Brian Croser established vines on a foggy, north facing slope of sandy clay loams at Parawa, very near the extreme south westerly point of Fleurieu Peninsula in 2003. The chilly maritime climes on Maylands Farm are a challenge for the vineyard team but they yield Pinot Noir of extraordinary eloquence and exquisite pastoral richness. A week of hand plunging and warmer ferments are gently air bag pressed into a high proportion of new French oak barriques for ten months maturation. Its voluminous palate unravels layers of complexity before an august, satin finish.

An outstanding harvest of Dijon clone Pinot Noir, picked off the prestigious Foggy Hill vineyard, is assembled alongside choice parcels from superior Fleurieu Peninsula sites. Parcels of destemmed and whole buch grapes are gently air bag pressed into a high selection of new French oak barriques for completion of malolactic and a year's maturation. A generously proportioned Pinot to accompany full flavoured fare.

Kayena Vineyard makes a big, generous style of Pinot Noir, unique for it's power and weight to match game recipes as strong as heavily sauced garlic and rosemary lamb. A good balance of ripe fruit, tannin astringency and cleansing acids persist, thoroughly enjoyable right now. The aim has been to achieve an elegant and complex expression of terroir, a blend of several clones is called upon to weave a fine, textural style. Maturation in French oak barriques is showing through with subtle spiciness and just a little extra grip on the palate without dominating.

A Victorian flagship effort in the uniquely Australian experience of icon Shiraz Cabernet wines. Taltarni blends modern Australian winemaking with traditional French vinification practices, encapsulating the philosophy of forming a nexus between new and old world methodologies. Taltarni Reserve is an accord of two noble red varietals which have brought Taltarni international renown. Grown to superior Pyrenees vineyards, Cabernet lays down the solid structure and contributes profound berry perfumes, Shiraz brings flesh and adds piquant aromatic spice.

Characterized by its controlled power, elegance and finesse, a very special Pyrenees wine which redefines the great Cabernet virtues of stature, structure and length. The inaugural release claimed Gold and Best Wine ahead of two timeless Bordeaux icons, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Cos d'Estournel. Prior vintages have claimed the hotly contested Decanter World Wine Awards Best Bordeaux Varietal over £10. A mighty Pyrenees Cabernet Sauvignon, driven by a masculine weight of fruit, supported by a framework of stylish French oak.

Shiraz is a varietal with which Taltarni has excelled from the very start, no real mystery as it's grown to some of Victoria's best purpose built vineyards. By applying traditional winemaking with modern Australian viticulture, secure the pick of Heathcote's harvest to create an amazingly complex, profoundly flavoured and seriously structured wine. Just perfect with steak or old world style meat Ragu, its vibrant assortment of juicy, cool ripened plum and spiced fruit flavours, are framed by a length of supportive, amicable tannins and supple, integrated oak.

The quality of Shiraz grown to parched vineyards in Victoria's rugged western districts, has been well known throughout the world of wine since the days of gold rush and early settlement. Taltarni have since established an enviable reputation for vintages of powerfully structured, statuesque red wines, fully exploiting the soft spoken majesty and graceful intensity of Pyrenees Shiraz comes naturally. Released in limited quantities, a mouth coating Shiraz to savour alongside grilled meats and roast game, or costly shards of pungent, esoteric cheese.

The arid temperate climes and ancient craggy terrains, which make Pyrenees mesoclimes so very unique, make a home away from home for the noble varietal grapes of Bordeaux. The topical cepage of Cabernet, Merlot and Petit Verdot, coalesce into a rakish Medoc style, bursting with blue black flavours and lined with opulent tannins. Sourced from the most superior sites, Taltarni is treated to a judicious measure of barrel ferments for richness and complexity, followed by an extravagant two years in a selection of the finest oak barriques.

Giovanni Tait was a cooper who migrated to Barossa Valley in 1957, he took up work with B. Seppelt and Sons, where he took a hand in the élevage and maturation of the most memorable vintages. Tasteful and judicious use of oak remains an essential component of the winemaking traditions at Tait, none more so than the topical Rhone styled blend of Grenache, Mourverdre and Shiraz. Tait source fruit for the Wild Ride from choice sites on the southern Finders ranges, treating each parcel to an individual regimen of oak, a mere thousand cases are produced.

The old fashioned practice of treating ferments to a manually operated basket press, preserves the elemental rectitude and textural integrity of good wine. Bruno Tait sources a unique parcel of Shiraz from a single vineyard at Rowland Flat which yields a meagre tonne and a half per acre. The precious old vines are seventy years of age, they are consulted by Bruno twice a week at vintage time to determine the perfect day for picking. The vinification is wholly natural and very old world in style, an extremely limited 240 dozen are produced.

