There are parts of old Barossa Valley which grow exceptional Cabernet Sauvignon, the ancient winegrowing hamlet of Ebenezer is just such a place, it has made contributions throughout its history to some of the most memorable vintages Barossa Cabernet. The soils here are a challenge for the ruddy old vines, chastening the fruit into concentrating the flavours and ripening the tannins. A breath of juniper, black pepper and the fragrance of mint, dark chocolates and allsort, blackcurrants abound, Cabernet of effortless allure, seamlessness and stealth.

$2499each $299DOZEN EACH DOZEN

Cabernet and Merlot are sourced from the Schrapel family vineyards at Bethany and neighbouring sites along the Barossa foothills. The Bethany property is replete with vines, decades old, which are very low yielding and produce fruit of great intensity and flavour. The special microclimate of the foothills is reflected in the bright, dark cherry colour, enticingly fragrant aroma and full flavoured, harmonious palate. The powerful structure of Cabernet is complemented by the suppleness of Merlot, a style which can be enjoyed fully whilst young.

$1999each $239DOZEN EACH DOZEN Traditional viticultural practices are applied, vines are hand pruned and often hand picked. Grapes from each vineyard are kept separate throughout the wine making process until assemblage. Vinified on skins in open fermenters at controlled temperatures between 22C and 28C for several days. After traditional pressing, the wine is transferred to American and French oak hogsheads. A malolactic culture is added early to induce secondary fermentation whilst in barrel. The wine is racked after settling and minimal sulphur is added, a critical factor for natural flavour development. Matured eighteen months prior to racking and the final assemblage.

Deep, black cherry colour. A complex bouquet displaying young vibrant fruit, lifted red berries with some overtones of oak and a slightly spiced nature. A palate of soft fine tannins and fresh red berry characters. The mouthfeel shows excellent textures, approachable and satisfying in its youth. Deeply flavoursome, gentle with overtones of light milky oak, a well balanced finish.

An outstanding assemblage of the most exceptional fruit from the elite Ehrat Vineyard, picked off unirrigated rows of parallel grown Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon along Krondorf Road. The inclusion of choice picks Shiraz from a panoply of terroirs in the Valley Eden, Stockwell and Light Pass, add palate weight and complexity. A traditional ferment and old world standards of élevage, just a few hundred dozen are made, are followed by eighteen months in a luxuriously high proportion of new Leroi French oak hogsheads, purposefully bottled unfiltered and unfined.

$3599each $431DOZEN EACH DOZEN

At Charles Melton vineyards, great emphasis is placed on the quality of fruit, completely dry grown on the estate’s fifty acres of prime Barossa viticulture, ocassionally calling on a distinguished group of devoted local growers for extravagantly priced parcels of the most exceptional fruit. Cabernet grapes must must be fully ripe without passing the softness stage into wrinkled, affording richness while retaining structure. Berries are gently destemmed for vinification, followed by transfer into an extravagant selection of completely new French oak barriques for a minimum two years maturion on gross lees.

$5299each $635DOZEN EACH DOZEN

A collation of choice parcels Shiraz from the Krondorf Village districts in Barossa. All grapes are dry grown and great emphasis is placed on the quality of fruit. Yields are extremely low, often only one or two tonne per acre. Parcels are vinified and assembled to contruct the most complete wine, in terms of balance between pure fruit flavours and earthy/ gamey qualities. A style which has a kiss of sweet oak, allowing the rich fragrance and flavours of old dry grown vines to remain at the fore, a Shiraz of intense flavours and richness by a Barossa master.

$4599each $551DOZEN EACH DOZEN Blocks of vine are picked in different lots to provide a full range of flavours. Parcels are treated to the full Charles Melton melange of techniques, whole bunch fermentation along with destemmed but uncrushed fruit. Cap management techniques include pigeage and hand plunging, as well as daily pumpovers throughout a week of vinification. Batches are filled to a mix of French and American oak barriques for completion of ferments, at a range of alcohols between 12.0% and 17.0%, fortuitously not too much quantity at either extreme, delivering a fascinating palate from which to assemble. An extended course of two years maturation on gross lees achieves a Barossa Shiraz of outstanding weight and complexity.

