Under $140 World’s Best Reds - 6 Pack Value
$829
$1,000
This is Great……and Here’s Why!
When you want class, exceptional quality and value, this is the pack for you. All highly rated wines. 6 red-carpet red. One GSM from Southern Rhone, France, 1 Red Blend from Bordeaux, France, Shiraz from Barossa Valley, South Australia, Shiraz from Hunter Valley NSW, Pinot Noir from Martinborough, New Zealand, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot from Bolgheri, Italy. All from acclaimed vineyards located in the world's best wine-growing regions.1 x Chateau Maucoil Chateauneuf-du-Pape Esprit 2012 ~ Southern Rhone, France
91/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
91/100 Wine Enthusaist
17/20 Jancis Robinson
Wine Enthusiast "From the oldest vines of the estate, this is a lush, luscious wine. Vanilla and cedar notes complement bold cherry fruit, while hints of cinnamon, clove and allspice lend nuance."
Jancis Robinson 'Vineyard soil: galets. 12 months in barrique.... fine tannins and ripe fruit underneath. Blackberry compote notes.'
Château Maucoil has been under the care of several different illustrious wine growing families over the centuries, but it is now owned and managed by the talented winemakers Frederic and Benoit Lavau. With the consulting advice of famed French winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt, the Lavau brothers have been making stellar and highly awarded wines and today are one of the few producers to continue to cultivate all 13 permitted grape varieties permitted by the Châteauneuf-du-Pape regulations.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a historic village between the towns of Orange and Avignon, in France's southern Rhône Valley. It is famous for powerful, full-bodied red wines made predominantly from the classic southern Rhône grape trio: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. These three varieties are behind the vast majority of the appellation's red wines, although a total of eighteen are approved for use – a mix of red and white grape varieties.
1 x Clos du Marquis', Saint-Julien 2008 - Bordeaux , France
92/100 James Suckling
92/100 Falstaff Magazine
91/100 Wine Enthusiast
91/100 Jeannie Cho Lee
90/100 Vinous Antonio Galloni
90/100 Neal Martin
90/100 Wine Spectator
90/100 Robert Parker
90/100 Stephen Tanzer
90/100 CellarTracker
90/100 Jeff Leve
16.5/20 Vinum Wine Magazine
16.5/20 La Revue du Vin de France
16/20 Gault & Millau
15.5/20 Jancis Robinson
2 Stars - Le Guide Hachette des Vins
Robert Parker "For many years, Las Cases' second wine has been the equivalent of a classified growth in the Medoc. The 2008 Clos du Marquis may be one of the two or three finest second wines I have tasted from proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that came in at 13.5% natural alcohol, it is a pure, deep, full-bodied effort displaying classic aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, and crushed rocks. On the palate, there is a sensational black fruit character, no hard edges, and a seamless integration of all the component parts."
Neal Martin "The 2008 Clos du Marquis has an expressive bouquet with blackberry, briary and pencil shaving aromas that gains intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with just a light seam of greenness, although it merely adds freshness and asserts its classicism. I find this fresh and balanced, sporting just the right amount of dryness on the cassis-driven finish that balanced with the fruit, lending it a “breezy” and unassuming character that suits it down to the ground."
James Suckling "A layered and minerally wine, with currants and berries. Medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a fruity finish."
Jancis Robinson "Dark purplish crimson... Rather luscious with good texture and polish. Reasonably forward but with good structure."
Stephen Tanzer "Good dark red. Bitter cherry, fresh bay, sage and coffee on the nose, with a floral element emerging in the glass. Supple and nicely concentrated, with attractive mid-palate sweetness and a seamless texture for the year. This rather silky Saint-Julien finishes with a good floral lift."
Wine Enthusiast "The second wine of Léoville las-Cases is big and hearty. The fruits are solid, ripe and well balanced, with red fruits that give sweetness."
Wine Spectator "Ripe and refined, with pure, driven plum, raspberry and black cherry fruit and sleek structure. Flickers of charcoal, roasted cedar and tobacco hang in the background. Should age nicely."
The 2008 Clos du Marquis is an interesting blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot produced in the prestigious Saint-Julien appellation.
Château Léoville Poyferré is an estate in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Médoc. It was rated the second growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification and was traditionally the softest of the three Léovilles. However, in the last few decades, the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine has gained weight and density.
Saint-Julien is a small but important red wine appellation of the Haut-Médoc district on the Left Bank of Bordeaux in south-western France. Its reputation is based on its status as a reliable source of consistently elegant, age-worthy wines. Sandwiched between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, Saint-Julien is sometimes unfairly overlooked because it does not have a first growth chateau in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.
Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world's most famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. Its three trump cards are diversity, quality and quantity. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90 per cent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux Blends that established its reputation. The finest (and most expensive) of these come from the great châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines, both dry styles (particularly from Pessac-Léognan) and the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.
A Bordeaux Blend is any combination of those grape varieties typically used to make the red wines of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon is widely accepted as a compulsory component of any Bordeaux Blend along with Merlot. In fact, the majority of Bordeaux Blend wines are often made exclusively from a blend of these two varieties. The remaining components are Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
1 x Hewitson Mother Vine Monopole Shiraz 2018 - Barossa Valley
98/100 James Suckling
97/100 James Halliday
96/100 The WIne Pilot
93/100 Ralph Kyte-Powell
James Halliday 5 Star Winery
James Halliday Top 100 Winery 2017
97/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years."
Ralph Kyte-Powell “The palate is rich and full with sustained flavour, velvet texture and ripe, fine-grained tannins underneath.
James Halliday “ It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years... A clonal selection from a single vine planted in 1853, the subsequent plantings necessarily relatively young, but firing on all cylinders.”
James Suckling "This has some ripe redcurrant and plum-pastry aromas with an edge of camphor, violets and blueberries. Sappy aromas with hints of tar, iodine and bergamot, too. There’s a very intense core of dark-plum flavor, as well as a band of chocolate fondant. Smooth-honed and very intense. As suave as it is powerful. Drink over the next two decades."
Ray Jordan, The Wine Pilot "There is something special in this highly individual wine. It comes from a single one-hectare vineyard that was created from a single shiraz vine which was grafted to create a distinctive clonal vineyard. The wine is extraordinary. There is dark super saturated concentration of plush opulent fruit. Dark plum and prune juice with grainy resiny tannins add support. It also has a slightly chalky ironstone character that provides definition and direction towards a very long finish."
In early 2021, leading global publication Wine Enthusiast included Hewitson in its top 10 list of “Vineyards Behind the World’s Most Famous Wines” alongside heralded blocks in Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont and Napa Valley.
Australian Wine Companion "Established in 1998 Hewitson winery is situated in the heart of the Barossa Valley on the historic Seppeltsfield Road and boasts some of the oldest vines in the world. Hewitson fruit is sourced from historic, dry-grown vineyards in the Barossa Valley and also from single site vineyards in Eden Valley, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills."
Frederick Wildman "Dean Hewitson founded his eponymous winery in 1998. He is a highly respected Australian winemaker ...Hewitson has worked at wineries in Australia, France, Italy and Oregon. Hewitson then moved to the U.S. where he earned a Masters from UC-Davis. On his return home, Dean brought a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and a driving passion to produce wines not only from Barossa Valley but also from the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills regions.