For such a small, hands on winemaking operation, Tait have won conspicuous praise from the most respected international reviewers. The attention to detail and strong relationships with the Barossa's best growers gives Bruno Tait access to high quality fruit which he fashions into a wine that reflects his own personality, generous and affable. A traditionally crafted, small batch wine, assembled from parcels of Barossa fruit that have been earmarked on the basis of opulence, exuberant tannins and refreshing acids, treated to the most adroit vinification techniques.

Tahbilk have the magic touch with old vines, custodians of a priceless prephylloxera block established in 1860 and productive to this day. Sourced from parcels averaging thirty to forty years of age, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz are treated to a traditional old world style of open ferments in an ancient collection of 150 year old oak vats, followed by extended maturation in a mix of the finest French and American oak. The perfect accompaniement to seared rib, kipflers and red wine jus.

Tahbilk are a bulwark of Victorian Shiraz, the original plantings are some of Australia's eldest productive vines. Traditional vinification techniques, as practised by Tahbilk's winemakers in the 1860s, are still employed, the original Chais of the wineworks remain to this day a most integral part of the operation. Wine & Spirits Magazine selected Tahbilk's original 1860 Vines Shiraz Vineyard as one of the great twenty five vineyards in the world, along with such illustrious icons as Romanee Conti La Tache and Chateau Lafite, Vega Sicilia and Chateau Y'Quem.

Established circa 1860, amongst the scenic Nagambie Lakes, Tahbilk is one of Australia's most historic wineries, with a long and proud history of producing Victoria's most reliable Cabernet Sauvignon. Following his return from service after World War II, Eric Purbrick discovered a cache of wine hidden in 1876 under the Tahbilk cellars. Though pale in colour, it was sound and drinkable after 71 years. The promise of long lived red wine inspired Purbrick to establish new plantings in 1949, today they are some of Victoria's oldest productive Cabernet vines.

Victorian accords of Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre are sufficiently rare, ideally, an estate must have a heritage which dates back to early settlement before they can consider crafting such a wine. The first nascent plantings at Tahbilk were sown with cuttings from Valley Rhone. Shiraz, Grenache and Mourvedre have taken to the local surrounds and today yield the finest harvests in Victoria. A deeply charismatic wine of provocative sweet and savoury fruit characters, exquisitely balanced over a length of elegant, tensile tannins.

A profuse and intricate, old vines Shiraz, articulating the complex personality and extraordinary depth of character achieved through the legacy of historic estate plantings. The majority of fruit is picked off a precious endowment of vines planted 1933, treated to an old world style of vinification which has changed little since 1860. Stunningly perfumed before a penetrating palate, polished showroom tannins and velvet textures, a truly remarkable Shiraz to match with fragrant red wine braises and seared aged meats.

Crafted from the best of vintage Cabernet Sauvignon, the choicest parcels collated from across the wonderful endowment of Tahbilk vineyards. It was the serendipitous discovery of a very old bottle Cabernet, unearthed just after WWII, from within the ageing Tahbilk wineworks, that inspired Eric Purbrick to re establish opearations after a long period of neglect. Tahbilk remain home to the eldest and most distinguished Cabernet vines. Eric Stevens Purbrick is dressed to impress, intensely flavoured with opaque berry flavours, sheathed in a veneer of graceful oak.

Outstanding Langtons Classification. From one of the most famous vineyards in the world, a half hectare of ungrafted, prephylloxera plantings, amongst the oldest productive Shiraz vines to be found anywhere. Internationally renowned for its eloquence as well as its historic significance, 1860 Vines Shiraz is treated to an old world vinification in a collection of hundred years old, oak fermentation vats. 1860 is crafted to remain true to its ancient heritage, the smells and flavours of an old fashioned wine, within a structure of enduring elegance and timeless refinement.

The stylish Margaret River accord of Cabernet and Merlot, with a timely inclusion of the rakish Petit Verdot. The Swings & Roundabouts team purposely leave the fruit to ripen on the vine for the longest time allowed by nature, encouraging the development of fully developed tannins and sugars alongside heightened varietal characters. They then have to fight with the kangaroos over possession of these deeply flavoured grapes. A vigorous red wine to match aged cheddars, stronger cuts of meat or well prepared game.

A completely engaging construct of Victorian Shiraz, fashioned to a bright new world styling, endowed with ample complexity, derived from a combination of old vine fruit, controlled yields and selection of site. Scotchmans Hill can access and retain many of the smallest and most propitious parcels of fruit, grown to good vineyards on Bellarine Peninsula, providing a virtual artist's palette of balmy regional characters, from which to assemble a wine that's complex and animate, yet graceful and restrained.