Lovely deep dark colour. Intense black fruits with a little smoky oak influence showing through. Very lifted nose with a faint camphor/ methanol note but not intrusive. An array of plum and blackberrry flavours seasoned by a twist of the pepper mill, a long spicy palate showing cedar oak and savoury chocolate, finishing with firm, rounded tannins. The weight of fruit is there, the elegance shines through.

A mostly Shiraz Cuvee sourced from six of the Melton's best dry grown, old vine blocks. Charlie was one of the first to recognize the value and tradition of the Barossa's old vineyard Shiraz, Cabernet and Grenache. At a time when others were pulling out some wonderful old rootstock to plant more fashionable varieties, Charlie was convincing farmers to keep their historic vineyards. He belongs to a small group of dedicated vignerons who fought to retain the viticultural heritage of Barossa Valley. Two years in oak, followed by liqueur dosage tirage and a further four years on lees.

$7999each $959DOZEN EACH DOZEN The fruit is mostly hand harvested at healthy levels of ripe, natural sugar baume range to give richness with a degree of freshness and acidity for the base wine. Grapes are fully destemmed through the crusher into fermenters, for vinification on skins at moderate temperatures for several days, treated to a regimen of pumpovers twice daily. At close to dryness, batches are drained, pressed and returned to the free run. Components are filled to a selection of predominantly French Never and Vosges or American oak barriques for a year on gross sediments. The wine is then tiraged and left on lees for twenty months before degorgement and expedition liqueur.

Deep dark, cherry purple. An elegant, complex bouquet, rich spicy, multi dimensional redolence, mintyness, dark currants and festive pudding fruits. A complex, aromatically opulent cornucopia of flavour, bushels of fruit and classic autolysis within a glorious effervescence of the finest bubble. The wonders of liquering dosage and bottle age, modulating the degree of sweetness, in the tradition of the memorable Great Westerns which evolved for decades.

The first and final word in world class Barossa Cabernet, aged in a luxurious selection of completely new French oak hogsheads. The Ashmead block is so low yielding that it was almost gutted and re established to more productive plantings. The vines suffer from the notorious Dead Arm disease but yields an extraordinary quality of fruit. Fortunately for the world of wine, Ashmead was retained as an Australian Grand Cru Classe. Elderton are not unfamiliar with ultra Cabernet, having claimed significant trophies including the 1993 Jimmy Watson.

$9499each $1139DOZEN EACH DOZEN The Ashmead block has consistently produced small parcels of peerless quality fruit. Traditionally this elite parcel has been blended into the estate range, but in 1998 Lorraine Ashmead was inspired by its excellence to release it under the family name. An unknown clone of Cabernet Sauvignon but most likely G9V3, planted by Samuel Tolley in 1944, is grown to deep alluvial silts over red brown limestone soils. Yields at this precious vineyard are a meagre one to two tonnes per hectare. Grapes are hand picked and teated to a chilled vinification in open top concrete fermenters, before transfer to exclusively new French oak puncheons and hogsheads for completion, malolactic and twenty two months maturation.

Deep purple/ black colour. Sweetly perfumed aromas of blackberries and candied plum, vanilla and oaken spice. Concentrated and lush palate showing dense dark berry fruits and suave baking spice notes, seasoned by savouryness and herb. Ashmead boasts excellent precision, harmony and depth, incredible persistence as the wine lingers on an immeasurably long finish.

Elderton Cabernet was winner of the prestigious Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy in 1993, the following years it claimed back to back Gold and Trophy at the Barossa Wine Show. The 1994 vintage gave Elderton its first international Gold medal in London, an unbroken tradition of remarkable vintages have embossed the Elderton Estate name as a national champion, being chosen by Qantas for service in first class. The superior quality of fruit grown to Elderton's fifty year old estate Cabernet vines, yield a wine of intensity, opulence and grace.

