Defined by altitude, Orange is one of Australia's highest and coolest regions. A capricious grape to grow, Merlot demands a regime of perfect conditions to achieve an even berry set. The growers of Orange have dutifully obliged over many years, painstakingly developing this new but salubrious winegrowing precinct for the realization of world class Merlot. Fruit sets very well and bunch thinning is undertaken to limit the yields. Cumulus will handsomely accompany roasted Mediterranean vegetables with lamb and wild mushroom medley.

Cookoothama means fertile land, an approachable accord of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from fruit grown to a special site at Darlington Point on the Riverina. Employing the best of old world viticultural practices and new world technology, Nugan Estate charge their devoted team with the pleasant task of making wine of the highest order. The two hands on the label represent the people who have lived and cultivated soils which lie along the banks of Murrumbidgee River, transforming it into the salubrious property it is today.

By one of the most consequential winemakers in the greater Canberra GUI, crafted from Shiraz grown to mature vines at Kyeema, on an elevated granite saddle near Murrumbateman. Reserve Shiraz has enjoyed a series of compelling national trophy wins, including Best Red Sydney Royal Wine Show. Beautifully ripe on the palate, a wine of impressive length, combines intensity and vibrancy with the spice, perfume and elegant structure that are identifiable hallmarks of an exceptional vineyard.

Alex McKay worked as plongeur at a Canberra restaurant and filled wine on a bottling line before graduating to one of modern viticulture's most distinguished accolades as Dux in Oenology. Collector's amazing efforts at Shiraz are hand made for balance, character and depth of flavour, from fruit grown to some of the most remarkable Australian mesoclimes around Canberra.

Collector produce limited quantities from fruit grown to vines planted in the lean pink granites and reddish shale loams of the Canberra district.

Cockfighter was a horse who met with an untimely death, his ghost haunts a billabong but the tale would be long forgotten if it wasn't for the award winning team at Pooles Rock. Merlot vines thrive on the New South Wales central ranges, where the cool, slow ripening climes of the up and coming Orange winegrowing district yields some of Australia's finest fruit. In keeping with its provenance, Cockfighter's Ghost is profuse with the rich blueberry plum and varietal spice characters of Merlot, all supported by an exquisite, soft and lingering tannin frame.

A collation of superior vineyard parcels, crafted by a boutique estate which has been recognized as one of Australia's leading wineries. Clonakilla are dedicated to making distinctive, handcrafted wines, only ever released in limited quantities, anything by Clonakilla can be hard to find, but they are worth the search. The house speciality is Shiraz, Clonakilla unashamedly borrow techniques from Burgundy and Vallée du Rhône. Clonakilla's inaugural vintage claimed two gold medals, one silver and two trophies in only three showings.

Sean O'Riada is one of Ireland's great cultural icons, a gifted musician and composer, he's accredited with taking traditional Irish music out of the pubs and bringing it to the world. O'Riada Shiraz is made from fruit grown to four very special vineyards around Murrumbateman, fermented with the inclusion of a dollop Viognier. O'Riada owes its genesis to a disastrous vintage, when unfavourable weather drastically reduced the Clonakilla harvest. The best local vineyards had to be sourced from which to collate the quality of fruit most worthy of the Clonakilla label, O'Riada Shiraz was born.

Clonakilla were established by a Canberra research scientist in 1971, very near the New South Wales township of Murrumbateman. The soils here consist of sandy clay loams over a friable clay subsoil and, with a climate not dissimilar to Bordeaux and the northern Rhone Valley, there were high hopes for its viticultural potential. Loaded with ripe blackberry fruit pushed along by a late surge of blackcurrant and spice, the warmth of the autumn radiates through every part of this wine.

Charles Sturt University at Wagga Wagga saw its first plantings of vine in 1893. While today's students are very closely involved in the vitculture and elevage, the ultimate quality of wine is determined by a highly accomplished team of industry identities. Producing less than 10,000 dozen annually, the limited yields make possible, a highly selective sourcing of fruit and the most exacting standards of vinification. The result is a richly flavoured yet impeccably balanced accord of profound Cabernet Sauvignon structure in support of elegant Merlot succulence.

