Redbank retain some of the best vineyards in the higher altitudes of Victoria's bountiful northern winegrowing districts. Sites planted to cooler climes offer slower ripening conditions which translate into the full development of flavours. Long Paddock is fashioned from the finest harvests of Merlot on offer, the finely grained tannins, gentle palate and aromatic qualities can make any further ageing unnecessary. A forward drinking wine, redolent with plum and cherry characters and like all good Merlot, scrumptuous with fine food.

$1599each $191DOZEN EACH DOZEN Redbank's high altitude, cool climate vineyards are planted to rich, deep volcanic soils that are fertile and replenished by good natural irrigation. Batches of fruit sourced from warmer sites lower down the valley floors contribute richness and complexity to the finished wine. To control vigorous growth, the vineyards are carefully managed at every phase throughout the season. Growers implement a canopy management and crop thinning program to ensure the vines deliver high quality fruit with good colour and a concentration of flavours. Several months in a selection of seasoned French oak barriques, achieves a fully integrated wine with soft supportive tannins.

Deep dark red. Aromas of ripe berries and plum, showing secondary notes of cedar, briar and violets, nicely wrapped within a subtle oak framework. A medium to full bodied wine, the fleshy plum fruits and velvet textures deliver a wine of quality and structure. Fine grained tannins complement the fruit and support the length of palate all the way to a pleasant, lasting finish.

Redbank keep the folklore of brave local pioneers alive, by accessing fruit from vineyards in the high country which gave birth to the nineteenth century tradition of droving the Long Paddock. Through the hard work of growers and diligence of the Redbank viticultural team, the very healthiest vines have been established and trained to yield parcels of the finest Pinot Gris. A vigorous wine with revitalizingly fresh fruit characters and the exquisite tang of tropical acids, to accompany freshly grilled fishes, dainty nibbles or the finest tasty cheese.

$1599each $191DOZEN EACH DOZEN Fruit is selected from a number of viticultural precincts, which provide a diversity of vineyard resources to construct a wine which defines the uniqueness of Pinot Gris. The aim is to include parcels which have achieved full flavour development whilst still retaining vibrant aromatics. Grapes are hand picked and held in a cold room for eighteen hours, before being whole bunch pressed to ensure minimal colour pick up from the slightly pink skins. Juices are clarified before a cool fermentation which captures the fresh flavours of this stylish and exotic grape. Unwooded and unoaked, bottled promptly after vinification to retain and express the defining elements of pure, varietal Pinot Gris.

A bright clean, pale straw colour. Complex aromas of stonefruits and grapefruit, citrus and spiced pears, herbs and nashi pears and lifted fresh florals of white flowers. Crisp, with nuts and citrus, a medium bodied wine, very soft and juicy, with a nutty, complex textured middle palate finishing on a note of sweetness and minerality. Just great by itself, goes perfectly with tempura and any other seafood or white meat.

Redbank have long been at the fore of Victorian high country viticulture, having established labels that continue to produce some of notheast Victoria's most enduring wines. The Long Paddock is a reference to the drovers of yesteryear, as they followed the course of creeks and rivers to quench their parched livestock. Long Paddock takes the pick of Sauvignon Blanc from superlative high altitude vineyards, terroir that's just right for aromatic whites, crafted to perfection in a vibrantly unwooded, drink now styling.

$1599each $191DOZEN EACH DOZEN Redbank selects most of it's fruit for the Long Paddock from high altitude sites and across Victoria's finest viticultural precincts. The winemaking team spend long hours in the vineyard carefully selecting each parcel of fruit at different levels of flavour development, time well spent, which contributes to the complexity and texture of the finished wine. Sauvignon Blanc from choice vineyards is handled in separate batches with varying time on skins, depending on the attributes and flavour profile. Juices are pressed off skins, free run and pressings kept separate, chilled and racked to fermentation. Vinified at cool temperatures to maximise the aromatics and retain freshness.

