Special six of the Best from Australia

Heartland Directors Cut Shiraz

This is the most subtle and nuanced incarnation of this stand out wine to date. The delicacy of the 2016 vintage is showcased in this poised wine that still manages to express all the intensity we have come to expect from Directors’ Cut. Look for fresh fruit character to lead the charge and the targeted use of oak to offer perfectly balanced structure.

Heartland Directors Cut Shiraz is Heartland’s most powerful expression of Langhorne Creek’s classic varietals. Only the best fruit makes the “cut”.

Winemaker: Ben Glaetzer Region: Langhorne Creek Soil: Sandy loam Variety: Shiraz Tasting Notes:

This is the most subtle and nuanced incarnation of this stand out wine to date. The delicacy of the 2016 vintage is showcased in this poised wine that still manages to express all the intensity we have come to expect from Directors’ Cut. Look for fresh fruit character to lead the charge and the targeted use of oak to offer perfectly balanced structure.

Vinification:

The grapes are selected from some of the best Shiraz vineyards in the region. These vineyards are chosen for the consistent intensity and texture of the fruit. The strictest pruning techniques are used. The fruit for Directors’ Cut Shiraz was harvested at night and then crushed to small open top stainless steel fermenters. After 24 hours of skin contact fermentation was commenced with our Rhône isolate yeast. Following 11 days of cool fermentation on skins and pumped over 3 times daily, the wine was transferred to French and American oak hogsheads for 14 months maturation. In the 2016 vintage we limited ourselves to 80% new oak to ensure the fruit remained the focus and the guiding light of the wine.

2016 Vintage: Ben reckons this might be the finest vintage he has ever seen from Langhorne Creek. Only time will tell. Harvest was more generous than the previous few years, with above average quantity and quality. Total degree days were up from the last three years, with wonderful ripeness levels recorded leading to amazing fruit intensity. This may supersede the 2012 vintage for overall quality and has led to a very happy winemaker.

To see our full range of heartland wines go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/heartland-wines/

For more information on the vineyard go to https://www.heartlandwines.com.au/product/directors-cut-shiraz/

Kooyong Clonale Chardonnay from Mornington Peninsula

The Kooyong vineyard is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Tuerong, on Miocene sedimentary soils. Our wines are made from domain grown, handpicked grapes and aim to manifest terroir: the integration of our geology and soils with the macroclimate of our region, the mesoclimates of the various sites within our vineyard and the weather of the annual grape growing season. Our cultural operations in the vineyard and practices in
the winery endeavour to articulate these unique characteristics diligently, respectfully and without artifice.
Vineyard
The 2019 Kooyong Clonale is a blend of Chardonnay from our Tuerong and Balnarring vineyards.
Winemaking
The grapes were gently whole-bunch pressed directly into French oak barriques (of which 7% were new), where fermentation commenced spontaneously with ambient yeasts. Following fermentation, the wine was aged on lees (without battonage) for nine months. The wine was bottled without fining and with minimal filtration.
Vintage
Winter provided good average rainfall with approximately 200mm in total falling over June, July and August. Early September welcomed the beginning of budburst, leading to a cool Spring with very little rainfall. Cool weather continued throughout the peak growing months of October, November and December. Spring rainfall was slightly below average but sufficient to ensure the vineyards were in good condition leading into Summer.
January was warm, with temperatures exceeding the long-term average, and dry, with almost no rainfall. Veraison commenced mid-January as typical. February was cool providing relief to the vineyards and consolidating veraison across all our varieties.
Harvest commenced late February. Warmer weather returned at the beginning of March and conditions remained very dry and moderately warm throughout the harvest period. The viticultural and winemaking teams worked with great tenacity, it was a compact vintage finishing in late March. The white wines have an attractive balance of flavour and acidity and the red wines deliver intense flavour with excellent acidity and structure.

http://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/kooyong/

http://www.portphillipestate.com.au

Summer of 69 Verdelho

A bouquet of honeysuckle and lemon followed by a sherbet edge. Fresh pineapple and white peach fill out the flavours giving the wine a light, summer feel. The name was inspired by the date of birth of the owner Sarah marquis. The Hippy era, peace, love and good times. The wine inspires these feelings. The summer of love and San Francisco spring to me and the wine promotes this beautifully. Wine for flowers in the hair.

