Product Line - Australia

No, this is not just another "Light Dry Red" playing to the recent fads but a serious nod to the 'Burgundies' of the 50's 60's and 70's which Nick Spencer is paying homage to. These were classic light-bodied Shiraz and Shiraz/ Pinot blends that emerged from the Hunter and are highly sort after now. They are back in fashion and tasting this it's not hard to understand why.

The style can be a little hit or miss and getting that combo of pinot and shiraz just right is critical, which Nick has done a brilliant job of here. A touch of sour cherry, cranberry and strawberries that plays off broodier black currant and blackberry fruit swirling around in the background. It's served on a palate that is crunchy and vibrant with lovely fine structure and soft melting tannins. Great poise between the fruit and other elements and while this is wonderfully easy to enjoy there is a plenty going on here that belies the seriousness of the wine.

While its ready to go now and easy to love if you put a couple of bottles away for just a couple of years or so I think you would be a very happy camper!

Grown in the sandy, clay soils of our Osmington family vineyard. Planted in 1995 with rows running north to south on a slight northeast facing slope. The vineyard is certified biodynamic. We treat it like a veg patch, heavy compost in autumn and sheep snapping the odd wire as they browse in winter.

20% handpicked early April before machine harvesting 2-days later. The whole bunches added to vat, the machine component going on top, no crushing or destemming. Wild fermented on skins, until dry. Pressed to a mix of new & old French barrels. A single racking after the Spring equinox otherwise it sits on full lees until January, topping every two weeks. Spontaneous malolactic fermentation from Autumn to Spring giving a natural CO2 cover during maturation. The wine remains undisturbed with minimal sulphur added prior to bottling in February. High-quality, smaller corks provide a more drinkable style through bottle aging. The wine is unfined & unfiltered so may present some harmless deposits in the bottle.

The reason the POCW folks went to this vineyard was for the syrah, this being the first of the releases solely from this site, from a singular year.

Very floral in the perfume, violets and lavender, whiffs of eucalyptus and loads of raspberry, cherry and strawberry, in a fog of scent too. Lots of concentration to taste but with a glossy wash of acidity under the tart red cherry, game meat, dried herbs and white pepper characters. Beautiful flavours, fine, satiny tannins, great extension of flavour, a cool, minty finish. Spot on medium weight fragrant and spicy style. MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

Single vineyard shiraz from Heathcote. White Label.

Developing steadily. Game, leather and leaf matter with a peppery, drying finish. Not unripe but slight in its overall profile. CAMPBELL MATTINSON

Vines planted in 1999. About 6% whole bunch. 30% new oak.

Plum and cherry, cracked pepper, hazelnut, Turkish apricot and musk stick, with a little cedar oak. It’s plum and plummy, a grainy grip to tannin, balanced acidity, nutty with something of a toffee flavour, with a clip of oak on a finish of good length. Still a little elemental, but good. Needs a couple more years of cellaring. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

Nice to have this wine back in town after an absence in 2021. The power and concentration of the vineyard and the style is immediately evident. The intensity strikes immediately on the nose, while once the wine starts to roll across your palate you know you in a head zone of great power. It was a warm and concentrated vintage. Brilliant crimson colour with a bright luminosity and brilliant purity that lifts effortlessly from the glass. Floral notes with a dried herbie sage bush character engages immediately. Dry chalky tannins with a trace of minerally iron filings. It’s vibrant and fleshy with real volume of flavour. Continues to mark its turf as an Australian classic. (98) RAY JORDAN

Now that Farvie is a trio, and not a duo, and the Mourvèdre sits neatly in between the Grenache and Syrah in terms of hue, timbre and attitude, this Grenache seems more succulent, fragrant and blushingly attractive than ever. It is imperceptibly lighter, more rhubarb and pomegranate-tinged and creamier than ever. The colour is a crimson and carmine amalgam, and the nose is akin to a stroll through an Amazonian arboretum. It is sexy, and it knows it, and before it gets too lascivious, on cue, it firms up, dries out and ends with a vicious lick of stern acidity. After such a lavish welcome, this finish is fantastic because it snaps your senses to attention and reminds you that while Farvie Grenache is a consummate charmer, beneath the surface, it is a weaponised wine with extraordinary skill. (19+/20) MATTHEW JUKES

Having fallen head over heels with this wine in the 2021 vintage, my stomach was in knots when I approached the 2022 in Perth. Would ‘second album syndrome’ strike? Not a chance. This wine’s fanfare is all-encompassing, with an epic nose that is striking, fruit-packed and sophisticated. There are abundant rose petals, plum and red cherry notes, and sensual waves of florality and bounteous juiciness are countered by intense, brittle minerality. The acid line scours the palate with masochistic striations that form the tramlines on which this wine delivers its message with tireless accuracy. And then you notice that something is missing. Unlike virtually every other mesmeric Mourvèdre on earth, oak is seemingly missing. Of course, this is an illusion because behind every cache of flavour molecules sits a silent oak nuance, hidden from view but doing the covert task of adding grandeur and detail without craving any credit. This is another jaw-dropping wine, and it stands a chance of running a longer race than the 2021, too, so be sure to secure your stock. (19.5+/20), MATTHEW JUKES