Hewitson fundamentally believes great wines are the expression of the soils they are grown in and the season in which they are grown. With his longstanding focus on terroir—specific terroir plots in fact—many of Hewitson’s wines are single vineyard. He sources grapes from not only his own vineyards but also from long-standing grower contracts including a few sourced from some of the oldest living, still productive vines on plots that date back to the mid-19th century and are pre-phylloxera. His ‘Old Garden’ Mourvèdre is a single-vineyard wine, whose vines were planted in 1853 in Barossa Valley and are reputed to be the oldest Mourvèdre vines in the world. Hewitson’s ‘Miss Harry’ is sourced from a Grenache vineyard planted in 1880, also thought to be the oldest Grenache in existence.
Due to Hewitson’s education and experience in Australia, California and France, Hewitson wines combine Old-World traditions with New-World fruit purity. And while he clearly excels with Rhône Valley grape varieties, Hewitson also produces award-winning Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. A practitioner in solar energy, water recycling and encouraging natural biodiversity, Hewitson produces wines in an environmentally sustainable fashion."
James Halliday "Dean Hewitson was a winemaker at Petaluma [one of Australia's leading wineries] for 10 years, during which time he managed to do three vintages in France and one in Oregon as well as undertaking his Masters at the University of California, Davis. It is hardly surprising that the wines are immaculately made from a technical viewpoint. Dean sources 30-year-old Riesling from the Eden Valley and 70-year-old shiraz from McLaren Vale; he also makes a Barossa Valley Mourvedre from vines planted in 1853 at Rowland Flat, and Barossa Valley Shiraz and Grenache from 60-year-old vines at Tanunda."
The Barossa Valley is an extremely important wine-producing region within the Barossa zone of South Australia, particularly associated with powerful red wines from the red wine grape variety Shiraz. A prestigious and internationally renowned region, it is not only home to some of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Australia but produces some of its most recognizable and sought-after brands. A striking feature of the Barossa Valley's wine landscape is the presence of very old vines, proudly showcased on many wine labels and during vineyard tours.
Shiraz, also known as Syrah is a popular red wine. Though the spiritual homeland of this red grape is France, Syrah has been planted throughout the world to great success. It expresses itself differently depending on the climate, soil and regional style.
Syrah is typically bold and full-bodied, with aromatic notes of smoke, black fruit and pepper spice. Stylistically, it can be round and fruity, or dense and tannic. And in warmer New World regions like Australia, Syrah is most often be called Shiraz.
Winemakers who work in cooler-climate growing regions, both in the Old World and New World, tend to call their wines Syrah. The most famous examples come from the northern Rhône Valley of France, notably Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. In the New World, in regions like Sonoma Coast, California; Yarra Valley, Australia; and parts of Chile, the wines are called Syrah because they emulate the leaner, acid-driven, savory styles of the Old World French classics.
Shiraz tends to come from warmer growing climates, namely the South Australian regions of Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. Stylistically, these wines are lush, fruit-forward examples that embody the warmer, sunnier climate. Shiraz is so important to Australian viticulture that it is the most planted grape variety in the majority of Australian vineyards and has become virtually synonymous with the country's wine regions, and in particular the Barossa Valley.
1 x Brokenwood Quail Shiraz 2015 ~ Hunter Valley NSW and McLaren Vale SA, Australia
95/100 James Halliday
93/100 Bob Campbell
91/100 The Wine Front
95/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
5-star winery James Halliday
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "A very complex full-bodied wine; the heavy lifting - and boy is it heavy - is done by the McLaren Vale Wade Vineyard, with fine, but nonetheless mouth coating, tannins. It won't be fully approachable for a decade."
James Halliday "A deservedly fashionable winery producing consistently excellent wines. Its big-selling Hunter Semillon provides the volume to balance the limited quantities of the flagships ILR Semillon and Graveyard Shiraz. Brokenwood purchased the Graveyard Vineyard from Hungerford Hill in '78 and has been working to totally rehabilitate the vineyard over the ensuing decades. It's been a vine by vine exercise, with a degree of experimentation of rootstocks and clonal material from other, even older vineyards. Next there is a range of wines coming from regions including Beechworth (a major resource is the associated Indigo Vineyard), Orange, Central Ranges, McLaren Vale, Cowra and elsewhere. In 2017 Iain Riggs celebrated his 35th vintage at the helm of Brokenwood, offering a unique mix of winemaking skills, management of a diverse business, and an unerring ability to keep Brokenwood's high profile fresh and newsworthy. He has also contributed a great deal to various wine industry organisations."
Established in 1970 Brokenwood Wines is one of Australia's most reputable premium wine labels and a must-visit in the Hunter Valley. It was established by Australia's leading wine critic, James Halliday.
Consistently listed as a 5 star winery, Brokenwood is home to the famous Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, the highly acclaimed ILR Reserve Semillon, and the popular Cricket Pitch Range.
1 x Dry River Pinot Noir 2017 - Martinborough, New Zealand
96/100 The Wine Front (2015 vintage)
95/100 Bob Campbell (2015 vintage)
94/100 Jamie Goode (2015 vintage)
94/100 Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (2015 vintage)
93/100 James Suckling (2015 vintage)
90/100 CellarTracker (2015 vintage)
Raymond Chan 5 Stars (2015 vintage)
99/100 - Bob Campbell (2013 Vintage)
98/100 - Sam Kim (2013 Vintage)
19+/20 - Raymond Chan (2013 Vintage)
Gary Walsh - "Gee this is very good. It’s dense, throaty and deep in tannin and flavour, but not heavy or clumsy. Dark cherry, layered with sweet spice and dried herb, an almost ferrous thing going on, which you could call ‘minerally’, if you’d like, rich grainy tannin, cool blood orange acidity, and a very long finish, spiced and pimped up with a delicious Chinotto bitterness. Superb. A wine of charisma, integrity and intrigue. Hard not to fall in love with it."
James Suckling - "Super dark fruits, super ripe and super-concentrated, this is pinot noir taken to several extremes all at once. The nose is in the ripe dark plum, graphite, plum pudding and spiced panforte zone. The palate has a very strong core of tannins of unquestionable power but which have pastry-like, ripe smooth edges. The dark plum fruits run deep. Super concentrated and slightly sinewy, this wears the scars of a low-yielding and dry vintage."
Bob Campbell - "Intense pinot noir, but rather more elegant than the blockbuster styles I expect from Dry River. Quite tight and youthful with dark berry, Black Doris plum, spice, anise and a generous oak influence."
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate - "The 2015 Pinot Noir comes from a year that saw reduced crop yields and dry summer. The result is a concentrated, tannic, age-worthy wine that was aged in 20%-25% new French oak hogsheads. It's medium to full-bodied and velvety in texture, with black cherry notes that come dangerously close to being chocolaty, but it retains a sense of freshness on the long, rich finish."
Raymond Chan - "...This is a rich, vibrantly fruited Pinot Noir with dark-red berry and complex herb and whole cluster flavours and violet florals on a lively, firmly extracted palate."
Dry River is one of New Zealand’s most iconic pioneering wineries, established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum considered amongst New Zealand's best vignerons. The combination of low yields, non-irrigated vines, organic vineyard techniques and a desire to make long-lived wines are at the forefront of this esteemed winery.