Located on the Bellarine Peninsula, Swan Bay was named by Commander Matthew Flinders in 1803. The wines of Swan Bay are fruit driven in style, offering unbeatable consistency and quality, generous in flavour and designed to be enjoyed young. Grapes are sourced from the best vineyards and vinified at the salubrious Scotchmans Hill wineworks. A rejuvenating style of Pinot Noir, offering excellent mid palate weight and silky tannins, balanced by firm cherry acidity.

There's very little that comes out of Central Otago which isn't thoroughly spectacular. Super Nanny represents the best of the very best, a very limited release edition, vinified from a parcel or two, hand picked and scrupulously sorted off the most splendid rows on Nanny Goat Vineyard. Whole bunches and cold soaks, hand plunges and a gentle press, a luxuriously high proportion of new oak for malolactic and age. A seductively dark brooding bouquet, savouryness and meat, dutch chocolate underbelly, rhubarb and plum, a taut mineral line over toothsome, gummy tannins.

Originally planted to Shiraz in the 1970s, Summerfield vineyard borders Taltarni. The earliest harvests were actually sold to them, along with the illustrious houses of Great Western and Chateau Remy, now known as Seppelt and Blue Pyrenees. This is the style of Shiraz which placed Victoria's Pyrenees on the world wine map. The palate fills with winegum tannins, dark brooding fruits, plums, berries and spice, finishing with incredible length. No other appellation makes such majestic Shiraz, this is what Summerfield's old vines are all about, it only gets better from here.

From fruit grown to the original farmstead which was broken up to give birth to Taltarni. When the national wine press discovered the quality of wine from this boutique Pyrenees estate, the secret was out, the phones rang hot and the Summerfield cellars were emptied in two days. Summerfield's editions are all hand made in small batches to ensure consistency and quality within each bottle. Opulent with blackberry, blackcurrant, raspberry and intense florals throughout, profoundly structured and elegantly framed by the most genteel oaken tannins.

Mostly Shiraz with a third Merlot and soupçon Cabernet Sauvignon. Moonambel grows the most opulent yet sinewy red wines on the continent. Defined by its penetrating black fruit pectins and brawny, tenacious tannins, Summerfield assemble the pick of their vintage into a muscular Moonambel mix which defines and expresses the monolithic, multi dimensional Grampians style. Tradition is an awesome rendering of the long lived and enduring red wines for which Summerfield are renowned, all the majesty and stately accord of superior vineyards Cabernet, Merlot and Shiraz.

Sugarloaf Creek Vineyard is situated within the rolling hills of the Great Dividing Range, on the boundary of three geographical regions, the Goulburn Valley, Upper Goulburn, and Macedon Ranges. The cooloer climes here translate into a long and slow ripening period for the fruit. Established by the Blyth and Hunter families in 1998, the vines have been planted and nurtured to maturity completely by hand. The entire vineyard is planted with Shiraz PT23 vines on their own roots and is a labour of love, maintained by the two families.

Streicker make single estate wines of great distinction, from fruit grown to elite sites along Margaret River. Established 2002 by John Streicker after his acquisition of the Yallingup Protea farm and vineyards, the estate now operates two other distinguished sites, the elite Bridgeland and Ironstone Vineyards, with a total of 153 hectares currently under vine. The holy grail of balance of power, balance and finesse in Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon, the finished Ironstone is treated to eighteen months in a high proportion of the finest new French oak barriques.

Streicker's Bridgeland property yields harvests of the finest Shiraz. Crafted to traditional winemaking techniques, a regimen of old fashioned plungings and open ferments, into a pure, single vineyard Rhone style Syrah. A mere 250 cases produced each year, vintage 2009 claimed top trophy at illustrious VISY Great Australian Shiraz Challenge, the first time ever for Margaret River. Its big, blooming bouquet of blueberries, violets and allspice, roast game, graphite and tar, a bliss for those who enjoy the garrulous, savoury styles of truly grand Syrah.

It was the Stonier team who put Mornington on the map for world class Pinot Noir. Several precious Reserve blocks, growing vines up to thirty years of age, are planted to predominantly cooler sites around Merricks and Merricks North. The grapes here are picked slightly later in the season, as the slow ripening blocks achieve limited harvests of the most intensely flavoured fruit. Delicately framed by understated oak, a powerfully fruit driven Pinot Noir offering layers of complexity, true elegance and exquisite richness of flavour.

It is a fact that Stonier introduced Australian Pinot to the world and Australian palates to Pinot. Stonier know their work, assembling some of the most successful of Mornington's regionally distinctive wines. A splendid, forward drinking, fruit filled Pinot Noir with a touch of savouryness that's graced the table alongside many a roasted duck across the length and breadth of the nation. Its bright aroma of juicy red berries and characteristic ruby purple appearance is relied upon to deliver pure Pinot pleasure to paladins everywhere, year in and year out.

