The Colonial Estate Explorateur Barossa Valley Shiraz 2021

The vineyards that make up Explorateur are based in the northwestern Barossa Valley. This is a belt of land/terroir that runs from just to the northwest of Tanunda – Marananga, Greenock, Moppa, Ebenezer, and through to Stockwell, just north of Nuriootpa. Cropping levels are kept low to ensure fruit flavour is focus. The same equipment that is accorded to our more expensive wines is made available to Explorateur. Fermentation is French in approach for up to two thirds of the wine made; the rest is vinified in a more Australian way.

Niche Shiraz 2020

The fruit was picked in the cool of night then fermented on skins in static potters and rotary fermenters for a period of six days to retain as much of the luscious natural fruit flavour as possible. Warm temperatures at the early stages of fermentation along with three days of post ferment maceration helped develop soft, round, fleshy fruit and tannins while helping to build structure. Following the pressing process, clarification and final blending the fruit was matured with select parcels having contact with old French oak.

Alexander King Cameron Heritage Reserve Limestone Coast Shiraz 2020

The fruit was selected from a single vineyard with a northeast facing slope and picked at optimum ripeness and transported to the winery and immediately crushed. Following on from this we fermented the juice on skins for 12 days to maximise colour and flavour extraction. The skins were then pressed gently and the pressings pumped back with the free-run juice. The wine was then fermented over a week then allowed to settle and was then racked off lees. The wine underwent malolactic fermentation in barrel and then was aged in the same barrels for 14 months. The wine was blended and prepared for bottling with minimal filtration.

Conquest McLaren Vale Shiraz 2016

Sourced from a single vineyard at the Southern end of the renown McLaren Vale Wine Region the wine was fermented in small open top stainless steel fermenters to retain concentrated fleshy fruit flavours. To complete the fermentation process and maturation the wine went into new and older oak hogshead and barrique barrels for 12 months. The use of oak has allowed the characters to infiltrate the highly concentrated fruit flavour creating a well-balanced yet complex tannin structure.

Normans Old Vine Barossa Valley Shiraz 2019

The wine was fermented in small stainless steel fermentors to retain concentrated fruit flavours. To complete the fermentation process and maturation the wine went into mostly old oak barrels with a small percentage of new oak for a period of 12 months. This enabled the oak flavour from the barrels to slowly infiltrate the highly concentrated fruit flavour creating a well balanced yet complex tannin structure. Another stunning Barossa vintage with lower yields but high-quality fruit ensuring it was our selected location for this year’s release.

Shottesbrooke Estate Series McLaren Vale GSM 2015

First planted by founder, Nick Holmes, over 30 years ago, Shottesbrooke takes its name from an estate in Berkshire, England, where Nick’s grandfather was vicar of the parish from 1905 to 1926. Today, Shottesbrooke is proudly an estate grown and managed boutique winery. With premium fruit sourced from carefully selected sites around McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills, the Estate  Series proudly displays the fusion of hands-on vineyard practices with the passion we have for making wines of character and depth, whilst remaining true to the hallmark Shottesbrooke style of elegance and finesse.

A wetter than usual winter in McLaren Vale was followed by far drier and warmer conditions than average, spanning from late August through to early January. Due to the unusually warm growing season, flowering began early and crops were light across the region. As a result of several small heat bursts and rain events, ripening occurred evenly across most varieties, and harvest also began early - one of the earliest on record, in fact. Overall, the quality achieved, especially with the reds, was excellent, with fruit showing great balance and depth of both colour and flavour. 

This wine is a blend of three classic varieties; Grenache (60%), Shiraz (30%) and Mataro (10%). Each variety that went into this blend was fermented separately before being transferred into a combination of quality French and American oak barrels. Here, it was allowed to mature and develop in flavour prior to the final blend being assembled. 

The Colonial Estate Exile Barossa Valley Shiraz 2019

The finest selection of 100-year-old dry grown vines, which are pruned severely and receive two runs of green harvesting finally producing one tonne to two tonnes per acre. The grapes were then hand-picked, and the grapes sorted. The 2019 vintage was characterized by steady ripening of fruit and we were able to select individual blocks in the vineyard to get the very best fruit flavours with some tight ripe tannins. The wine is fermented in vats after extreme cold maceration. The wines have their malolactic in new French oak and are thereafter in the same oak for 24 months prior to bottling with minimal filtration and then further aging in bottle.