Decanter "Dry River is Martinborough's first vineyard, planted in 1979, has been owned by Julian Robertson, the man behind New Zealand's most exclusive golf resorts. The viticulture and viniculture here are different from their neighbours on the Puruatanga Road: they practise extreme leaf plucking in the vineyard, no post-fermentation maceration in the winery, and no racking in the barrel. The aim is for gentle, phenolic extraction and long-lived wine - and it seems to work."
Wine Enthusiasts Magazine "With his small, youthful team, Lam now makes ultra-premium Pinot, among other wines, from three estate-grown, organically farmed and unirrigated plots: Dry River Estate, Craighall Vineyards and Lovat Vineyard. Each site imparts specific characteristics to the wines while still maintaining a distinctive winery style. Through exacting viticulture and winemaking techniques, the team crafts small-batch, precise wines that may be slow to evolve, and perhaps even a little austere when young, but will morph into elegant and refined beauties with 10 years or more in the cellar."
Martinborough is a wine-producing area in the southern part of New Zealand's North Island. The small town and surrounding district are home to around 1,500 residents and some of New Zealand's most highly respected boutique wineries. Martinborough's cool climate and excellent soils are perfect for the production of balanced, elegant wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Martinborough lies around 55km north-east of Wellington in a wide river valley between the Rimutaka mountain range and the eastern Wairarapa hills. Despite the fact that Martinborough has only three per cent of all of New Zealand's vineyard land, it is still widely considered to be one of the country's prime wine regions. Its claim to fame is the exceptional quality of its Pinot Noir wines, produced by some of the most highly regarded wineries in New Zealand. The style of this wine is regarded to be more complex than its counterparts from Central Otago.
1 x Tenuta Argentiera - Bolgheri Superiore - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc 2018 ~ Bolgheri, Italy
97/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2017 vintage)
96/100 James Suckling (2017 vintage)
95/100 Decanter (2017 vintage)
93/100 Wine Spectator (2017 vintage)
90/100 Wine Enthusiast (2017 vintage)
99/100 James Suckling (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Spectator (2015 Vintage)
97/100 Robert Parker (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Enthusiast (2007 Vintage)
92/100 Wine Spectator (2003 Vintage)
Super Tuscan at a great value!
Robert Parker - "This is a dark and penetrating Tuscan red that is beautifully elevated, thanks to the extremely elegant and buoyant quality of the aromas. They lift gracefully from the glass with light-footed, almost fleeting character. However, don't underestimate the power and the concentration of the wine, because this vintage delivers both with abundance. I've had my eye on this estate since the vineyards were first planted some 20 years ago, and there is no doubt that this vintage brings Tenuta Argentiera into a new era as a Bolgheri protagonist. Some 80,000 bottles were made."
James Suckling - "Love the complexity to this with lots of rosemary and lavender that complement the currant and violet character. Full-bodied, yet extremely polished and tight on the palate. The tannins are ever so fine. Extremely long and beautiful. Another excellent wine, after the superb 2015."
Wine Enthusiast - "The full-bodied palate delivers blackberry jam, star anise and roasted coffee bean alongside velvety tannins."
Decanter - "...The estate is located at the southernmost border of the appellation. In 2016, possibly because of the high percentage of Merlot in the blend, the wine shows great complexity from straw notes and earthy tones in a sort of Right Bank style, with meaty cassis fruit and a slightly leaner body full of finesse. The tannins in this vintage are almost silky from this higher altitude part of the appellation, at 200 meters above sea level. (AG) "
Wine Spectator - "Rich, with black currant, plum, loamy earth, vanilla and toasty oak spice aromas and flavors, backed by a spine of dense tannins and vibrant acidity, lingering with ample fruit, herb and spice notes."
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet
The Argentiera estate is situated on the coast of Alta Maremma, about 100 km west of Florence in the DOC appellation of Bolgheri. The estate is part of the historic Tenuta di Donoratico dei Serristori, an influential Florentine family that in 1512 acquired this land from the Medici family.
Today the property is owned by Corrado and Marcello Fratini, well-known entrepreneurs from Florence, and by Marchese Piero Antinori. The estate is planted with specialized vines all of which have the appellation DOC Bolgheri. The vines have an average age of 4–5 years and are situated on a plateau at an elevation of 150 to 200 meters above sea level, the highest altitude level in Bolgheri.
Argentiera’s vineyards, located only 2 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, benefit from breezes that provide consistent ventilation to the vines. The vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah; vines very much representative of the Bolgheri area.
Bolgheri is an outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in the 1940s on his San Guido estate and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia.
Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends.
When you want class, exceptional quality and value, this is the pack for you. All highly rated wines. 6 red-carpet red. One GSM from Southern Rhone, France, 1 Red Blend from Bordeaux, France, Shiraz from Barossa Valley, South Australia, Shiraz from Hunter Valley NSW, Pinot Noir from Martinborough, New Zealand, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot from Bolgheri, Italy. All from acclaimed vineyards located in the world's best wine-growing regions.
1 x Chateau Maucoil Chateauneuf-du-Pape Esprit 2012 ~ Southern Rhone, France
91/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
91/100 Wine Enthusaist
17/20 Jancis Robinson
Wine Enthusiast "From the oldest vines of the estate, this is a lush, luscious wine. Vanilla and cedar notes complement bold cherry fruit, while hints of cinnamon, clove and allspice lend nuance."
Jancis Robinson 'Vineyard soil: galets. 12 months in barrique.... fine tannins and ripe fruit underneath. Blackberry compote notes.'
Château Maucoil has been under the care of several different illustrious wine growing families over the centuries, but it is now owned and managed by the talented winemakers Frederic and Benoit Lavau. With the consulting advice of famed French winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt, the Lavau brothers have been making stellar and highly awarded wines and today are one of the few producers to continue to cultivate all 13 permitted grape varieties permitted by the Châteauneuf-du-Pape regulations.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a historic village between the towns of Orange and Avignon, in France's southern Rhône Valley. It is famous for powerful, full-bodied red wines made predominantly from the classic southern Rhône grape trio: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. These three varieties are behind the vast majority of the appellation's red wines, although a total of eighteen are approved for use – a mix of red and white grape varieties.
1 x Clos du Marquis', Saint-Julien 2008 - Bordeaux , France
92/100 James Suckling
92/100 Falstaff Magazine
91/100 Wine Enthusiast
91/100 Jeannie Cho Lee
90/100 Vinous Antonio Galloni
90/100 Neal Martin
90/100 Wine Spectator
90/100 Robert Parker
90/100 Stephen Tanzer
90/100 CellarTracker
90/100 Jeff Leve
16.5/20 Vinum Wine Magazine
16.5/20 La Revue du Vin de France
16/20 Gault & Millau
15.5/20 Jancis Robinson
2 Stars - Le Guide Hachette des Vins
Robert Parker "For many years, Las Cases' second wine has been the equivalent of a classified growth in the Medoc. The 2008 Clos du Marquis may be one of the two or three finest second wines I have tasted from proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that came in at 13.5% natural alcohol, it is a pure, deep, full-bodied effort displaying classic aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, and crushed rocks. On the palate, there is a sensational black fruit character, no hard edges, and a seamless integration of all the component parts."