A very pale straw with green gold tints. Lifted aromas of passionfruit rind, nougat and custard apple with underlying grassy notes of nettle and fresh green herb. Zesty citrus acidity upfront leads into generous green tropical fruit flavours on the middle palate. This round viscosity lingers onto a fresh grapefruit pith finish. A perfect pairing for your favourite Thai salad.

Long Paddock sources the best possible Shiraz from some of the finest Victorian vineyards, but relies on a few unique sites to form the backbone of fruit, vines of superior quality which have been supplying Redbank since inaugural vintage. Parcels from warmer climes conrtibute edifying plum and cherry flavours, cooler climes yield fruit that's deeply saturated in colour, bristling with piquant spice notes, framed by firm and supportive, mouth filling tannins.

$1599each $191DOZEN EACH DOZEN Grapes are harvested from small family operated vineyards, some are in Victoria's high country, covered in snow during winter and shrouded by cloud at other times of year. Further harvests of Shiraz from slightly warmer climes contribute complexity. Fruit is inoculated in a combination of large static and rotary fermenters. Warm temperatures at the onset of vinification and an average of three to five days post ferment maceration have extracted soft fleshy tannins and formed a solid palate structure. Maturation in a combination of prior use American and French oak barriques has integrated the wine and softened the tannins, achieving a generous Shiraz style.

Deep crimson in colour. Brooding aromas of plum and dark berry fruits with a hint of cedar and star anise. The palate is expressive of its cool climate origins, rich yet elegantly structured with generous dark chocolate, blackberry and spice flavours on the palate, finishing with soft tannins. Delicious current drinking alonside sausages and rosemary spuds.

$2099each $251DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Esoteric varietal wines grown to higher altitudes reflect the diversity of King Valley. Fruit for the Sunday Morning is harvested off sites grown to elevated, slow ripening mesoclimes, covered by snow in winter and shrouded by cloud at other times of year. Parcels from the Cavedon Vineyard at Whitfield form the wine's vivacious backbone. Grapes are harvested in pristine condititon exhibiting bright aromas and excellent flavours. This articulate Pinot Gris presents poignant nut and floral characters within a structure of fine texture and ripe orchard fruit.

$2099each $251DOZEN EACH DOZEN Sourced off two King Valley vineyards, Pinot Gris is hand picked as the grapes ripen to a balance of aromatics, fruit richness and fresh acidity, to achieve a wine of elegance and flavour. Each site contributes unique characters to the finished wine. The Cavedon property has been supplying fruit since inaugural release, providing fullness of flavour, structure and a distinct minerality. Higher up the valley is the vineyard of David Burder, one of mainland Australia's highest sites at 860 metres, contributing classic Pinot Gris aromas and flavours of rose petal, blossoms and fragrant spice, combined with a fresh, restrained acidity. Sunday Morning is bottled soon after vintage, maximizing the varietal characters.

Palest straw with green tints. Delicate aromas of fragrant rose petal and nashi pear overlaid by exotic spice. Elegant and tightly structured yet still shows the classic flavours, texture and generosity of Pinot Gris which will continue to build. Fruit purity drives the palate with lingering flavours of turkish delight and pear juice on the finish. A wine for lovers of serious Pinot Gris. Perfect with Tandoori prawns and chutney.

The Abbey Vineyard at Tarrawarra, on the corner of Old Healesville Rd and Houghtons Lane, is a specialized, low yielding site which delivers a harvest of the most exquisite Pinot Noir. The choice clone MV6 was planted here in 1993 to highly mineral Humevale silt stones, which contribute to the generosity and balance within the fruit, ultimately the character of the final wine. A stately Yarra Valley Pinot noir of elegance, poise and finesse, endowed with sophisticated perfumes, power and control.