Hunter Valley Shiraz is defined by its poise, a medium bodied style of lighter hues, elegant restraint and supple tannins. Brokenwood also retain vineyards a little further afield, amongst the Blewitt Springs and McLaren Flats of McLaren Vale. The fruit here makes a wine of greater substance and palate weight. A choice parcel from a superlative Beechworth site, contributes to a concord of astonishing balance, the chocolateyness of McLaren Vale coats the crisp red fruits of the Hunter, coalescing into a dulcet cherry ripe of tensile tannins and background coconut oak.

There's never much Hunter Valley Shiraz around but it always represents an engaging experience in elegance and style, especially if it's made from grapes picked off the unnervingly named Graveyard Vineyard. The oldest vines on the Graveyard property are amongst the first growth of Australian Shiraz, younger blocks are called upon for the construct of a regional Hunter Valley edition, exhibiting superior structure and penetrating fruit, refined elocution and exquisite grace.

Exceptional Langtons Classification. Graveyard is the jewel of the Brokenwood crown, it endures as one of the nation's great first growths. A word to the squeamish, the property may have been zoned as Pokolbin cemetery in 1882 but was never populated. Established to descendants of colonial rootstock in 1968, the vines at Graveyard struggle to yield meagre harvests of the most intense berries. A Shiraz of outstanding line, as Len Evans coined the phrase, to convey fine structure, exquisite balance and generous palate length.

Nestled amongst the undulating terrains of Orange, planted to rich volcanic soils atop the chilly, elevated aspects of Great Dividing Range, within an exclusive dress circle of elite sites along the slopes of Mount Canobolas, the six hectare Forest Edge Vineyard yields a quality of Shiraz that's most worthy of the Brokenwood moniker. A limited release wine crafted from the pick of vintage, Forest Edge Shiraz is conspicuous for its elegant milled spice perfumes, opaque black bramble fruit flavours and stealthy, velvet tannins.

The first block of Brokenwood vines ever planted were on a cricket pitch. Acquisition of this ten acre property along McDonalds Rd in October of 1970 almost fell into competitor's hands during a bidding war against Hungerford Hill. By the time the site became productive in 1973, Brokenwood had established themselves at the apex of a resurgence in Hunter Valley viticulture. Cricket Pitch is a varietally rich mix of Cabernet and Shiraz, Merlot and Petit Verdot, from vineyards in the central ranges of New South Wales, Beechworth and McLaren Vale.

Preservative free Dry Red, Shiraz and Pinot Noir sourced from Botobolar's Organic Vineyard at Mudgee. A truly delicious wine full of flavour, a great choice for the health conscious wine consumer! Botobolar's commitment to minimum input during the winemaking process preserves the natural flavours of the fruit. The twenty-two hectare site established in 1971 is Australia's oldest organic vineyard, the vines have always been grown organically without the use of pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers.

The McWilliams Barwang Vineyard is trained to yield grapes which express the unique characteristics of the exclusive Hilltops region, delivering distinctive Shiraz wines. Barrel fermentations enable better integration of fruit and oak, adding another layer of complexity. In keeping with it's Rhone valley counterparts, predominantly French Vosges oak barrels are employed in the ageing process to add length and impart elegance.

The long, late ripening conditions and exhilarating continental microclimes of Barwang Vineyard, marked by cold nights and warm summer days, produce red wines of considerable flavour profile, power and extract. Since the 1996 edition, Barwang Cabernet Sauvignon has claimed trophies and prestigious accolades, with every vintage collecting at least one significant gold medal. An exemplary Cabernet wine with a profound, mouth filling palate, to accompany herb crusted rib eye or bacon wrapped quail, braised hare sous jus or your favourite recipe lamb.

Great Dividing Range is an assemblage of harvests from three superlative sites. The �Silo Block� at Hilltops Barwang Vineyard, selected for its bright, brambly, dark fruits and soft generous tannins. The �Forgotten Block at Hilltops Mokinhui Vineyard, chosen for its bright cassis, pristine dried herb and dark chocolate fruit flavours, forming the backbone and contributing structure. A select component picked off �Block 10 at Rosebank Vineyard in the Grampians, brings richly concentrated blackcurrant characters, roundness and flesh.