Neal Martin "The 2008 Clos du Marquis has an expressive bouquet with blackberry, briary and pencil shaving aromas that gains intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with just a light seam of greenness, although it merely adds freshness and asserts its classicism. I find this fresh and balanced, sporting just the right amount of dryness on the cassis-driven finish that balanced with the fruit, lending it a “breezy” and unassuming character that suits it down to the ground."
James Suckling "A layered and minerally wine, with currants and berries. Medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a fruity finish."
Jancis Robinson "Dark purplish crimson... Rather luscious with good texture and polish. Reasonably forward but with good structure."
Stephen Tanzer "Good dark red. Bitter cherry, fresh bay, sage and coffee on the nose, with a floral element emerging in the glass. Supple and nicely concentrated, with attractive mid-palate sweetness and a seamless texture for the year. This rather silky Saint-Julien finishes with a good floral lift."
Wine Enthusiast "The second wine of Léoville las-Cases is big and hearty. The fruits are solid, ripe and well balanced, with red fruits that give sweetness."
Wine Spectator "Ripe and refined, with pure, driven plum, raspberry and black cherry fruit and sleek structure. Flickers of charcoal, roasted cedar and tobacco hang in the background. Should age nicely."
The 2008 Clos du Marquis is an interesting blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot produced in the prestigious Saint-Julien appellation.
Château Léoville Poyferré is an estate in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Médoc. It was rated the second growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification and was traditionally the softest of the three Léovilles. However, in the last few decades, the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine has gained weight and density.
Saint-Julien is a small but important red wine appellation of the Haut-Médoc district on the Left Bank of Bordeaux in south-western France. Its reputation is based on its status as a reliable source of consistently elegant, age-worthy wines. Sandwiched between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, Saint-Julien is sometimes unfairly overlooked because it does not have a first growth chateau in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.
Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world's most famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. Its three trump cards are diversity, quality and quantity. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90 per cent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux Blends that established its reputation. The finest (and most expensive) of these come from the great châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines, both dry styles (particularly from Pessac-Léognan) and the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.
A Bordeaux Blend is any combination of those grape varieties typically used to make the red wines of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon is widely accepted as a compulsory component of any Bordeaux Blend along with Merlot. In fact, the majority of Bordeaux Blend wines are often made exclusively from a blend of these two varieties. The remaining components are Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
1 x Hewitson Mother Vine Monopole Shiraz 2018 - Barossa Valley
98/100 James Suckling
97/100 James Halliday
96/100 The WIne Pilot
93/100 Ralph Kyte-Powell
James Halliday 5 Star Winery
James Halliday Top 100 Winery 2017
97/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years."
Ralph Kyte-Powell “The palate is rich and full with sustained flavour, velvet texture and ripe, fine-grained tannins underneath.
James Halliday “ It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years... A clonal selection from a single vine planted in 1853, the subsequent plantings necessarily relatively young, but firing on all cylinders.”
James Suckling "This has some ripe redcurrant and plum-pastry aromas with an edge of camphor, violets and blueberries. Sappy aromas with hints of tar, iodine and bergamot, too. There’s a very intense core of dark-plum flavor, as well as a band of chocolate fondant. Smooth-honed and very intense. As suave as it is powerful. Drink over the next two decades."
Ray Jordan, The Wine Pilot "There is something special in this highly individual wine. It comes from a single one-hectare vineyard that was created from a single shiraz vine which was grafted to create a distinctive clonal vineyard. The wine is extraordinary. There is dark super saturated concentration of plush opulent fruit. Dark plum and prune juice with grainy resiny tannins add support. It also has a slightly chalky ironstone character that provides definition and direction towards a very long finish."
In early 2021, leading global publication Wine Enthusiast included Hewitson in its top 10 list of “Vineyards Behind the World’s Most Famous Wines” alongside heralded blocks in Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont and Napa Valley.
Australian Wine Companion "Established in 1998 Hewitson winery is situated in the heart of the Barossa Valley on the historic Seppeltsfield Road and boasts some of the oldest vines in the world. Hewitson fruit is sourced from historic, dry-grown vineyards in the Barossa Valley and also from single site vineyards in Eden Valley, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills."
Frederick Wildman "Dean Hewitson founded his eponymous winery in 1998. He is a highly respected Australian winemaker ...Hewitson has worked at wineries in Australia, France, Italy and Oregon. Hewitson then moved to the U.S. where he earned a Masters from UC-Davis. On his return home, Dean brought a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and a driving passion to produce wines not only from Barossa Valley but also from the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills regions.
Hewitson fundamentally believes great wines are the expression of the soils they are grown in and the season in which they are grown. With his longstanding focus on terroir—specific terroir plots in fact—many of Hewitson’s wines are single vineyard. He sources grapes from not only his own vineyards but also from long-standing grower contracts including a few sourced from some of the oldest living, still productive vines on plots that date back to the mid-19th century and are pre-phylloxera. His ‘Old Garden’ Mourvèdre is a single-vineyard wine, whose vines were planted in 1853 in Barossa Valley and are reputed to be the oldest Mourvèdre vines in the world. Hewitson’s ‘Miss Harry’ is sourced from a Grenache vineyard planted in 1880, also thought to be the oldest Grenache in existence.
Due to Hewitson’s education and experience in Australia, California and France, Hewitson wines combine Old-World traditions with New-World fruit purity. And while he clearly excels with Rhône Valley grape varieties, Hewitson also produces award-winning Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. A practitioner in solar energy, water recycling and encouraging natural biodiversity, Hewitson produces wines in an environmentally sustainable fashion."
James Halliday "Dean Hewitson was a winemaker at Petaluma [one of Australia's leading wineries] for 10 years, during which time he managed to do three vintages in France and one in Oregon as well as undertaking his Masters at the University of California, Davis. It is hardly surprising that the wines are immaculately made from a technical viewpoint. Dean sources 30-year-old Riesling from the Eden Valley and 70-year-old shiraz from McLaren Vale; he also makes a Barossa Valley Mourvedre from vines planted in 1853 at Rowland Flat, and Barossa Valley Shiraz and Grenache from 60-year-old vines at Tanunda."
The Barossa Valley is an extremely important wine-producing region within the Barossa zone of South Australia, particularly associated with powerful red wines from the red wine grape variety Shiraz. A prestigious and internationally renowned region, it is not only home to some of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Australia but produces some of its most recognizable and sought-after brands. A striking feature of the Barossa Valley's wine landscape is the presence of very old vines, proudly showcased on many wine labels and during vineyard tours.
Shiraz, also known as Syrah is a popular red wine. Though the spiritual homeland of this red grape is France, Syrah has been planted throughout the world to great success. It expresses itself differently depending on the climate, soil and regional style.
Syrah is typically bold and full-bodied, with aromatic notes of smoke, black fruit and pepper spice. Stylistically, it can be round and fruity, or dense and tannic. And in warmer New World regions like Australia, Syrah is most often be called Shiraz.
Winemakers who work in cooler-climate growing regions, both in the Old World and New World, tend to call their wines Syrah. The most famous examples come from the northern Rhône Valley of France, notably Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. In the New World, in regions like Sonoma Coast, California; Yarra Valley, Australia; and parts of Chile, the wines are called Syrah because they emulate the leaner, acid-driven, savory styles of the Old World French classics.
