Australian Wines Connoisseur’s Choice

Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz

This is the first release of this wine. Fruit was sourced from close-planted low yielding vines at Shaw + Smith’s Balhannah Vineyard in the central Adelaide Hills, planted in 2005. The distinctive site has always shown potential for a single site wine, and in this particular year the fruit was outstanding. It has a north-facing aspect and the soils are loam over clay, ironstone, quartzite and shale. Low yields are achieved by aggressive pruning and pre-harvest bunch thinning. 2013 was a fine growing season, with some warm days balanced by consistently cool nights. It was relatively dry and grapes ripened a touch earlier than usual. The weather leading up to harvest was also mostly dry, ensuring perfectly healthy fruit. The Shiraz was hand picked and fermented as predominantly whole bunches (70%) and the remainder whole berries, in open fermenters, with gentle plunging and minimal intervention. No berries were harmed during the making of this wine! It was aged in 500 litre French oak puncheons for fourteen months, followed by a further fourteen months in bottle. Crimson in colour with purple at the rim. The nose is very perfumed – rose petals, dried herbs, and red berries. Initially it’s generous on the palate, with boysenberry, mulberry, and blueberry notes. Then more layers of flavour and texture reveal themselves. Some cinnamon, some fennel seed, some rhubarb; fine but firm tannins that extend the palate, accompanied throughout by fresh acidity and intense perfume.

To see our full range of Shaw and Smith product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/shaw-smith/

For more information on the Shaw and Smith winery go to https://www.shawandsmith.com/

Shaw & Smith Balhannah Vineyard Shiraz – a great wine from a top class winery

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling

Beautifully lifted aroma of orange blossom, lemon and pineapple. Once again bright and cheery, crisp and oh so whistle clean, with steely, juicy citrus fruits over a mineral-like acid frame.

Expressive aromatics of apple and citrus rind. Pretty talc scents.

Delicate yet powerful, crunchy, dry, long zesty finish. Definitive citrus fruits and minerality. Great energy and potential.

Cellar 15-20 years.

To see our range of Mount Horrocks products go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/mount-horrocks/

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

Mount Horrocks Wines restricts production to approximately 2,500 cases per annum to achieve the highest quality single vineyard wines. All three estate-owned Clare Valley vineyards, totaling ten hectares, are ‘A grade certified’ by Australian Certified Organic (ACO).

As no finings have been found necessary the wines are all suitable for vegans and vegetarians. Only the finest French oak barriques are used for those wines spending time in barrel.

Only estate grown grapes are used and these are hand-picked and gently handled under conditions that ensure the varietal and site-specific flavours in the resultant wine, as well as its organic status, are retained.

Mount Horrocks Watervale Riesling

Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon

Vat 1 Semillon only ever comes from our best old vine, dry grown vineyards. These blocks feature ideal sandy, free draining soils that give these wines their unique character. The oldest of these blocks was planted in 1923.

The 2016 growing season was one that started with great promise with our wettest winter in nearly a decade. Perfect conditions for budburst and flowering were followed by an unsettled summer consisting of hot days and wild storms. Luckily, these weather patterns calmed down into one of the driest February’s on record.
Winemaker’s Notes
Handpicked in the early hours of the morning, the fruit is very lightly crushed and pressed before a relatively cool fermentation. Then the wine spent minimal time on yeast lees before being bottled early to maintain its freshness. No oak fermentation or maturation.
Tasting Notes
An inviting nose of citrus and a palate, which is the perfect mid-point between power and elegance. Typical Vat 1 fruit power which is balanced with the delicate acid profile resulting in a seamless wine that will enjoy a long life in the cellar with crisp acid that leaves the wine with a clean finish.

THE STORY OF WINEMAKER’S SELECTION
Murray Tyrrell created the Winemaker’s Selection range back in 1965, when, with the assistance of Len Evans, he set out to determine the best wines from each vintage. He named these wines after the casks in which they were
matured; for instance, the first Chardonnay we made went into cask number 47, so it became Vat 47 Chardonnay, or Pinot Chardonnay as it was then called. In 1974, having discovered that we had up to six casks from the same vineyard block that all tasted much the same, we brought the selection down to about 12 wines in total – a mixture of whites and reds. The early 2000s saw a further consolidation with the inauguration of the Sacred Sites range and the expansion of our Single Vineyard program. Today, the Winemaker’s Selections are estate-grown on the various blocks that form the wines that we believe best represent our land and house style. These wines are only bottled in years when we believe that the quality is high enough to meet our exacting standards.