$4199each $503DOZEN EACH DOZEN De Bortoli are all about a more sustainable approach to viticulture, essentially to produce wines with a sense of place. The focus is on a move towards biological farming. There's also an increasing focus on single vineyard wines. The gentle northeast facing slope across the road from Tarrawarra Abbey is a wonderful, early ripening site, though markedly cooler than much of Yarra Valley, it sires an exquisitely aromatic wine. Grapes are all hand picked and hand sorted to ensure that only the finest fruit is included. Batches are treated to plunges and remontage throughout three wekks of ferment, followed by ten months maturation on fine lees in a mix of seasoned and new oak casks.

Bright scarlet with darker robes. Very pretty black cherry fruit, complex, slightly rustic nose, mocha and spice with hints of strawberry and clove. The palate is powerful with spice, earth and red fruit flavours that build in texture, followed by an elegant finish with with fine powdery tannins.

Established to deep red basalt soils by family Shelmerdine in 1985, Lusatia Park at Woori Yallock in the upper reaches of Yarra Valley, is a very demanding site. Vines are all closely planted and require a lot of work but the quality of harvest is spectacular, consistently yielding vintages of urbane, mineral infused Chardonnay. Fruit is all hand picked and whole bunch pressed, treated to full malolactic and battonage. Its voluble palate of oatmeal, almonds and brioche, is tightly structured, taintless and refined, defined by its crystal elegance and briny, lingering finish.

$3999each $479DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Outstanding quality fruit makes exceptional wine, it remains essential however for the process to work with nature and to allow the wine to evolve at its own pace. Pinot Noir is the most articulate of all, it speaks unabashedly about its provenance and place. Lusatia Park makes an intensely fragrant Pinot Noir, all the winemaker need do is let the fruit repose until ready, unworked and unhurried, moved slowly by gravity. A beguiling wine of humbling candor, velvet textured, radiant, fragrant of bouquet garni, fruits of the forest and fresh planed curls of stalky cedar spice.

$4199each $503DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Robin Brockett has been chief winemaker at Scotchmans Hill since the 1980s, he knows Bellarine's best growers and is completely conversant with every microclime around the greater Geelong. Amphora is the Tete de Cuvee, the top cut of Shiraz from the most superior vineyards, a cull so strict, that only a hundred cases are made. Its dulcetly sweet perfumes of peppery plum are unlocked by a measure of the fragrant Viognier, underpinned by silky chocoate tannins, lingering on a velvet length of raspberries, rose petal and turkish delight.

$4899each $587DOZEN EACH DOZEN Vinified in two large terracotta Amphoras, imported from the Brunello producing commune of Montalcino Tuscany. These old world clay vessels are essential to the balance, texture and integrity of the finished wine. Shiraz and Viognier grapes are all hand picked off the most superior rows at Fenwick Vineyard, a portion are added to the ferments as whole bunches. Several days of cold soak are followed by three weeks of wild indigenous yeast vinification, hand plunged daily until completion, a course of malolactic and eight months age on gross sediments, pressed and returned to the Tuscan Amphorae for the balance of a year's maturation.

It was the wave of Swiss pioneers in the 1860s who discovered that the balmy coastal climes and rich loamy terroirs of Bellarine make magnificent wine. The region is now best known for its excellence in viticulture, Robin Brockett takes his pick from the most superior vineyards. Fenwick makes mighty Pinot Noir, a rich and complex style of sweet red rhubarb, strawberries and parched forest fruits, pursing whole bunch notes and savoury stalk, its juicy red berryness over soft well defined tannins, pastoral freshness, sasafras spice and timely oak.

$3799each $453DOZEN EACH DOZEN

The finest Shiraz off Bellarine Peninsula bear an uncanny resemblance to the elegant old classics of Cotes du Rhône. It's the blowy chills of Port Philip Bay, so akin to the sobering Mistrals along Valley Rhone, which stimulate the vines and assuage the fruit to ripen slowly, intensifying flavours and cultivating the tannins. A sophisticated Shiraz style, redolent of ripe dark plums, pepperyness and black cherry behind a gentle veneer of costly cedar oak. Welcome old world Syrah in a very Aussie way, firm fine tannins and long lingering flavours on the lasting, savoury finish.

$3799each $453DOZEN EACH DOZEN