Shiraz tends to come from warmer growing climates, namely the South Australian regions of Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. Stylistically, these wines are lush, fruit-forward examples that embody the warmer, sunnier climate. Shiraz is so important to Australian viticulture that it is the most planted grape variety in the majority of Australian vineyards and has become virtually synonymous with the country's wine regions, and in particular the Barossa Valley.
1 x Brokenwood Quail Shiraz 2015 ~ Hunter Valley NSW and McLaren Vale SA, Australia
95/100 James Halliday
93/100 Bob Campbell
91/100 The Wine Front
95/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
5-star winery James Halliday
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "A very complex full-bodied wine; the heavy lifting - and boy is it heavy - is done by the McLaren Vale Wade Vineyard, with fine, but nonetheless mouth coating, tannins. It won't be fully approachable for a decade."
James Halliday "A deservedly fashionable winery producing consistently excellent wines. Its big-selling Hunter Semillon provides the volume to balance the limited quantities of the flagships ILR Semillon and Graveyard Shiraz. Brokenwood purchased the Graveyard Vineyard from Hungerford Hill in '78 and has been working to totally rehabilitate the vineyard over the ensuing decades. It's been a vine by vine exercise, with a degree of experimentation of rootstocks and clonal material from other, even older vineyards. Next there is a range of wines coming from regions including Beechworth (a major resource is the associated Indigo Vineyard), Orange, Central Ranges, McLaren Vale, Cowra and elsewhere. In 2017 Iain Riggs celebrated his 35th vintage at the helm of Brokenwood, offering a unique mix of winemaking skills, management of a diverse business, and an unerring ability to keep Brokenwood's high profile fresh and newsworthy. He has also contributed a great deal to various wine industry organisations."
Established in 1970 Brokenwood Wines is one of Australia's most reputable premium wine labels and a must-visit in the Hunter Valley. It was established by Australia's leading wine critic, James Halliday.
Consistently listed as a 5 star winery, Brokenwood is home to the famous Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, the highly acclaimed ILR Reserve Semillon, and the popular Cricket Pitch Range.
1 x Dry River Pinot Noir 2017 - Martinborough, New Zealand
96/100 The Wine Front (2015 vintage)
95/100 Bob Campbell (2015 vintage)
94/100 Jamie Goode (2015 vintage)
94/100 Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (2015 vintage)
93/100 James Suckling (2015 vintage)
90/100 CellarTracker (2015 vintage)
Raymond Chan 5 Stars (2015 vintage)
99/100 - Bob Campbell (2013 Vintage)
98/100 - Sam Kim (2013 Vintage)
19+/20 - Raymond Chan (2013 Vintage)
Gary Walsh - "Gee this is very good. It’s dense, throaty and deep in tannin and flavour, but not heavy or clumsy. Dark cherry, layered with sweet spice and dried herb, an almost ferrous thing going on, which you could call ‘minerally’, if you’d like, rich grainy tannin, cool blood orange acidity, and a very long finish, spiced and pimped up with a delicious Chinotto bitterness. Superb. A wine of charisma, integrity and intrigue. Hard not to fall in love with it."
James Suckling - "Super dark fruits, super ripe and super-concentrated, this is pinot noir taken to several extremes all at once. The nose is in the ripe dark plum, graphite, plum pudding and spiced panforte zone. The palate has a very strong core of tannins of unquestionable power but which have pastry-like, ripe smooth edges. The dark plum fruits run deep. Super concentrated and slightly sinewy, this wears the scars of a low-yielding and dry vintage."
Bob Campbell - "Intense pinot noir, but rather more elegant than the blockbuster styles I expect from Dry River. Quite tight and youthful with dark berry, Black Doris plum, spice, anise and a generous oak influence."
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate - "The 2015 Pinot Noir comes from a year that saw reduced crop yields and dry summer. The result is a concentrated, tannic, age-worthy wine that was aged in 20%-25% new French oak hogsheads. It's medium to full-bodied and velvety in texture, with black cherry notes that come dangerously close to being chocolaty, but it retains a sense of freshness on the long, rich finish."
Raymond Chan - "...This is a rich, vibrantly fruited Pinot Noir with dark-red berry and complex herb and whole cluster flavours and violet florals on a lively, firmly extracted palate."
Dry River is one of New Zealand’s most iconic pioneering wineries, established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum considered amongst New Zealand's best vignerons. The combination of low yields, non-irrigated vines, organic vineyard techniques and a desire to make long-lived wines are at the forefront of this esteemed winery.
Decanter "Dry River is Martinborough's first vineyard, planted in 1979, has been owned by Julian Robertson, the man behind New Zealand's most exclusive golf resorts. The viticulture and viniculture here are different from their neighbours on the Puruatanga Road: they practise extreme leaf plucking in the vineyard, no post-fermentation maceration in the winery, and no racking in the barrel. The aim is for gentle, phenolic extraction and long-lived wine - and it seems to work."
Wine Enthusiasts Magazine "With his small, youthful team, Lam now makes ultra-premium Pinot, among other wines, from three estate-grown, organically farmed and unirrigated plots: Dry River Estate, Craighall Vineyards and Lovat Vineyard. Each site imparts specific characteristics to the wines while still maintaining a distinctive winery style. Through exacting viticulture and winemaking techniques, the team crafts small-batch, precise wines that may be slow to evolve, and perhaps even a little austere when young, but will morph into elegant and refined beauties with 10 years or more in the cellar."
Martinborough is a wine-producing area in the southern part of New Zealand's North Island. The small town and surrounding district are home to around 1,500 residents and some of New Zealand's most highly respected boutique wineries. Martinborough's cool climate and excellent soils are perfect for the production of balanced, elegant wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Martinborough lies around 55km north-east of Wellington in a wide river valley between the Rimutaka mountain range and the eastern Wairarapa hills. Despite the fact that Martinborough has only three per cent of all of New Zealand's vineyard land, it is still widely considered to be one of the country's prime wine regions. Its claim to fame is the exceptional quality of its Pinot Noir wines, produced by some of the most highly regarded wineries in New Zealand. The style of this wine is regarded to be more complex than its counterparts from Central Otago.
1 x Tenuta Argentiera - Bolgheri Superiore - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc 2018 ~ Bolgheri, Italy
97/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2017 vintage)
96/100 James Suckling (2017 vintage)
95/100 Decanter (2017 vintage)
93/100 Wine Spectator (2017 vintage)
90/100 Wine Enthusiast (2017 vintage)
99/100 James Suckling (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Spectator (2015 Vintage)
97/100 Robert Parker (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Enthusiast (2007 Vintage)
92/100 Wine Spectator (2003 Vintage)
Super Tuscan at a great value!
Robert Parker - "This is a dark and penetrating Tuscan red that is beautifully elevated, thanks to the extremely elegant and buoyant quality of the aromas. They lift gracefully from the glass with light-footed, almost fleeting character. However, don't underestimate the power and the concentration of the wine, because this vintage delivers both with abundance. I've had my eye on this estate since the vineyards were first planted some 20 years ago, and there is no doubt that this vintage brings Tenuta Argentiera into a new era as a Bolgheri protagonist. Some 80,000 bottles were made."
