Everyone knows that Shiraz is King and Cabernet is the Noble Grape, right? Bwa Bow - we discourteously disagree! We love good Shiraz and Cab but we are equally ready to doff hat and raise goblet by way of silently worshiping Grenache, Mataro, Saperavi, Temp, Aglianico, Montepulciano, Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Corvinone, Malbec, Barbera, Nero di Troia, Primitovo, Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola, Touriga, Durif, Cabernet Franc, Mencia, Malvasia Nera and more. You can, in fact, find wines from all of these varieties (or blends thereof) on our website. In this particular pack you’ll find a grouping of mighty fine Grenache, a twinning of Tempranillo and a lonesome yet lovely blend containing Aglianico and Montepulciano.

Exceptional wines one and all, produced from vines that managed to survive the horrific vine pull scheme of the 1980s. This scheme paid farmers to pull out older, less productive vines at a time when the industry was not terribly profitable. While many of these old vine resources were lost, champions like Rocky Callaghan, Richard Hamilton, Charles Melton and Jaysen Collins from Massena committed to protecting at least some of these ancient treasures... The downside to old vines is that they generally don’t yield a lot of fruit which can make it difficult for growers to make a profit – the upside is that if the vines are healthy they can conjure superb complexity and concentration.

Here’s quality drinking covered off at quaffing prices. Starting with the lighter wines, we have Zilzie’s Gold medal winning Barossa Shiraz serving up red and black fruits and a sprinkling of cedar. Next up Johnston’s Shiraz is rich and smooth, with shimmering black fruits. On to Zilzie’s Ferghana Cab, a premium offering made from McLaren Vale fruit. It’s big and rich with plenty of fruit and oak. Penna Lane’s Cab from the Clare still looks like a baby despite being 4 years old. It has concentrated varietal fruit and will improve for another decade if you can hide it from yourself. Introducing Lange Estate’s Frankland River Fifth Generation Shiraz. This beast retails for $50 a bottle and on top of the 96 it picked up from Kim Brebach, scored 94 from Ray Jordan, who also crowned Lange the best new winery in his 2020 guide. There’s plenty of dark chocolate, plum, spice, sour cherry, and liquorice plus a swag of quality oak. Finishes savoury with plenty of chalky tannins. Finally, Lone Palm’s ‘Crossings’, a 95 point, $60 a bottle Barossa Shiraz. Sam Kim says, ‘…the wine shows dark berry, spicy oak, olive and game characters on the nose, followed by a wonderfully weighted palate displaying plump mouthfeel and silky tannins. It's generous and expansive with layers of delicious flavours.’