Cottage Block is well sheltered from the cool north westerly winds of Pipers River, a slightly warmer microclime which produces small yields of intensely flavoured berries. Most of the harvest is destemmed, macerated and hand plunged, racked to a high proportion of new French oak barriques for malolactic and ten months maturation. The best barrels are treated to a further sixteen months before release. Darkly spiced beetroot and rhubarb, a firm tannin framework underpins refined acidity, a conspicuous freshness and vibrant lift to the finish and magnificent length.

Hand picked Chardonnay from the steep, free draining soils of Cave Block on Pipers River. Grapes are whole bunch pressed into a selection of seasoned and new French oak barriques, wild indigenous ferments, light lees contact and partial malolactic achieve a deeply textural wine of lemon curd and preserved citrus complexity. Cashews and grain, a finely elegant acid palate define Cave Block, mealyness and vibrant citrus fruit. The finish is clean and long, lingering on languid notes of nectarine skins, roasted kernel and rye.

Defined by altitude, Orange is one of Australia's highest and coolest regions. A capricious grape to grow, Merlot demands a regime of perfect conditions to achieve an even berry set. The growers of Orange have dutifully obliged over many years, painstakingly developing this new but salubrious winegrowing precinct for the realization of world class Merlot. Fruit sets very well and bunch thinning is undertaken to limit the yields. Cumulus will handsomely accompany roasted Mediterranean vegetables with lamb and wild mushroom medley.

Cookoothama means fertile land, an approachable accord of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon from fruit grown to a special site at Darlington Point on the Riverina. Employing the best of old world viticultural practices and new world technology, Nugan Estate charge their devoted team with the pleasant task of making wine of the highest order. The two hands on the label represent the people who have lived and cultivated soils which lie along the banks of Murrumbidgee River, transforming it into the salubrious property it is today.

By one of the most consequential winemakers in the greater Canberra GUI, crafted from Shiraz grown to mature vines at Kyeema, on an elevated granite saddle near Murrumbateman. Reserve Shiraz has enjoyed a series of compelling national trophy wins, including Best Red Sydney Royal Wine Show. Beautifully ripe on the palate, a wine of impressive length, combines intensity and vibrancy with the spice, perfume and elegant structure that are identifiable hallmarks of an exceptional vineyard.

Alex McKay worked as plongeur at a Canberra restaurant and filled wine on a bottling line before graduating to one of modern viticulture's most distinguished accolades as Dux in Oenology. Collector's amazing efforts at Shiraz are hand made for balance, character and depth of flavour, from fruit grown to some of the most remarkable Australian mesoclimes around Canberra.

Collector produce limited quantities from fruit grown to vines planted in the lean pink granites and reddish shale loams of the Canberra district.

One wild and windy night as a group of explorers were crossing Wollombi brook, misfortune struck Cockfighter, the lead horse. He became bogged in river quicksand and drowned despite all efforts. A fateful night that gave birth to the legend of Cockfighter's Ghost. Hunter Valley Verdelho has made a name for itself as Australia's most distinctive style of unwooded dry white. Cockfighter's Ghost source fuit from vines which thrive in the sandy loam soils of Hunter Valley, to deliver a generous Verdelho wine with vibrant aromatics and vivid fruit flavours.

Cockfighter was a horse who met with an untimely death, his ghost haunts a billabong but the tale would be long forgotten if it wasn't for the award winning team at Pooles Rock. Merlot vines thrive on the New South Wales central ranges, where the cool, slow ripening climes of the up and coming Orange winegrowing district yields some of Australia's finest fruit. In keeping with its provenance, Cockfighter's Ghost is profuse with the rich blueberry plum and varietal spice characters of Merlot, all supported by an exquisite, soft and lingering tannin frame.

Scientists make great viticulturalists, their innate dedication to the laws of nature prepares them for a sustainable and holistic approach to vineyard management. International careers in biology and chemical engineering can also come come in very handy when turning fruit into wine. Coal Valley Vineyard is completely cane pruned, a laborious task which achieves a harvest of Riesling grapes of remarkable aromaticness. Crafted to a drying, mature adults only styling, a superior match to the freshest Tasmanian seafood and refined gourmandise.