The second iteration of this wine (tasted pre-release), which is quickly rising to icon status in Swinney’s portfolio. Tiny production from bushvines, the fruit is harvested in three passes wild fermented in whole bunches and matured in old oak. Currently tightly wound and holding its cards close to its chest, its starry journey ahead is clear. Vibrant, densely knit dark black plum aromas with a jewel-like clarity, along with violets, star anise, eucalypt, heady ferrous notes and crushed earth. Tannins might be tight and bunched up in their youth, but they are chalky and fine in structure, and the long line of delicate acidity helps deliver waves of flavour long after the last sip. Complex, vivacious and nuanced; a new Mourvèdre benchmark has been set. (98) CASSANDRA CHARLICK, Decanter

This is the second vintage of the Farvie Mourvedre and takes the excellent ’21 up a notch. It has a dry, savoury and slightly ferruginous rusty nail character offsetting the sweet floral notes on the nose. The palate is a superb interpretation of the variety in these Frankland soils. There is a slightly greater volume of fruit than ’21, bit it retains the same Old-World charm and expression. Chalky tannins and balanced use of oak. Tasted this about 4 months apart and already the shy middle palate I first saw has started to unfurl. Energy and vibrancy set this apart. A worthy addition to the Farvie triumvirate. (98) RAY JORDAN

If you’re lucky, and most of us aren’t, there comes a time in your life when it all comes together. I suspect that’s what’s happened with this Blewitt Springs vineyard, planted in the middle of the  Second World War, and the collection of wine people behind MMAD, all of whom have weathered a lot of summers in a lot of places in the pursuit of wine excellence. This wine tastes of a lot of right decisions, and of a lot of time spent in the journey to them. It has texture, balance, flavour and all that, but as my mum would say, ‘any dumb bunny can do that’. More importantly, what this wine has is all the nods and winks. I once wrote, a long time ago, of a moment where union legend David Campese ran straight through a bunch of defenders without breaking stride, or altering course. He did something, something that couldn’t be seen, and made the impossible look effortless. So too here. It has degrees of silk, fruit enough, a spinnaker on the finish, a volume of nuance. If there was such a thing for single vineyard, vintage, Aussie shiraz, this wine would be classified as first growth. (97) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

80% whole bunch, and in 2023, picked a month later than the 2022.

Dark cherry and blue fruits, plenty of spice, black olive and grilled meat. It’s medium-bodied, spicy and perfumed, meaty too, with a surprisingly intense burst of ‘minerally’ acidity through its core. Tannin is all crushed rock and sooty goodness, and the finish is long and savoury and stalky. Very good. (95) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

Beautifully poised, cool expression of shiraz with concentrated but elegant dark cherry fruit and a subtle overlay of spice. A very good follow-up to the excellent 2022, which is drinking beautifully now. MAX ALLEN, The Financial Review

This year, 80% whole bunches were included. In the crucial early days of vinification, Rosalind foot stomps the ferments three times a day to ensure each berry is quickly but gently popped, maximising the juice’s exposure to skins and stalks. Ferments are fast, and the wine is promptly pressed, settled and racked to 5000-litre foudre for maturation. This is such a composed, vivid young Syrah. Expect bright perfume, spice and dark berries woven through delicious earthy, stony elements. It’s slick, expressive and super long; world-class Syrah at an attainable price!

Shiraz from one of Australia’s greatest estates.

You name it, it’s here. This is the antithesis of a simple red. Every time you sip you find something different. It runs with redcurrant but from there come breakouts of meat, violets, black pepper, jellied liquorice, stems and mint. Tannin is grunty, almost grainy, with cloves and peppers studded through. The texture generally is quite silken but the wine as a whole does not go quietly, as indeed it shouldn’t. Beyond a certain price point we want more than mere fruit; the brief is met here. Excellent wine. For the dinner table, we sail. 93+ points. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

A cooler year has produced a pared-back, elegant and finer style that’s as exciting as any vintage. It’s peppery, spicy, a little sappy, laden with cranberries, pomegranate tartness, amaro and rosehips – quite exotic really. Accents on red cherries and red plums with oak spices and woodsy inputs bolstering the flavour profile and structure. It’s medium bodied, with the filagree tannins etched in as the acidity takes the lead to finish long and pure. Lovely now, and in good time, it will blossom further. 96 JANE FAULKNER, wine companion

Fabulous wine. Powerful, complex and long. Pure plum into meaty spice into forest berries into fragrant herbs. You can taste the fruit, the soil and the wood, but it all presents as one. And then there’s the finish. What a finish. Structured, textural, flavoursome and long. This wine is the complete package. (97) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, Wine Companion

Made from 100 per cent de-stemmed Shiraz grapes from the highest block on the vineyard, matured in puncheons, 20 per cent new, bottled after 15 months. Very seductive wine, really deep black fruit aromas, and a beautiful seam of dark spices – Langworthy describes them as “baking spices”; more allspice and clove and star anise than pepper – leading on to a rich but medium-bodied shiraz in the mouth. Very good. MAX ALLEN, AFR

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

If you’re old enough, you’d remember making mix tapes to give to friends or slip into the cassette player in your car, or whatever. My tape of choice, if I was feeling flush was a TDK SA-X (chrome), or even an MA-X (metal setting), and if poor, maybe a TDK AD or a lowly D.  All very nice. But thank heavens for Spotify.

