacao, followed by a feminine palate of wild strawberries and dark spice over a seamless tapestry of fine grained tannins.

Cabernet and Merlot are sourced from the Schrapel family vineyards at Bethany and neighbouring sites along the Barossa foothills. The Bethany property is replete with vines, decades old, which are very low yielding and produce fruit of great intensity and flavour. The special microclimate of the foothills is reflected in the bright, dark cherry colour, enticingly fragrant aroma and full flavoured, harmonious palate. The powerful structure of Cabernet is complemented by the suppleness of Merlot, a style which can be enjoyed fully whilst young.

Johannes Hugo Bernard Ben Schild relocated his family, including a young Ed Schild, to Rowland Flat in the Barossa, establishing his vineyard circa 1952 after many years of grain farming in the Mallee. Following Ben's passing in 1956, fifteen year old Ed took over the reins of the family farm to continue the work started by his father. A careful sorting of the best grapes, picked off a single low yielding parcel planted by Ben Schild in the hills overlooking Lyndoch, provides the backbone of fruit for Schild Reserve, a stately Barossa Shiraz in true blockbuster styling.

A wonderful Shiraz of depth and concentration, offering elegance and finesse, crafted by the region's most accomplished winemakers at Marananga's Barossa Valley Estate. Entourage is a tribute to the rich cultural and viticultural traditions of the Barossa. Third and fourth generation growers are devoted to their plantings of Shiraz and nurture the vines to produce the finest fruit Barossa has on offer. A long standing association, commitment and understanding of the soil, really does mean that Entourage expresses the heart and soul of Barossa.

The picturesque village of Ebenezer, at the northern reaches of Barossa Valley, was established circa 1851. The first vineyards were planted with rootstock at time of settlement and have been painstakingly nurtured ever since. Today, Ebenezer is one of Australia's most eminent appellations. Dry grown grapes, stylish oak treatment, pliant tannins and finely woven flavours are pivotal to the personality of Ebenezer. Parcels which only just miss out on the internationally renowned E&E Shiraz are set aside for this very wine, attesting to the quality of fruit within.

A regal Cabernet wine, full bodied and intense with powerful varietal fruit and distinctive regionality. The dry grown old vines at Ebenezer are Appellation Superieur, a principal source of fruit for the premium John Duval, Henschke and Glaetzer labels. Soft and approachable now, a true expression of the richness and splendour of old Barossa vines, Ebenezer will continue to evolve gracefully, a Cabernet Sauvignon of great elegance and poise, quality is assured.

The Kalleske family have been Barossa winegrowing since 1853, they retain priceless parcels of ancient vine, picking grapes off the very plantings nurtured by their forebears generations ago. The wizzened old veterans on Zen Master date back to establishment by the Atze family in 1912, they yield a precious harvest of potent black berries, treated to the old world style of open ferments, hand plunging and a course of age in a new French oak puncheon. Brimming with florals, silky smooth, seamless, an exquisite old vine Shiraz of extraordinary opulence, elegance and finesse.

The mob are a flock of sheep, they made pasture among a single hectare of vines and chewed the suffering plantings almost to ruin. The misfortunate Montepulciano however showed great resilience and were nursed back to life, resurrected as a magnificent single vineyard site with a meager yield of a precious 200 dozen. Sixteen months in French and American oak hogsheads underpins the mesmering Montepulciano fruit with a cushion of softened bramble tannis, savoury of olive, bay leaf and thyme, the succulence of ripe cherries undulate on the exquisitely balanced finish.

There's not much Durif in Australia, even less in Barossa Valley, Atze's Corner know a thing or two about taming the tannins of this masculine varietal, they treasure the challenge and are hopeful of planting another row or two. The actual day of picking is crucial to optimal ripeness, sorting of the parched little grapes is essential to the opulence of the finished wine. Purple midnight hues, textural and redolent of juicy wine gum jubes, licorice and violets cassis, the traditional chocolateyness of Barossa fruit, bursting out of its black, tannic corset.

Many of the nation's fine old vineyards were destroyed during a government backed scheme to reduce the capacity of wine production in the 1980s. One fortunate site, established 1951 by the family Atze, was rescued by the Kalleske and endures as a priceless, single block, single batch Barossa Shiraz, only ever released in the best vintage years. Seamless, intense, layered with richness, treated to a luxurious two years repose in completely new French oak, mesmerisingly complex and profoundly perfumed, only seventy cases are bottled from any one vintage.

The fruit of three small blocks Shiraz, planted by the Eddies family in 1912, 1951 and 1975, devotedly nurtured by the Kalleske since salvage from the ruthless vine pull scheme of the 1980s. A fortnight of maceration and completion of ferments in a high proportion of new oak hogsheads is followed by two years languid maturation. Eddie's Block is powerfully perfumed, heady with uber ripe fruits, currants and cassis, its stunning figure of festive plum fruits and dark cherry syrups, is complexed by fragrant seasonings of clove, cinammon and a sprinkling of vanilla anise.

Generations of Barossa viticulture makes the Kalleske well versed in identifying superior parcels of land which are heaven sent for great wine. They acquired just such a site from bachelor Bert Kleinig in the 1970s, it has remained in the family estate portfolio until the Atze team were inspired to bottle the magnificence of fruit as an elite vineyard Shiraz. Treated to the the luxury of eighteen months French oak, the Bachelor evolves in the glass as he breathes, blueberries, black currants and ripe damson plum, sweet spices, cinnamon and just a curl of cocoa cedar oak.

An assemblage of choice parcels from the ancient winegrowing hamlets of Koonunga and Ebenezer, hand picked and destemmed without crushing, delicately fermented, pumped and plunged by hand, gently basket pressed into oak for completion of malolactic and a year of age. The great enigma of Atze's Corner is how every bottling is remarkable for its seamlessness, astonishing balance and divinely perfumed fruit. A sprinkling of spice and vanilla of oak, sweetness of liquorice and juicy tannins, a whisp of liqueured cacao, as the luscious finish lingers on and on and on.

Raspberry, florals and plum over a succulent chamois of refined and elegant tannins, mostly Shiraz, a third of Grenache and a tenth of Mourvedre, treated separately to a mix of maturations in oak hogsheads and larger format French puncheons before assemblage. The Kalleske family have been growing and blending the holy trinity of Grenache Shiraz Mourvedre since early settlement, always a wine of freshness and seasoned savouryness, crafted from the pick of Barossa vineyards and fashioned for enjoyment alongside meaty grills, spiced game or juicy pink lamb.