Early spring saw perfect conditions for fruit growth, hinting at a promising start for the 2019 vintage. Bud burst occurred in the first weeks of September and accelerated through October. Some vines became vulnerable during the November flowering season with cooler, stormy conditions, but as the weather warmed up, ripening of the fruit continued at a steady pace into summer. Despite a few spells of anticipated hot weather in January – with South Australia breaking a number of heat records around the Australia Day holiday – temperatures did eventually stabilise, resulting in ideal growing conditions for the fruit to achieve its optimum colour and flavour.

Mollydooker is a Member of Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, and as such ensures that all wines are produced on a sustainable basis.

To see our full range of Mollydooker product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/mollydooker/

For more information on the winery go to https://www.mollydookerwines.com.au/OurWines/tabid/89/Default.aspx

The vineyards are situated on the magical Seaview Ridge, which with its ancient soils and Mediterranean climate, is home to some of the most iconic Australian wines. There are three separate vineyards – Long Gully Road, Coppermine Road and the Home Blocks, giving us a total of 114 acres of Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot. All of the grapes are grown sustainably.

This wine is another classic from the Mollydooker stable as well as being a fun wine for happy occasions.

Summer of 69 Verdelho

Hamelin Bay Cabernet Sauvignon

Margaret River is renowned for producing some of Australia`s most elegant and refined red wines. This Bordeaux influenced dry red has oodles of style and class. Deep red in colour with a pink red hue. The bouquet is complex and varietal display of dusty, earthy blackberry and mocha. The palate is full bodied, rich and long with excellent sweetness and structure, fine but firm tannins.

To find out more about the winery go to http://www.hbwines.com.au

To see our range of Hamelin Bay wines go to http://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/hamelin-bay/

Hamelin Bay Wines in the Margaret River wine region was established by the Drake-Brockman family in 1992.  The family-run vineyard near Karridale is now also home to a cellar door and restaurant.

The Hamelin Bay winery is located at Karridale in the southern point of the region within a few miles of the ocean. The 63 acre `Five Ashes Vineyard` is located on well drained gravel soils and faces north across the valley to gain the sun`s warmth in this cool region. The wines themselves are an expression of the natural beauty and uniqueness of the area, the fruit ripens with an intensity of flavour and richness of character. Owned by the Drake-Brockman family, who have a long association with the area, they have in recent years, achieved great recognition and awards for their range of outstanding wines.

Margaret River’s world-class wine region is located in the South West of Western Australia.  Surrounded by ocean, the area is blessed with a maritime climate; wet winters and mild, dry summers.  Fine wines, abundant local gourmet food, pristine beaches and majestic forests combine to make the region a favourite tourist destination.

Our unique Five Ashes vineyard is one of Margaret River’s most picturesque vineyards.  The moderate maritime climate and a north facing ridge of prime gravely loam soils are ideal for premium quality grape growing.  The exceptional wine produced reflects these superb natural attributes of our 26 hectare vineyard.  The Whites are positioned on a cool Easterly slope with soils varying from prized Forest Grove gravels to Karri loams, whilst the Reds are situated on a warmer North-facing slope beneath the cellar door on deep, dark gravel loams.  The Whites exude freshness and elegance, and the Reds have restrained power and depth, both with distinctive and intense characters specific to each particular variety, block and site.  From our very first vintage, our wines have won awards thanks to the outstanding terroir influenced by perfect gravel soils, select aspects, and cool moderate maritime microclimate.

Hamelin Bay Cabernet Sauvignon

Suckfizzle Sauvignon Semillon

Suckfizzle represent the flagship wines from the Stella Bella winery in Margaret River, Western Australia.