James Suckling - "Love the complexity to this with lots of rosemary and lavender that complement the currant and violet character. Full-bodied, yet extremely polished and tight on the palate. The tannins are ever so fine. Extremely long and beautiful. Another excellent wine, after the superb 2015."
Wine Enthusiast - "The full-bodied palate delivers blackberry jam, star anise and roasted coffee bean alongside velvety tannins."
Decanter - "...The estate is located at the southernmost border of the appellation. In 2016, possibly because of the high percentage of Merlot in the blend, the wine shows great complexity from straw notes and earthy tones in a sort of Right Bank style, with meaty cassis fruit and a slightly leaner body full of finesse. The tannins in this vintage are almost silky from this higher altitude part of the appellation, at 200 meters above sea level. (AG) "
Wine Spectator - "Rich, with black currant, plum, loamy earth, vanilla and toasty oak spice aromas and flavors, backed by a spine of dense tannins and vibrant acidity, lingering with ample fruit, herb and spice notes."
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet
The Argentiera estate is situated on the coast of Alta Maremma, about 100 km west of Florence in the DOC appellation of Bolgheri. The estate is part of the historic Tenuta di Donoratico dei Serristori, an influential Florentine family that in 1512 acquired this land from the Medici family.
Today the property is owned by Corrado and Marcello Fratini, well-known entrepreneurs from Florence, and by Marchese Piero Antinori. The estate is planted with specialized vines all of which have the appellation DOC Bolgheri. The vines have an average age of 4–5 years and are situated on a plateau at an elevation of 150 to 200 meters above sea level, the highest altitude level in Bolgheri.
Argentiera’s vineyards, located only 2 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, benefit from breezes that provide consistent ventilation to the vines. The vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah; vines very much representative of the Bolgheri area.
Bolgheri is an outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in the 1940s on his San Guido estate and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia.
Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends.
1 x Chateau Maucoil Chateauneuf-du-Pape Esprit 2012 ~ Southern Rhone, France
91/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
91/100 Wine Enthusaist
17/20 Jancis Robinson
Wine Enthusiast "From the oldest vines of the estate, this is a lush, luscious wine. Vanilla and cedar notes complement bold cherry fruit, while hints of cinnamon, clove and allspice lend nuance."
Jancis Robinson 'Vineyard soil: galets. 12 months in barrique.... fine tannins and ripe fruit underneath. Blackberry compote notes.'
Château Maucoil has been under the care of several different illustrious wine growing families over the centuries, but it is now owned and managed by the talented winemakers Frederic and Benoit Lavau. With the consulting advice of famed French winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt, the Lavau brothers have been making stellar and highly awarded wines and today are one of the few producers to continue to cultivate all 13 permitted grape varieties permitted by the Châteauneuf-du-Pape regulations.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a historic village between the towns of Orange and Avignon, in France's southern Rhône Valley. It is famous for powerful, full-bodied red wines made predominantly from the classic southern Rhône grape trio: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. These three varieties are behind the vast majority of the appellation's red wines, although a total of eighteen are approved for use – a mix of red and white grape varieties.
1 x Clos du Marquis', Saint-Julien 2008 - Bordeaux , France
92/100 James Suckling
92/100 Falstaff Magazine
91/100 Wine Enthusiast
91/100 Jeannie Cho Lee
90/100 Vinous Antonio Galloni
90/100 Neal Martin
90/100 Wine Spectator
90/100 Robert Parker
90/100 Stephen Tanzer
90/100 CellarTracker
90/100 Jeff Leve
16.5/20 Vinum Wine Magazine
16.5/20 La Revue du Vin de France
16/20 Gault & Millau
15.5/20 Jancis Robinson
2 Stars - Le Guide Hachette des Vins
Robert Parker "For many years, Las Cases' second wine has been the equivalent of a classified growth in the Medoc. The 2008 Clos du Marquis may be one of the two or three finest second wines I have tasted from proprietor Jean-Hubert Delon. A blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot that came in at 13.5% natural alcohol, it is a pure, deep, full-bodied effort displaying classic aromas of creme de cassis, licorice, and crushed rocks. On the palate, there is a sensational black fruit character, no hard edges, and a seamless integration of all the component parts."
Neal Martin "The 2008 Clos du Marquis has an expressive bouquet with blackberry, briary and pencil shaving aromas that gains intensity with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with just a light seam of greenness, although it merely adds freshness and asserts its classicism. I find this fresh and balanced, sporting just the right amount of dryness on the cassis-driven finish that balanced with the fruit, lending it a “breezy” and unassuming character that suits it down to the ground."
James Suckling "A layered and minerally wine, with currants and berries. Medium to full-bodied, with fine tannins and a fruity finish."
Jancis Robinson "Dark purplish crimson... Rather luscious with good texture and polish. Reasonably forward but with good structure."
Stephen Tanzer "Good dark red. Bitter cherry, fresh bay, sage and coffee on the nose, with a floral element emerging in the glass. Supple and nicely concentrated, with attractive mid-palate sweetness and a seamless texture for the year. This rather silky Saint-Julien finishes with a good floral lift."
Wine Enthusiast "The second wine of Léoville las-Cases is big and hearty. The fruits are solid, ripe and well balanced, with red fruits that give sweetness."
Wine Spectator "Ripe and refined, with pure, driven plum, raspberry and black cherry fruit and sleek structure. Flickers of charcoal, roasted cedar and tobacco hang in the background. Should age nicely."
The 2008 Clos du Marquis is an interesting blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 41% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, and 1% Petit Verdot produced in the prestigious Saint-Julien appellation.
Château Léoville Poyferré is an estate in the Saint-Julien appellation of the Médoc. It was rated the second growth in the 1855 Bordeaux Classification and was traditionally the softest of the three Léovilles. However, in the last few decades, the Cabernet Sauvignon-dominant wine has gained weight and density.
Saint-Julien is a small but important red wine appellation of the Haut-Médoc district on the Left Bank of Bordeaux in south-western France. Its reputation is based on its status as a reliable source of consistently elegant, age-worthy wines. Sandwiched between the more famous appellations of Pauillac and Margaux, Saint-Julien is sometimes unfairly overlooked because it does not have a first growth chateau in the 1855 Bordeaux classification.
Bordeaux, in the southwest of France, needs little introduction as one of the world's most famous, prestigious and prolific wine regions. Its three trump cards are diversity, quality and quantity. The majority of Bordeaux wines (nearly 90 per cent of production volume) are the dry, medium- and full-bodied red Bordeaux Blends that established its reputation. The finest (and most expensive) of these come from the great châteaux of the Haut-Médoc and the Right Bank appellations Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The legendary reds are complemented by high-quality white wines, both dry styles (particularly from Pessac-Léognan) and the sweet, botrytized nectars of Sauternes.
A Bordeaux Blend is any combination of those grape varieties typically used to make the red wines of Bordeaux. Cabernet Sauvignon is widely accepted as a compulsory component of any Bordeaux Blend along with Merlot. In fact, the majority of Bordeaux Blend wines are often made exclusively from a blend of these two varieties. The remaining components are Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec.
1 x Hewitson Mother Vine Monopole Shiraz 2018 - Barossa Valley
98/100 James Suckling
97/100 James Halliday
96/100 The WIne Pilot
93/100 Ralph Kyte-Powell
James Halliday 5 Star Winery
James Halliday Top 100 Winery 2017
97/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years."
