This wine is a blend of Heathcote (66%) and Harcourt (34%) Syrah. Even though this is our least expensive wine, it gets the same attention to detail as all our other cuvées, and even here, the wine has serious intensity, good tannins and ageworthiness. We think it’s a bargain. About 70% whole bunches were used, and the wine was matured in a range of casks (primarily large Stockinger) for the first year before resting in tank for the rest of its maturation. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a spicy, cool Syrah/Shiraz that will drink well young but can be aged with confidence.

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This is our second release from Harcourt. It comes from a very specific plot in Victoria’s Bendigo G.I., on the foothills of Mt Alexander (about an hour’s drive north of our cellars). With its pure granite soils and mild climate, we believe Harcourt has one of Australia's most exciting terroirs for Syrah. This fermented with 50% whole bunches, and the wine underwent almost two years’ maturation. The initial period was in older 600- and 1,500-litre Stockinger casks, with the final eight months in 2000-litre Stockinger. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a wine that combines lifted perfume and finesse with excellent depth and fine structure.

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This wine is now released with an extra year’s aging. Our Heathcote Syrah comes from an east-facing plot of 20+-year-old vines rooted in the red Cambrian soils of the Mount Camel Range in Heathcote’s north. Although we believe that this sub-region can produce Heathcote’s most refined wines, it is still an area that lends itself to growing powerful Syrah. Hence, we give it an additional year in cask. The 2021 spent its first year in a range of Stockinger cask and concrete tank before being blended to one 2,000-litre Stockinger cask for the remainder of its maturation. It was bottled at the end of November 2023 after 33 months’ aging. It is a gorgeous, dark-fruited expression of this famous region. At 13% alcohol, it is in no way heavy and, in fact, is quite the “refreshing” contrast to many wines released from the area.

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This year, we decided to see if a blend of the three white grapes we have in the cellar might work as well as the Tradition red. We were blown away by the result and hope you will be, too. This is one-third Chardonnay from a new Dominique Laurent Tronçais cask and two-thirds Marsanne/Roussanne. It has all the generosity of our Marsanne/Roussanne with the cut and thrust of the Chardonnay (not to mention some seriously classy oak). The first year of aging was in a mixture of 500-litre cask, Wineglobes and neutral barriques. The wine spent its second year in steel. It was bottled at the end of November 2023.

“Mid-light yellow colour, forward for its age, but the bouquet confirms that it's been wood aged and this has also added smoky charcuterie, spices and honey to result in a complex nose. The palate picks up the thread and delivers a rich full-bodied mouthful with roundness and viscosity, well judged phenolics contributing to the structure and texture, the finish rolling long and satisfying. This is a smashing Rhône-style dry white of great character and texture.” 95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review

The greatest Australian wines I have ever tasted were made by Hunter legend Maurice O’Shea in the 1940s and ’50s. These were blends of Syrah and Pinot, and they have inspired this blend, which we make only in suitable years. This release is a blend of 40% Pinot from our own vines and 60% Syrah from Heathcote and Harcourt. It spent the first year in a mix of large and small oak barrels, mostly neutral, with the last phase of aging in steel tank and 600-litre Stockinger cask. It was bottled at the end of November 2023. The result is a bright, perfumed, juicy wine. Although delicious now, it should certainly age well.

“It’s not heavy but there’s impressive intensity of flavour here. It tastes of sheer plum, dark chocolate, roasted nuts and sweet cherry, with woodsy spice and cedarwood characters as part of the veneer. There’s texture, there’s twigs, there’s pure, perfectly ripened fruit, and there’s a firm stamp of integrated tannin. There’s some char to the aftertaste, which is not a distraction and is not a negative. There’s a lot to delve into here. It’s excellent.” 95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front