A single parcel Pinot Noir from the KBS Vineyard, offering typicity and profound integrity each year. Named after founder Kenneth Brian Stonier, the KBS property was planted in 1988 on deep rich red loams adjacent to the winery. Pinot Noir from this elite site is nothing short of outstanding, it translates into the finest examples of Mornington, consistently well balanced with ripe fruit flavours yet high natural acidity. The smallest quarter of the choicest fruit is separately bottled as KBS Pinot Noir, the balance forming a key component in Stonier's Reserve.

The topical Medoc cépage of Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot, artisanaly fashioned into a statuesque Bordeaux style. The exemplary efforts of Domaine A are Langtons listed, have received great adulation from the industry press and claimed prestigious wine show competition awards. Cabernet of the highest order, her tannins are fine but firm, striking the balance between power and grace, before an immeasurably long finish. Stoney Vineyard exhibits an elegance rarely found amongst her mainland siblings.

Stoney Rise is a boutique vineyard and cellar door in Tamar Valley. Planted to three hectares of Pinot Noir and one of Chardonnay, Stoney Rise was established in 1986, with a view to formulating distinctive small batch wines which express the influence of a unique mesoclime and terroir. Deep ruby colour, the nose opens with lifted aromas of violet, cherry and spice. The palate is full and rich, structured and taut, expressing bright berry characters on a solid fruit structure leading to a long finish with plenty weight of flavour. Great with grilled salmon or marinated beef tartare.

Stoney Rise is all about drinkability, the creation of complex, fully approachable food friendly wines, without any excessive oak or uber ripeness. Pinot Noir goes into the oldest barrels available to soften the tannins and refine textures without overpowering the sensual fruit characters. Stoney Rise is planted to a meagre three hectares of Pinot Noir in Tasmania's Tamar Valley, a bucolic idyll, yielding trophy winning wines and attracting the high critical acclaim since inaugural release. All by virtue of a passion for growing grapes and a penchant for Pinot Noir in the European tradition.

Stoneleigh's Vineyards are located towards the northern side of Wairau Valley in close proximity to the mighty Wairau River. Often referred to as the Rapaura series of soils, they are relatively young, based on river silts and stones, low in nutrients they offer very little water holding capacity. True to the Stoneleigh style, this soft, supple wine captures the essence of Marlborough. Fragrant and flavoursome, it has been fashioned from small blocks of varying clones and rootstocks, achieving a completely integrated and complex style of Pinot Noir.

Following decades of devoted viticulture, Plunkett Fowles have accumulated extensive local knowledge of soils and microclimes peculiar to the Strathbogie Ranges. Their efforts have crystallised into some of Victoria's most memorable wines. Stone Dwellers represents the fruits of labour and of experience, the best varietal expressions from Strathbogie Ranges each and every vintage. Roughly equal portions Shiraz are sourced from the estate's Whitegate and Upton Run Vineyards, to construct a wine with a generous palate and vibrant aromatic lift.

A cool climate Cabernet wine of impeccable integration and exceptional balance. Sourced from the Trevor's Cabernet Block on Fowles Plunkett Whitegate Vineyard in Strathbogie Ranges, where harvesting generally occurs from late February through to early May. The sandy loam soils on the elevated and undulating, gently inclined site stimulate the vines into yielding the most intensely flavoured Cabernet berries with pungent aromatics and toothsome tannins. A very well balanced, full bodied Cabernet Sauvignon with a long flavourful finish.

Rob Sticks Dolan's career in the wine industry began under the tutelage of Greg Clayfield and John Vickery at the enduring Rouge Homme. Dolan established his affinity for Pinot Noir on the international stage when he claimed the prestigious Bouchard-Finlayson Trophy for Champion Pinot Noir at the prestigious London International. Sticks represents an immensely satisfying and approachable Pinot Noir, crafted from fruit grown to some of Yarra Valley's most splendid vineyards, tended by loyal friends and long time associates.

A passion is shared by the entire Sticks team for crafting vintages of the finest Yarra Valley wine. Their work is their pastime, as they stroll amongst the vineyard, nurturing each planting by hand, in anticipation of a healthy harvest. The range of expression on offer from their canon of auspicious sites, affords the team an opportunity to fashion a finely textured Cabernet Sauvignon with engaging black cherry perfumes, a plush, bramble filled palate and gentle, velvet tannins.

Stepping Stone is a reference to the gradual acquisition of land by the original settlers of the Limestone Coast as they discovered pockets suitable for farming. Similarly when making Stepping Stone, Stonehaven's winemaking team traverse from vineyard to vineyard, selecting fruit from parcels within the region which best express the varietal characteristics. Padthaway produces intensely aromatic and flavoursome Shiraz grapes that translate into a dark crimson wine with aromas of chocolate and cherry oak over which precede a soft and complex palate.