Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz 2015

Named after one of Penfolds’ Barossa Valley vineyards, Koonunga Hill is very much a reflection of the Penfolds winemaking style and philosophy. Since the first vintage in 1976, the brand has steadily built a reputation based on widespread acclaim.

This label is a multi-regional blend, made in the same vein as its world-famous brother Penfolds Grange, by careful selection of the best parcels of fruit from growers across South Australia to create a finished wine in a house style that is instantly recognisable to its fans. 

Full flavoured but sophisticated, it shows plenty of ripe berry fruit flavor, and manages to stay smooth, juicy and delicious. It will suit those looking for a bit of extra oomph in their red wines but also want it to be very easily drinkable.

The Colonial Estate Alexander Laing Barossa Grenache 2015

Alexander Laing is sourced from a single vineyard in Greenock on the far northwestern slopes of the Barossa valley. The Grenache from Alexander Laing vineyard manifests itself as small berries on small bunches that are packed with flavour. That, coupled with old vines that have already proved their provenance, gives us a perfect base. At dawn, the grapes are handpicked then destemmed. Fermentation, like our top wines, Exile and Émigré, is conducted in vats, followed by maloactic fermentation and ageing in French oak barrels.

Chain of Ponds Pilot Block Adelaide Hills Cabernet Merlot 2013

Sourced from a number of vineyards consistently producing high quality wines from a combination of the southern and central Adelaide Hills. Both areas provide unique fruit spectrums to the resultant blend. Portions of high quality fruit were fermented separately in stainless steel open fermenters using minimal cap management to limit over extraction and maintain the varietal fruit characters. Fermentation was finished in a combination of stainless steel and old French oak prior to maturation in oak and semi-permeable maturation vessels in order to preserve as much primary fruit as possible.

The Colonial Estate Exile Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2015

Sourced from a single vineyard high in the Seppeltsfield sub region of the Western Barossa. The vines that make up Exile were pruned severely and as a result of this and minimal water they produce extremely small yields under 2 tonne per acre. Exile grapes are all hand selected in individual batches by winemaker and vigneron. The grapes are harvested then transported to the winery where they are de-stemmed and crushed individually to small static fermenters. Fermentation was brought on by the use of select yeast strains and the temperatures peaked at 28 degrees before chilling back to 20 degrees for the completion of fermentation. The fermenters were pumped over 3 times daily to ensure the perfect amount of colour and tannin was extracted from the skins. A small percentage of Cabernet Sauvignon was allowed to stay on skins for a week of additional maceration after the ferments were complete. The batches were then pressed into new French barrels where they under went malolatic fermentation and are then aged for 18 months before final barrel selection, blending and bottled with minimal filtration.

Normans 1853 Museum Release Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

The grapes were hand picked in small parcels and kept separate to ensure the best possible flavours were extracted from each parcel. The grapes were fermented in small open top fermenters and hand plunged daily. Once pressed the individual batches were left to mature in a combination of old and new French and American oak hogsheads and barriques. The best parcel was isolated from the rest of the blend for our Chais Clarendon release to be used for our Museum Release Series and spent up to 4 years in barrel before being bottled and aged further before release.

Fu Barossa Valley Shiraz 2014

This wine is sourced from a single old vine vineyard from what we consider one of the Barossa Valley’s finest growers. 2014 was another standout vintage despite challenging conditions. It gave us the benefit of perfectly, ripened fruit as we picked on berry flavour ripeness prior to a large rain event. The smooth flow of vintage allowed us to select specific fruit parcels and allowed us to define the wine as much in the vineyard as the winery. These grapes are brought into the winery, and crushed into old vats where the fermentation is initiated by “wild” yeasts found on the grape skins. Careful extraction and short post fermentation maceration is followed by soft pressing. The wine is transferred into brand new oak barrels where the malolactic fermentation is completed before racking and maturation for 36 months in barrels. A careful assemblage and barrel selection is followed by minimal filtration and bottling.