“This is one of a handful of Margaret River sauvignon blancs that move into another universe of complexity and longevity. No one should dismiss this wine without tasting it and learning of its majesty.” 

This boutique winery in the heart of Margaret River creates idiosyncratic named ranges like Suckfizzle in a low interventionist and organic way keeping their approach as simple as possible to allow their cherished vineyards to show their quality.

It is not merely in the names where these wines are memorable, as once you have tasted them you will see why Luke Jolliffe, the winemaker, continues to receive recognition and awards from around the world for wines that have that wonderful Margaret River restraint and elegance, but are bound together with a fruit purity that makes them delectable.

The aroma is extremely vibrant and lifts out of the glass. Fresh guava, charred preserved lemon and kaffir lime with hints of crunchy nettle, mango and musk. Exceptionally fresh and crisp with zesty citrus flavours of lemon rind and just a hint of musk. An edginess that delivers full flavoured texture, complexitity and a luscious phenolic grip. Its agebility cannot be underestimated.

Fruit is picked on a combination of flavour, vine condition, sugar/pH/TA and intuition. They pick across a spectrum of ripeness levels for complexity. Every block is picked and vinified separately for maximum blending options. Swards of rye and clover have been planted to help prevent soil compaction and to assist in fixing nitrogen. The vines are all trellised using Vertical Shoot Position (VSP), and are spur-pruned with the exception of a couple of older blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc that are cane pruned. Spur-pruning helps to ensure that the spur spacing results in the correct shoot spacing in the canopy, which in turn leads to well-exposed leaves and fruit. This results in them obtaining the optimum balance between leaves, canes and bunches.

Drink with Poached salmon, natural oysters, chevre, ceviche.

To see our full range of Stella Bella product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/stella-bella/

To see more information on the winery go to https://www.stellabella.com.au/

Suckfizzle Sauvignon Semillon

Tar & Roses Nebbiolo Heathcote

WET BITUMEN MELDS WITH FLORAL NOTES, DAMP EARTH AND HINTS OF LEATHER AND CRANBERRY. FINE SUBSTANTIAL TANNIN ON THE PALATE, DRIED PETALS PLUS EARTHY TAR, ELEGANT AND LONG.

The grapes for this wine came from a combination of vineyards. They were all kept separate during their fermentation and maturation lives. The machine harvested volume was crushed and destemmed into static fermenters and pumped over twice a day. After approximately ten days of fermentation, during which time the temperature and acid levels were monitored, they were individually pressed to tank using an air bag press. Finally the wine was racked off gross lees and put into barrel to mature in a combination of new French and older barriques.

Tar and roses are flavours synonymous with nebbiolo and this red embodies the name like no other. Black liquorice sweetness, leather and olive tapenade characters, combined with bold tannins give this impressive wine flexibility to cellar for several years. It will go down a treat with your classic spaghetti al pomodoro.

Nebbiolo is a thin skinned variety known for its unusually light colour and deceptively high level of tannins. In fertile soils it can produce large crops with large bunches and berries. The Heathcote vineyard, while close to the rich deep Cambrian vein of soil, is tempered by harder granite gravels that has seen the vines produce a more balanced canopy to crop ratio. The balanced crop level has meant even ripening and minimal disease pressures.

Tar & Roses Nebbiolo Heathcote

To find out more about the winery go to http://www.tarandroses.com.au

To see our full range of Tar and Roses product go to http://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/tar-roses/

To see our full range of Tar &n Roses product go to 

It’s the little things that make the difference… the care and continued maintenance of the wines during maturation, the constant monitoring of temperature and acid levels during ferment plus the use of quality fruit at the outset combine to ensure a quality wine result. We want to produce wines that have individual flair and are distinctly varietal and reflective of their terroir as grown here in Australia.

Inspired by Mediterranean grape varietals, the range stretches from the delicious viscous Pinot Grigio to the complex tannic Nebbiolo.