Tasmania is paradise for Pinot, a very special place which yields a quality of wine that's highly evocative of the eminent and renowned old world styles. Todd Goebel and Gill Christian are vignerons in the truest sense, taking a sojourn from careers in biology and engineering, to cane prune vines and lay down organic fertilizer. The fruit of their enthusiastic efforts is a remarkably complex Pinot Noir of excellence and refinement, presenting a unique pallet of discernible pastoral characters within each sip.

Everything about the wines from this artisanal estate is an achievement of the most exacting hands on viticulture, ultimately very small batch in production. A very special site at the estuary of Coal River Valley is the source of its exquisite fruit, a superior parcel of Chardonnay called Old Block and established 1991, yields a harvest every year of the best tasing grapes in the entire vineyard. Generously proportioned with apple isle stonefruits and a judicious measure of French oak, the Chardonnay of choice to accompany foie gras or white meat terrine.

One of Australia's principal Pinot Chardonnay Meuniere Cuvée, from fruit grown to superior vineyards at Pipers Brook, an area acknowledged as the premiere source of sparkling wine in Australia. Ever since debut, Clover Hill has impressed both the local and international industry press with its uncompromising quality and distinguished styling. Rich autolysis and wonderful biscuit characters, structure and finesse, creamy layers of Chardonnay fruit are integrated beautifully with the sherbet, bread and cherry Pinot characters.

A multi vintage cuvee of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, assembled exclusively from parcels picked off Clover Hill's estate vineyards at Pipers Brook. Fermented in it's own bottle and aged on yeast lees for at least two years, infusing the intensity of an extravagant elevage while capturing the vivacity of Pipers River fruit, a masterful construct of remarkable structure and finesse. Subtly complex, Cuvee Tasmania is characterised by rich, creamy layers of Chardonnay opulence, integrating beautifully with the cherry sherbet chic of Pinot Noir.

A rich cépage of Pinot Noir and Meuniere, sourced exclusively from the elite Clover Hill Vineyard at Pipers River, the nation's most prestigious sparkling wine. In 1986, on the site of an old dairy farm, the magnificent Clover Hill property was planted to vine by the Goelet family, with a view to articulating the final word in Australian sparkling. Since inaugural vintage in 1991, Clover Hill has earned an international reputation for its uncompromising elegance, finesse and eloquent Tasmanian styling.

Clover Hill's been producing pure varietal sparkling Chardonnay for many years. Assembled from a selection of elite Cuvees, matured on yeast lees for four years, followed by twelve months of ageing under cork prior to release. Disgorged with an addition of reserve wine, the doseage is prepared from components of Clover Hill reposing in oaken foudres. Clover Hill is the essential Australian Blanc de Blanc sparkling with a crisp profile of fruit, exceptional length and lasting flavours.

It has been a remarkable journey for Clonakilla. When John Kirk first planted vines in 1971 he had no idea that his vineyard would be celebrated as one of the finest in Australia. Along the way there have been trials and tribulations as well as moments of unprecendented success. Over time it has become clear that a combination of the temperate Murrumbateman region and the sultry Viognier are one of those rare synergies which produce extraordinary wines.

Bedecked with gold medals, significant trophies and countless five star commendations. Clonakilla is a wine that's ultimately determined in the vineyard, where hard work is required to open up the vine leaf canopies, limiting yields and encouraging vines to make grapes with riper flavour profiles. The vinification process embraces old world techiques such as the inclusion of whole bunches in the ferments, macerations and extravagant French oak barrel maturation.

A collation of superior vineyard parcels, crafted by a boutique estate which has been recognized as one of Australia's leading wineries. Clonakilla are dedicated to making distinctive, handcrafted wines, only ever released in limited quantities, anything by Clonakilla can be hard to find, but they are worth the search. The house speciality is Shiraz, Clonakilla unashamedly borrow techniques from Burgundy and Vallée du Rhône. Clonakilla's inaugural vintage claimed two gold medals, one silver and two trophies in only three showings.

Sean O'Riada is one of Ireland's great cultural icons, a gifted musician and composer, he's accredited with taking traditional Irish music out of the pubs and bringing it to the world. O'Riada Shiraz is made from fruit grown to four very special vineyards around Murrumbateman, fermented with the inclusion of a dollop Viognier. O'Riada owes its genesis to a disastrous vintage, when unfavourable weather drastically reduced the Clonakilla harvest. The best local vineyards had to be sourced from which to collate the quality of fruit most worthy of the Clonakilla label, O'Riada Shiraz was born.

