Pipers River, TasmaniaEstablished in 1988 on the banks of Pipers Brook in northeast Tasmania, Brook Eden is nestled in a picturesque valley of rolling green hills. At 41 degrees South, the start of the famed roaring forties, Brook Eden is true, cool-climate viticulture.
David & Wendy Lloyd purchased this most picturesque of vineyards in 1995 which features some of the most spectacular views of the Mornington Peninsula. The vineyard is 225 meters above sea level and is on rich terra rossa volcanic loam on a northerly facing slope hence sheltering it from harsh winds and allowing a long cool ripening period.
Garden Gully is built on the original Salinger's Hockheim winery site which originated in the 1870's and operated as such until 1945. The vineyard produces a Riesling, a Shiraz and a Sparkling Shiraz; the 2005 Riesling is sourced from the property's 50 year old vines and has received 5 star rating from most of the professional wine writers; It has a lifted floral and citrus aroma and is crisp refreshing style on the palate with a dry finish to create a classic Great Western style of Riesling; the Shiraz is sensational and the Sparkling Shiraz takes all of us back to those halcyon days of the Great Western Region.
The Ghost Rock label has been producing wines since 2001, quickly establishing itself as a multi-award winning vineyard.
The wines are made in small quantities from grapes grown on 3 hectares of vines. The original vineyard established in 1989 was one of the first to be planted in this coastal region of Tasmania.
Hastwell & Lightfoot is a partnership of old friends Mark & Wendy Hastwell and Martin & Jill Lightfoot. Happily after 18 years in business together, they are still old friends.
Clark Ingham established his winery in 1994 and quickly established quality vines producing typical Clare Valley luscious fruit. All of the wines have full fruit flavours and careful use of American oak in the red wines has allowed the fruit to remain very evident both to the palate and nose. Most vintages are exported to Europe and only a small percentage is retained for domestic consumption hence quantities are relatively small. The Tempranillo in particular has been most successful at several domestic and international wine shows as well as receiving top marks from Australian Gourmet Traveller Magazine.
Wines available are James Haselgrove:
Owen & Robyn Schmidt established their vineyard in the rolling hills over looking Bass Strait in Koonwarra South Gippsland in 1999. Their wines are typical cool climate style with emphasis on quality rather than quantity with the Pinots in particular being outstanding examples of what a cool region can produce given careful use of even base material and the right weather! All of their wines are keenly priced and we note that the added advantage of their Guest House on the vineyard encourages people to explore this up and coming Victorian region.
Moores Hill Estate Vineyard was established in 1997 on the gentle slopes of the Tamar Valley in Northern Tasmania. This area is characterised by a cool climate, loamy soils and long ripening periods which result in high quality grapes and wines with distinctive flavours.
Parri Estate has been establishing exports in a number of markets since 1998.The vineyard is just north of Victor Harbor on Sneyd Road Mount Compass and is perfectly suited to the production of many varieties of white wine as well as Pinot Noir and big black spicy Shiraz as it is grown on limestone soil.
The Vineyard produces estate grown, award winning premium wines. The wines are hand crafted to reflect the natural beauty and historic character of the vineyard site, where small parcels of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling grapes are grown on steep, ultra low yielding soils overlooking the beautiful Tamar River.
Westgate has been home to the Dalkin family since the property was selected by Matthew Dalkin in the 1860's. Six generations have lived at Westgate and today Bruce & Robyn Dalkin are the Custodians of a property that has seen a range of farming activities with the focus today on wine grape production incorporating a small winery, tourism and wool production. These are lovely cool climate wines but with a very tiny production limited to less than a pallet of each variety every year we can only supply small quantities each year.
Whistler Wines is owned and operated by the Pfeiffer Family and Whistler is a direct translation of the German "Pfeiffer"; all of these wines demonstrate why some judges declare the Barossa Valley to be the finest area in Australia for great wine - they are full flavoured yet balanced without the need to be super aggressive which is a common fault of many producers - the Semillon and the GSM are both Parker rated with scores of 90 and 88 respectively.
The Winter Creek philosophy is to produce the highest quality wine possible and have the terroir of the vineyards reflected in these wines; two vineyards are in the range.
The Barossa Wines are all produced from vines at Williamstown which is located in the most southerly point of the Barossa Valley with the climate being moderated by the near proximity to the Barossa Ranges giving all of the wines a fine austere and subtle flavour.
Margaret River, Western Australia
Woodside Valley Estate is a premium boutique producer with a total
annual production of between 1000 and 1500 cases, distributed around
Australia and internationally.