There are always captivating florals and spices in the perfume of Mount Edelstone, and in this more toned vintage, sage, pepper, bay leaf, and bark cavort atop the fruit notes. ... When you peek behind the curtain, the fruit is sleek and polished, and the tannins are superfine. The finish is as neat and ordered as any I have tasted, and given its youth and grandeur, this alone offers a fascinating insight into the extraordinary balance across the entire landscape of the palate.

Elderton's Command Shiraz is one old school Barossa Shiraz. Named because of the special treatment the quality fruit 'commanded', this is a Shiraz of foreboding concentration. The fruit for this 'Excellent' Langton's classified Australian icon comes from the century old Elderton vineyard located on the banks of the Para River and is matured in a mixture of French and American oak. This allows the wine to retain its driven power while also giving the wine a level of complexity and balance unique to this region and producer. Elderton's Command can be enjoyed by lovers of ripe and rich fruit early, yet will reward the truly patient with a wine of true beauty when left alone to mature for a decade.

Bold and impressively styled, the wine shows black blueberry, violet, cured meat and toasty oak characters. The palate delivers excellent depth and persistency, wonderfully framed by layers of fine tannins. Flavoursome and delectably appealing.

Something of a d'Arenberg icon and "the best one yet" (Halliday), an elegantly packaged, triumphant 96pt century-old-vine Shiraz meets a trio of young, exotic & fragrant white Rhône varieties. (Although as the d'Arenberg site points out: "Some might joke that the old bloke is Chester, and the three young blondes are his daughters, the fifth generation who will carry on the d'Arenberg tradition. Each of these title characters are represented on the label as a cut out silhouette." ) As Marcus Ellis writes in The Halliday Companion, this iconic red is: "“From centurion vines crushed over 1% each of roussanne, viognier and marsanne. The cuvée name always sounds like the start of a joke going the wrong way, or at least for the zeitgeist. This does not go the wrong way, although it is also outside the zeitgeist. No matter – cancelling isn’t recommended… It’s loaded with flavour, roiling through red and black berries, plum, old cupboard spices, ground dark chocolate and dried herbs. For me, it’s the best one yet. 96pts” (Marcus Ellis, The Halliday Wine Companion). In 1912, horse-fanatic Joseph Osborn sold his beloved stables and horses and bought the family the d'Arenberg estate in premium McLaren Vale. “d’Arenberg kept its 100+yo heritage while moving into the 21st century with flair. At last count, the d’Arenberg vineyards have 40 varieties planted, as well as more than 50 growers in McLaren Vale. Its considerable portfolio of richly robed red wines, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and grenache are the cornerstones. The iconic 5-level Cube cellar door offers a range of wine experiences including a restaurant and a wine sensory room” (James Halliday). The Osborns are co-founders of The First Families of Australian Wine. You'll always spot a d'Arenberg wine with its bold red stripe on the label.

A new label and new take on a classic. The Eileen Hardy Shiraz is juicy, plump and full of life with a magnificent backbone of tannin and spice without being overbearing. A classic in the making.

Coming from one of the best vintages in recent Barossa history, the Old Block from St Hallett shows what careful vineyard management can do for a wine. Rich, dark and conerntrated but with seamless tannin intergration.

Graveyard Vineyard is the jewel in the Brokenwood crown, responsible for the company's flagship wines. The vineyard was planted with Shiraz vines in 1970 - extremely heavy clay soils, yields are low, but fruit flavour is intense through employment of meticulous vinification techniques. Strong lifted aromas of sweet earth and dark cherry greet the olfactory senses. Oak features, but will soften and integrate given some patience. Initial flavours of dark chocolate and ripe plums are beautifully lashed to ripe tannins lending an edge of cedar.

The Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz is a relatively new addition to the Penfolds stable, sourced from the Barossan sub-district, Marananga. Simply a revelation, this wine is an inky, black beast in the glass with lashings of dark chocolate and coffee accented fruit, yet this years offering shows a lingering, soft structured finish that will see the wine cellar very nicely.