Clonakilla were established by a Canberra research scientist in 1971, very near the New South Wales township of Murrumbateman. The soils here consist of sandy clay loams over a friable clay subsoil and, with a climate not dissimilar to Bordeaux and the northern Rhone Valley, there were high hopes for its viticultural potential. Loaded with ripe blackberry fruit pushed along by a late surge of blackcurrant and spice, the warmth of the autumn radiates through every part of this wine.

A well balanced Chardonnay wine with ample palate texture, crisp grapefruit acidity and soft varietal stonefruit characters by one of the most distinguished winemakers in Hunter Valley. The vines were planted to soils and aspects where the excellent growing seasons and favourable ripening conditions yield grapes exhibiting splendid concentration. Nature has played a big part in contributing to the flavour profile of this generously proportioned Chardonnay, decidedly fruit driven with richly textured palate and lovely, lingering clean finish.

The handsome manors of Clarence House were built at the very epicentre of Hobart's colonial market gardens, upon the fertile foothills of Meehan Ranges. The unspoiled viticultures here ripen a magnificent harvest of Sauvignon Blanc, more flavourful than her northern siblings on the mainland, bristling with aromatic fruits and layered with luscious textures. Sauvignon Blanc was amongst the first plantings here, the vines are now well into maturity. Clarence House makes a style that's plush with lemon lychee characters, underpinned by the food friendly savouryness of green vegetable, thistle and pea.

Always mindful of the eloquence that defines Pinot Noir as the most articulate of varietals, Clarence House set aside their most exceptional parcels for an estate Reserve. Assembled from a palette of clones 777, 114 and MV6, Pommard and Abel, Clarence place their finest rows of harvest into a variety of oak barrels, designed to polish the excellence of each precious parcel of fruit. The final accord is designed to coalesce the complexity into a seamless expression of a truly wonderful wine, all the stalky cherryness, barnyard and nutty apple characters of a magnificent Pinot Noir mesoclime.

A scrupulous cull of the most exquisite parcels, a regimen of traditional burgundian methods and extended term in an extravagant selection of the finest French oak. Clarence House established superior clones Chardonnay to an exquisite terroir of undulating northeast slopes, awakened by the warmth of early morning sunlight, sheltered from the harsh impact of late afternoon heat. The Chardonnay grown here speaks of propitious Jurassic soils and invigorating maritime winds, infused by the abundance of eucalypt and verdant green, articulate of its complex mineral provenance, chiselled and refined.

Pinot Noir was uppermost in mind when the Kilpatricks established vines at Clarence House in 1993. There are few places in the world, so predisposed to this most fickle of varietals, as the languid, temperate climes of southern Tasmania. The foothills of Meehan Ranges near Hobart are a place of garrulous soils and exhilerating ripening seasons. A mixture of clones 114, 115, 667, 777, MV6, Abel and Pommard are treated to a Burgundian style of vinification, its rich cherry flavours, pretty florals and savoury rhubarb characters, draped in a gentle robe of plush, velvetine tannins.

There will only ever be sixteen hectares of vine at Clarence House, the boundaries of the estate are well defined, whatever grows here will always be of great exclusivity, the finest possible fruit, limited in yield. Pinot Blanc only just made the final cut of remaining parcels, never originally planned for Pinot Blanc, it was sanctioned after an impassioned persuasion by a savvy grower. Effulgent with brightly lit fruit characters, apples and pear, pine nuts, almond and spice, Clarence fashion their Pinot Blanc into an intensely food friendly style, resolving on a dry, textural finish, perfect with partridge, paella or pork.

Chardonnay performs so well at Clarence House, that precious blocks were set aside for a second planting of the courtly varietal. The brisk maritime climes of Hobart encourage a savoury, saline style of Chardonnay, weighty with all the ripe orchard fruit flavours yet awash with the scents of the sea, oyster shell, tradewind and fragrant old spice. Treated to a traditional burgundesque style of ferments and élevage, Clarence House frame their Chardonnay with just the right amount of fine French oak, made for matching alongside fruits de mer, frogs au feuilleté and all fancy French fare.