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

To see our full range of Tyrrell’s product go to http://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/tyrrells-wines/

Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon

Sands of Time Grenache by Thistledown

Sands of Time, Old Vine, Single Vineyard Grenache 2017
Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale
Early on in our Grenache journey, we were introduced to Sue Trott’s Home Block in the Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale. It’s beautiful aspect, raised elevation and free-draining deep sandy soils are the perfect spot for drygrown bush-vine Grenache and we were so lucky to be offered the opportunity to purchase a little fruit. 5 years on and we have learned a little about the site and refined our picking decisions and vinification to the extent that from 2017 we were content that we could do the site justice by bottling separately.
Vintage Conditions
2017 was defined by the very wet winter conditions that preceded it and by the cool, unpredictable and sporadically wet vintage conditions. Careful viticulture with restricted yields and open canopies were essential to healthy development. A late season, up to 6 weeks later than 2015, resulted in wines of purity and tension

Viticulture
From grower Sue Trott’s Home Block in the Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale. It’s beautiful aspect, raised elevation and free-draining deep sandy soils are the perfect spot for old dry-grown bush-vine Grenache.
Winemaking
Hand-picked, on the way up, we vinify naturally in concrete and place whole bunches alternately with de-stemmed fruit to create a layer cake. A very gentle, slow fermentation is followed by maturation in oak and concrete before a careful selection is done, which is then bottled unfined and unfiltered 10 months later. A faithful expression of the site.
Tasting
Sourced from our favourite vineyard in the world renowned Blewitt Springs subregion of McLaren Vale, this is a delightfully mid-weight wine whose subtle layers of fruit lend it a persistence that belies its appearance. Hand-picking and a very gentle winemaker process produce a wine that is a faithful expression of the site – beautiful, haunting aromatics, fine sandy tannins and wonderful, memorable length on the palate.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Total Acidity: 5.9 g/l
pH: 3.62
Residual Sugar: <1 g/l
SO2: 67 mg/l
Fining: None
Vegan: Yes
Vegetarian: Yes

To find out more about the winery go to  https://www.thistledownwines.com/the-story

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

Sands of Time Grenache by Thistledown – great Grenache from an afficianado producer

Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon – a classic wine from a classic Margaret River producer

Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon -It delivers complex and intriguing dried sage, aniseed and violet aromas, which whisper through deeper notes of blackcurrant, dark chocolate and candied orange peel. A sophisticated lick of French oak provides hints of graphite and vanilla. Beguiling cranberry and blackberry flavours and an invigorating tangy acidity combine seemlessly to provide great intensity and succulence, whilst ultra-fine, structural tannins draw the palate to a tight, dry and delicately perfumed finish.

The Premier Cabernet Sauvignon of Vasse Felix. This wine’s distinctive style possesses all the hallmarks of the finest Margaret River Cabernet; elegance, generosity and ageability. Made every year since 1972, it is Margaret River’s archetypal Cabernet Sauvignon.
TASTING NOTES
APPEARANCE Bright and deep ruby.
NOSE A loaded and dense perfume of cassis, licorice and strawberry sorbet is deepened by ocean scents of dried shells and crayfish bisque. Ironstone rock brings earthy notes which give way to dried rose petal and vanilla butter intrigue.
PALATE So intense, tight, lengthy and exciting. A fresh and succulent entry pulls inward with firm, linear tannins driving the flavours long. Fresh raspberry, wood spice, vanilla and peanut complexities linger.
WINEMAKER COMMENTS
Our Cabernet parcels are grown in Wilyabrup, (the coastal, mid northern part of Margaret River) on ancient, well drained gravel loam soils to produce a wine of great varietal purity and character. These wonderful, often tiny, vineyard sections are individually fermented using indigenous yeasts, with many experiencing maceration periods of up to 40 days. Natural fermentation and extended maceration are coupled with traditional oxidative handling to clearly define the intricate personality of each vineyard site before blending. A higher portion of Petit Verdot (compared to previous vintages) brings a bright nuance and extended tannin profile in this well performing year. While a small portion of Malbec complements and enhances the Cabernet profile.

To see our full selection of Vasse Felix wines please take a look at https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/vasse-felix/

For more information about the winery go to https://www.vassefelix.com.au/

Vasse Felix Cabernet Sauvignon

Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay – The Adelaide Hills produces some of Australia’s finest Chardonnay. Since it’s first release (vintage 2000) M3 Chardonnay has quickly established a reputation amongst Australia’s finest. Sourced primarily from the Shaw + Smith M3 Vineyard at Woodside which was planted in 1995 and takes its name from owners Martin Shaw, Michael and Matthew Hill Smith. A Sophisticated, barrel fermented wine with pure fruit character and restrained oak. Elegant and long living.

You can see our range of Shaw + Smith product at https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/shaw-smith/

For more information on the winery go to https://www.shawandsmith.com/

Shaw + Smith own two vineyards in the Adelaide Hills, at Balhannah and Lenswood, totalling 55 hectares. The vineyards are planted to varieties that perform particularly well in the region, namely Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
Site selection is particularly important in the Adelaide Hills, with its diversity of altitude, aspect, microclimate, and soil. We also use a number of different cultivars or ‘clones’ of each grape variety, which contribute different qualities to the final product.

The Lenswood Vineyard, about 10km north west of the winery, is planted mainly to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, at 455 – 500m elevation. Undulating with east and west facing aspects, the soils are brown loams over clay with broken shale on the ridges. The vineyard was planted in 1999 and is 20 hectares in total.

M3 now comes from selected sites over the Adelaide Hills, not from the vineyard previously called M3. Pale strawgreen; it may be autosuggestion, but this has great freshness, vibrancy and finesse, the flavours pitched halfway between white peach/stone fruit on the one hand, grapefruit/citrus on the other. Obviously fermented in French oak, but is not obviously oaky.
97 points

Shaw + Smith M3 Chardonnay – a great wine from a superb winery in the Adelaide Hills, recognised everywhere for its quality and flavour.