Ralph Kyte-Powell “The palate is rich and full with sustained flavour, velvet texture and ripe, fine-grained tannins underneath.
James Halliday “ It is a graceful wine with a silky texture, red and purple fruits foremost; the tannins superfine, the finish lingering, the aftertaste fresh. Lovely now or in 20+ years... A clonal selection from a single vine planted in 1853, the subsequent plantings necessarily relatively young, but firing on all cylinders.”
James Suckling "This has some ripe redcurrant and plum-pastry aromas with an edge of camphor, violets and blueberries. Sappy aromas with hints of tar, iodine and bergamot, too. There’s a very intense core of dark-plum flavor, as well as a band of chocolate fondant. Smooth-honed and very intense. As suave as it is powerful. Drink over the next two decades."
Ray Jordan, The Wine Pilot "There is something special in this highly individual wine. It comes from a single one-hectare vineyard that was created from a single shiraz vine which was grafted to create a distinctive clonal vineyard. The wine is extraordinary. There is dark super saturated concentration of plush opulent fruit. Dark plum and prune juice with grainy resiny tannins add support. It also has a slightly chalky ironstone character that provides definition and direction towards a very long finish."
In early 2021, leading global publication Wine Enthusiast included Hewitson in its top 10 list of “Vineyards Behind the World’s Most Famous Wines” alongside heralded blocks in Burgundy, Champagne, Piedmont and Napa Valley.
Australian Wine Companion "Established in 1998 Hewitson winery is situated in the heart of the Barossa Valley on the historic Seppeltsfield Road and boasts some of the oldest vines in the world. Hewitson fruit is sourced from historic, dry-grown vineyards in the Barossa Valley and also from single site vineyards in Eden Valley, McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills."
Frederick Wildman "Dean Hewitson founded his eponymous winery in 1998. He is a highly respected Australian winemaker ...Hewitson has worked at wineries in Australia, France, Italy and Oregon. Hewitson then moved to the U.S. where he earned a Masters from UC-Davis. On his return home, Dean brought a wealth of knowledge, practical experience and a driving passion to produce wines not only from Barossa Valley but also from the McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills regions.
Hewitson fundamentally believes great wines are the expression of the soils they are grown in and the season in which they are grown. With his longstanding focus on terroir—specific terroir plots in fact—many of Hewitson’s wines are single vineyard. He sources grapes from not only his own vineyards but also from long-standing grower contracts including a few sourced from some of the oldest living, still productive vines on plots that date back to the mid-19th century and are pre-phylloxera. His ‘Old Garden’ Mourvèdre is a single-vineyard wine, whose vines were planted in 1853 in Barossa Valley and are reputed to be the oldest Mourvèdre vines in the world. Hewitson’s ‘Miss Harry’ is sourced from a Grenache vineyard planted in 1880, also thought to be the oldest Grenache in existence.
Due to Hewitson’s education and experience in Australia, California and France, Hewitson wines combine Old-World traditions with New-World fruit purity. And while he clearly excels with Rhône Valley grape varieties, Hewitson also produces award-winning Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. A practitioner in solar energy, water recycling and encouraging natural biodiversity, Hewitson produces wines in an environmentally sustainable fashion."
James Halliday "Dean Hewitson was a winemaker at Petaluma [one of Australia's leading wineries] for 10 years, during which time he managed to do three vintages in France and one in Oregon as well as undertaking his Masters at the University of California, Davis. It is hardly surprising that the wines are immaculately made from a technical viewpoint. Dean sources 30-year-old Riesling from the Eden Valley and 70-year-old shiraz from McLaren Vale; he also makes a Barossa Valley Mourvedre from vines planted in 1853 at Rowland Flat, and Barossa Valley Shiraz and Grenache from 60-year-old vines at Tanunda."
The Barossa Valley is an extremely important wine-producing region within the Barossa zone of South Australia, particularly associated with powerful red wines from the red wine grape variety Shiraz. A prestigious and internationally renowned region, it is not only home to some of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Australia but produces some of its most recognizable and sought-after brands. A striking feature of the Barossa Valley's wine landscape is the presence of very old vines, proudly showcased on many wine labels and during vineyard tours.
Shiraz, also known as Syrah is a popular red wine. Though the spiritual homeland of this red grape is France, Syrah has been planted throughout the world to great success. It expresses itself differently depending on the climate, soil and regional style.
Syrah is typically bold and full-bodied, with aromatic notes of smoke, black fruit and pepper spice. Stylistically, it can be round and fruity, or dense and tannic. And in warmer New World regions like Australia, Syrah is most often be called Shiraz.
Winemakers who work in cooler-climate growing regions, both in the Old World and New World, tend to call their wines Syrah. The most famous examples come from the northern Rhône Valley of France, notably Hermitage and Côte-Rôtie. In the New World, in regions like Sonoma Coast, California; Yarra Valley, Australia; and parts of Chile, the wines are called Syrah because they emulate the leaner, acid-driven, savory styles of the Old World French classics.
Shiraz tends to come from warmer growing climates, namely the South Australian regions of Barossa, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. Stylistically, these wines are lush, fruit-forward examples that embody the warmer, sunnier climate. Shiraz is so important to Australian viticulture that it is the most planted grape variety in the majority of Australian vineyards and has become virtually synonymous with the country's wine regions, and in particular the Barossa Valley.
1 x Brokenwood Quail Shiraz 2015 ~ Hunter Valley NSW and McLaren Vale SA, Australia
95/100 James Halliday
93/100 Bob Campbell
91/100 The Wine Front
95/100 Halliday Wine Companion Awards
5-star winery James Halliday
Halliday Wine Companion Awards, James Halliday "A very complex full-bodied wine; the heavy lifting - and boy is it heavy - is done by the McLaren Vale Wade Vineyard, with fine, but nonetheless mouth coating, tannins. It won't be fully approachable for a decade."
James Halliday "A deservedly fashionable winery producing consistently excellent wines. Its big-selling Hunter Semillon provides the volume to balance the limited quantities of the flagships ILR Semillon and Graveyard Shiraz. Brokenwood purchased the Graveyard Vineyard from Hungerford Hill in '78 and has been working to totally rehabilitate the vineyard over the ensuing decades. It's been a vine by vine exercise, with a degree of experimentation of rootstocks and clonal material from other, even older vineyards. Next there is a range of wines coming from regions including Beechworth (a major resource is the associated Indigo Vineyard), Orange, Central Ranges, McLaren Vale, Cowra and elsewhere. In 2017 Iain Riggs celebrated his 35th vintage at the helm of Brokenwood, offering a unique mix of winemaking skills, management of a diverse business, and an unerring ability to keep Brokenwood's high profile fresh and newsworthy. He has also contributed a great deal to various wine industry organisations."
Established in 1970 Brokenwood Wines is one of Australia's most reputable premium wine labels and a must-visit in the Hunter Valley. It was established by Australia's leading wine critic, James Halliday.
Consistently listed as a 5 star winery, Brokenwood is home to the famous Graveyard Vineyard Shiraz, the highly acclaimed ILR Reserve Semillon, and the popular Cricket Pitch Range.