A big juicy dark hit of flavour here, along with raspberry juice, mint, a bit of earthy coal-like stuff, some chewy chalk-like grip, and a warm and generous finish of good length. Doesn’t seem to have much oak influence, just a riot of bouncy earthy Barossa fruit. Good fun. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Shiraz sourced from the Wark Family vineyard, aged in 50/50% seasoned and new French oak and featuring a lovely label featuring 'Big Jim' by local Barossa artist Marnie Wark. Deep crimson and packed with plump, ripe satsuma plum and macerated summer berry fruits. Hints of baking spices, dark chocolate, earth, chocolate bullets, violets, olive tapenade, softly spoken cedar tones and vanilla. Plush and pure with bright acid drive and a fan of spicy dark and black berry fruits on the exit. (95) DAVE BROOKES, Halliday Wine Companion

It’s now packaged in a Burgundy bottle and while the front label is more or less the same, it’s been tweaked. Anyway, you get the gist.

Wow this is impressive. Pure, rich and commanding. Blackberry and sweet plum flavours cruise into malt, cedar, earth and orange rind. Tannin comes in long chains, both majestic and seamlessly well integrated. There’s a deal of oak here but the fruit is mighty and in any case, it’s hand-in-glove. It’s absolutely in the fuller, richer, sweeter style, but it’s also an absolute beauty. (95) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

Incredibly dark and inky in the glass, almost black. Opulent aromas of liqueur chocolate, mulberry, stewed plums, mocha and sweet spice. So much going on here. The palate takes no prisoners, it's decadently rich and mouth-filling with lashings of dark fruit flavours, sweet oak, anise, graphite and pudding spice. There is a decent lick of tannin and acid doing its best to control the slurpy and viscous fruit, and it does a pretty smart job. Power, poise and plushness  (95) AARON BRASHER, The Real Review

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

Inspired by the new wave ‘Vino Joven’ wines of the old world, Young Blood Shiraz is released as a cheeky youngster with just a brief barrel maturation to showcase  structure and varietal character, while retaining freshness and finesse. The fruit is open fermented utilising native yeasts, with 30% whole bunch in the mix. After 7 days maceration post-ferment, the wine is gently basket pressed and racked to stainless vats (50%) and old French oak hogsheads (50%) for 6 months maturation. Young Blood Shiraz is pure, uncomplicated enjoyment.

Deep ruby colour with the vibrant pink rim of a fresh young wine. Spicy bramble and black cherry nose with fresh raspberry top notes. Soft damson plum palate with red berry fruit flavours, bright and juicy on a medium bodied elegant palate. Fine tannins and refreshing balancing acidity finish off this easy drinking wine. TOMFOOLERY

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

A true cool climate shiraz. Herbaceous aromas with a scent of blackberry and blue fruits, a light spray of black pepper and woody spices. The palate has a core of ripe blackberry fruit and concentrated redder berry fruit flavours. The blend of various barrels makes for a complex fruit palate with the pepper noted on the nose adding an attractive feature on the palate with the addition of woody spice and warm oak. The tannins finish with a detailed acid play that is flavourful and interesting to drink.

60% Syrah 25% Cabernet Sauvignon 15% Grenache, They say “perfect with your favourite wood-fired pizza (hold the pineapple)”,  though I like pineapple on pizza. Gino D’Acampo would have conniptions.

Plenty of flavour of red and blue fruits, bay leaf, a dusting of spice. Medium-bodied, quite fleshy, some earthy/sooty tannin sweeps through it, with a soft and supple finish of blue fruits and spice. Length is moderate, but OK. Good wine. Easy to like. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

Demi is such a vital expression of Heathcote shiraz. It’s also an essential expression of value, from a small producer.There’s complexity here. There’s juicy fruit. There’s fistfuls of spice and yet there’s a general we-are-one cohesion. Blue, black and red summer berry flavours, an ironstone element, woodsy spices roasted in an iron pan and modest inputs from florals. It’s a better wine than its asking price would suggest. It’s firm, confident and flavoursome. CAMPBELL MATTINSON, the wine front

Red earth, black cherries and olive tapenade pronounce themselves. There's a charming rustic character to this wine - much like the person behind it. It's got grunt, spice and power however it's a very graceful medium-bodied red. The palate is loaded with complexity  - black and purple fruits sit alongside a graphite minerality and oh-so-soothing tannins. Easily loveable and very much enjoyable! KAYLEEN REYNOLDS

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!