$2999each $359DOZEN EACH DOZEN Elderton sits atop very old, deep alluvial soils over limestone, the majority of Cabernet vines which contribute grapes are over fifty years of age, the oldest established in 1949. Harvested throughout the cool of night, Cabernet clones 1654, BVRC12 and BVRC30 are crushed into open concrete fermenters and treated to a cold soak. Heading down boards are employed after two days to keep the cap submerged and allow better control of fermentation rate, constant pumpovers percolate oxygen through the skins. Batches are pressed into a selection of seasoned French oak hogsheads and puncheons for completion of malolactic and a series of rackings over twenty two months before assemblage.

Deep purple colour. Blackberries and cassis, beetroot and mint with a touch of cedar on the bouquet. Full bodied palate exhibiting plum and back fruits, classic Barossa varietal characters of cassis, black olives and mint. Medium bodied, a rich, classy palate, for a fully integrated Cabernet wine showing unobtrusive oak and polished tannins.

The hidden gem in the Elderton portfolio, a perennial favourite on the national wine show circuit. It was postulated that by assembling the finest components of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz which Elderton could produce, a truly wonderful wine would be created. This is Ode to Lorraine, a rigorous selection is conducted each year to isolate the best barrels, much of which are earmarked for the estate flagships. An exceptionally well rounded claret style, born out of extensive sessions around the tasting bench.

$5399each $647DOZEN EACH DOZEN Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Merlot are harvested off old or very old vines, some were established in 1914, rooted into deep alluvial soils, harvested at optimum maturity throughout the cool of night, to a schedule determined by vineyard sampling. Following the crush, vinification is carried out in a collection of old concrete open top fermenters for approximately a week, followed by transfer to a combination of seasoned and new French oak puncheons for two years maturation. Each parcel is kept separate until the final assemblage, whereupon the Elderton team adjust the proportion of components to determine the final Ode to Lorraine.

A very rich dark purple. Elegant aromas of chocolate, berries and licorice are well wrapped in lovely toasty oak. Full bodied with velvety, ripe, refined tannins before a long rich finish. Already exhibiting amazing harmony, power and grace, Ode to Lorraine is fashioned to achieve a velvety silkiness and elegance across the whole flavour profile. A brooding wine with dark flavours framed by refined tannins, finishing long and balanced with a presence of ample, ripe fruit.

One of Australia's longest continuously operating purveyors of fine wine, Taylor Ferguson can trace their origins back to establishment circa 1898. Today, the Taylor Ferguson team can draw harvests from a substantial catalogue of the choicest vineyards to create the most outstanding vintages. Parcels picked off vines thirty to fifty years of age, planted to prestigious sites in Barossa Valley, have been assembled into a sensational Cabernet Sauvignon, endowed with layers of regional chocolate fruit characters, perfumed currant flavours and ripe, supporting tannins.

$4599each $551DOZEN EACH DOZEN After each harvest, a search begins for the best grapes from which to make the next vintage. The selection process is diligent and strict. Parcels of fruit which can display the high standards required for inclusion, selected on the basis of vibrant flavour profiles and exemplary varietal expression, become the foundation for Taylor Ferguson. Each vintage brings submissions, this year provided the team with parcels of outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon harvested from good vineyards in the Barossa. Batches are sorted, crushed and inoculated before being treated to a regimen of modern and traditional vinification techniques in a mix of fermenters, followed by a spell of maturation under finely coopered oaks.

Deep scarlet, ruby hues. The nose exhibits blackcurrant and mint delicately balanced by characters of spiced/ vanilla American oak. A generous palate, full of berry flavours, mint and dark chocolate complexity rounded out by fine tannins, leading onto a lingering, well balanced finish. To accompany rare venison or rosemary lamb.

$34099each $4091DOZEN EACH DOZEN

$3499each $419DOZEN EACH DOZEN