1 x Dry River Pinot Noir 2017 - Martinborough, New Zealand
96/100 The Wine Front (2015 vintage)
95/100 Bob Campbell (2015 vintage)
94/100 Jamie Goode (2015 vintage)
94/100 Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate (2015 vintage)
93/100 James Suckling (2015 vintage)
90/100 CellarTracker (2015 vintage)
Raymond Chan 5 Stars (2015 vintage)
99/100 - Bob Campbell (2013 Vintage)
98/100 - Sam Kim (2013 Vintage)
19+/20 - Raymond Chan (2013 Vintage)
Gary Walsh - "Gee this is very good. It’s dense, throaty and deep in tannin and flavour, but not heavy or clumsy. Dark cherry, layered with sweet spice and dried herb, an almost ferrous thing going on, which you could call ‘minerally’, if you’d like, rich grainy tannin, cool blood orange acidity, and a very long finish, spiced and pimped up with a delicious Chinotto bitterness. Superb. A wine of charisma, integrity and intrigue. Hard not to fall in love with it."
James Suckling - "Super dark fruits, super ripe and super-concentrated, this is pinot noir taken to several extremes all at once. The nose is in the ripe dark plum, graphite, plum pudding and spiced panforte zone. The palate has a very strong core of tannins of unquestionable power but which have pastry-like, ripe smooth edges. The dark plum fruits run deep. Super concentrated and slightly sinewy, this wears the scars of a low-yielding and dry vintage."
Bob Campbell - "Intense pinot noir, but rather more elegant than the blockbuster styles I expect from Dry River. Quite tight and youthful with dark berry, Black Doris plum, spice, anise and a generous oak influence."
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate - "The 2015 Pinot Noir comes from a year that saw reduced crop yields and dry summer. The result is a concentrated, tannic, age-worthy wine that was aged in 20%-25% new French oak hogsheads. It's medium to full-bodied and velvety in texture, with black cherry notes that come dangerously close to being chocolaty, but it retains a sense of freshness on the long, rich finish."
Raymond Chan - "...This is a rich, vibrantly fruited Pinot Noir with dark-red berry and complex herb and whole cluster flavours and violet florals on a lively, firmly extracted palate."
Dry River is one of New Zealand’s most iconic pioneering wineries, established in 1979 by Dr Neil and Dawn McCallum considered amongst New Zealand's best vignerons. The combination of low yields, non-irrigated vines, organic vineyard techniques and a desire to make long-lived wines are at the forefront of this esteemed winery.
Decanter "Dry River is Martinborough's first vineyard, planted in 1979, has been owned by Julian Robertson, the man behind New Zealand's most exclusive golf resorts. The viticulture and viniculture here are different from their neighbours on the Puruatanga Road: they practise extreme leaf plucking in the vineyard, no post-fermentation maceration in the winery, and no racking in the barrel. The aim is for gentle, phenolic extraction and long-lived wine - and it seems to work."
Wine Enthusiasts Magazine "With his small, youthful team, Lam now makes ultra-premium Pinot, among other wines, from three estate-grown, organically farmed and unirrigated plots: Dry River Estate, Craighall Vineyards and Lovat Vineyard. Each site imparts specific characteristics to the wines while still maintaining a distinctive winery style. Through exacting viticulture and winemaking techniques, the team crafts small-batch, precise wines that may be slow to evolve, and perhaps even a little austere when young, but will morph into elegant and refined beauties with 10 years or more in the cellar."
Martinborough is a wine-producing area in the southern part of New Zealand's North Island. The small town and surrounding district are home to around 1,500 residents and some of New Zealand's most highly respected boutique wineries. Martinborough's cool climate and excellent soils are perfect for the production of balanced, elegant wines made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Martinborough lies around 55km north-east of Wellington in a wide river valley between the Rimutaka mountain range and the eastern Wairarapa hills. Despite the fact that Martinborough has only three per cent of all of New Zealand's vineyard land, it is still widely considered to be one of the country's prime wine regions. Its claim to fame is the exceptional quality of its Pinot Noir wines, produced by some of the most highly regarded wineries in New Zealand. The style of this wine is regarded to be more complex than its counterparts from Central Otago.
1 x Tenuta Argentiera - Bolgheri Superiore - Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc 2018 ~ Bolgheri, Italy
97/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (2017 vintage)
96/100 James Suckling (2017 vintage)
95/100 Decanter (2017 vintage)
93/100 Wine Spectator (2017 vintage)
90/100 Wine Enthusiast (2017 vintage)
99/100 James Suckling (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Spectator (2015 Vintage)
97/100 Robert Parker (2015 Vintage)
95/100 Wine Enthusiast (2007 Vintage)
92/100 Wine Spectator (2003 Vintage)
Super Tuscan at a great value!
Robert Parker - "This is a dark and penetrating Tuscan red that is beautifully elevated, thanks to the extremely elegant and buoyant quality of the aromas. They lift gracefully from the glass with light-footed, almost fleeting character. However, don't underestimate the power and the concentration of the wine, because this vintage delivers both with abundance. I've had my eye on this estate since the vineyards were first planted some 20 years ago, and there is no doubt that this vintage brings Tenuta Argentiera into a new era as a Bolgheri protagonist. Some 80,000 bottles were made."
James Suckling - "Love the complexity to this with lots of rosemary and lavender that complement the currant and violet character. Full-bodied, yet extremely polished and tight on the palate. The tannins are ever so fine. Extremely long and beautiful. Another excellent wine, after the superb 2015."
Wine Enthusiast - "The full-bodied palate delivers blackberry jam, star anise and roasted coffee bean alongside velvety tannins."
Decanter - "...The estate is located at the southernmost border of the appellation. In 2016, possibly because of the high percentage of Merlot in the blend, the wine shows great complexity from straw notes and earthy tones in a sort of Right Bank style, with meaty cassis fruit and a slightly leaner body full of finesse. The tannins in this vintage are almost silky from this higher altitude part of the appellation, at 200 meters above sea level. (AG) "
Wine Spectator - "Rich, with black currant, plum, loamy earth, vanilla and toasty oak spice aromas and flavors, backed by a spine of dense tannins and vibrant acidity, lingering with ample fruit, herb and spice notes."
50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Merlot and 10% Cabernet
The Argentiera estate is situated on the coast of Alta Maremma, about 100 km west of Florence in the DOC appellation of Bolgheri. The estate is part of the historic Tenuta di Donoratico dei Serristori, an influential Florentine family that in 1512 acquired this land from the Medici family.
Today the property is owned by Corrado and Marcello Fratini, well-known entrepreneurs from Florence, and by Marchese Piero Antinori. The estate is planted with specialized vines all of which have the appellation DOC Bolgheri. The vines have an average age of 4–5 years and are situated on a plateau at an elevation of 150 to 200 meters above sea level, the highest altitude level in Bolgheri.
Argentiera’s vineyards, located only 2 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea, benefit from breezes that provide consistent ventilation to the vines. The vineyard is planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Syrah; vines very much representative of the Bolgheri area.
Bolgheri is an outstanding wine region made famous by Marchese Mario Incisa Della Rocchetta, who planted Cabernet Sauvignon vines for his own consumption in the 1940s on his San Guido estate and called the resulting wine, Sassicaia.
Today the region’s Tuscan reds are based on Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, which can be made as single varietal wines or blends. The local Sangiovese can make up no more than 50% of the blends.