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Geoff Merrill Henley Shiraz shows a deep brick red colour lined by cherry red hues. A whiff of the wine reveals generous scents of berry fruits and toasty French oak. Ripe fruit flavours combine with fine and powerful tannins on the full flavoured palate, to provide an elegant structure. This delightful Shiraz ends in a captivating finale. It tastes marvellous with lamb shanks in a red wine jus, chocolate-dipped honeycomb, and sharp Cheddar cheese.

The pinnacle of Chapel Hill's best parcels of red come together to form The Vicar, a prestige full blooded McLaren Vale Shiraz of great distinction. Painstakingly chosen from selected single-vineyard McLaren Vale sites, The Vicar is overflowing with ripe mulberry and licquorice flavours interlinked with sublime oak influence from over 80% French oak influence.

The Vicar is one of Chapel Hill’s flagship wines and is an annual vineyard selection of Chapel Hill’s most outstanding and expressive parcels of McLaren Vale Shiraz. The vineyard blocks were harvested and fermented separately in small batch open fermenters. Gentle plunging was utilised for cap management and all of the ferments were left on skins for a range of 13 days to 22 days. Following gentle basket pressing, the free run and pressing fractions were combined. During the subsequent 21-month oak maturation period, the barrels were periodically racked and returned to ensure the integration of the tannins back into the structure of the wine. To preserve purity and character the wine is made with minimal additions and is allowed to clarify naturally without the use of fining or filtration. This is wonderfully opulent Vicar. Inky black and packed with blackberries, plums and dark chocolate with a twist of aniseed. The nose brims with a complex mix of wild herbs, violets, black liquorice and a sprinkle of wild fennel. A powerful wine that flows across your palate unveiling layers of delicious flavours and succulent tannins with an impossibly long finish. Purity in a glass.

Deep, dark and rich. Opulent in its weight, full of plum, chocolate and vanillin oak. So smooth and long in the mouth.

In the glass the 2010 S has a black core with a deep red rim. There are elegant aromas of red black fruits, and spicy earthy notes with a hint of grilled meats, graphite and controlled oak. On the palate the fruit continues with rich plums, and blueberries and delicate spice and chocolate which all roll on to a juicy palate with fine tannins that go on ... and on. Smidge recommends drinking this wine betwen 2014 and 2030.

The Col Cross Story Somewhere in McLaren Vale youll find a very special block of old vine Shiraz. If you search for it, an olive grove to the west and an ancient chapel will be your guide. The shallow soils overlying a bedrock of limestone and the gentle sea breezes consistently provide us with fruit of exception quality. Dense, classic Shiraz characters of blackberry and dark cherry mesh seamlessly with spicy anise and cedary French oak. A concentrated palate of generous dark fruits and black cherry, the old vines contribute complex spices, cinnamon and nutmeg. A full bodied mouth filling wine that is perfectly balanced by a lingering structural finish.

Geoff Merrill Reserve Shiraz displays a deep red colour. The wine is packed with red berry, chocolate, leather and earthy characters. The palate is luxurious and generous before revealing the great structure underneath. Having undergone extended maturation first in barrel and then in bottle, the drink has become elegant and sophisticated.