95 Points - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit. Hailing from the exceptional 2019 Barossa Valley vintage, the Lou Miranda Estate Fierce III Shiraz is an outstanding example of super-premium Australian Shiraz. Grown on the family’s vineyards at Rowland Flat and Lyndoch in the southern Barossa Valley on single wire trellises, the grapes ripened to perfection, harmoniously balancing fruit, tannin, and acidity. Following a careful fermentation with regular pumping over to maximise extraction, it was matured in Ame

The Barossa’s tiny 2020 vintage – yields were 50% lower than the ten-year average – tested the winemaking mettle of all producers. The Lou Miranda team routinely take a fanatical approach to vineyard care, but in 2020 daily assessments were undertaken to ensure grapes were picked at the optimum moment. This turned out to be up to three weeks earlier than usual. The rarely seen Sagrantino grapes loved the hot, dry conditions and performed spectacularly well. The tiny harvest was sorted, pressed a

95 Points - Sam Kim, Wine Orbit. Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro (SGM) is an Australian wine classic, and the Lou Miranda Estate Fierce III SGM is one of the very best. 2019 was an outstanding year for the Barossa Valley and the family made the most of the conditions to produce a truly beautiful Australian red wine. The Shiraz gives it its wonderfully deep colour and black berry fruit, the Grenache adds plump, overripe cherries and the Mataro provides the backbone. It was aged for 15 months in seasoned

97 Points - Sam King, Wine Orbit. The Lou Miranda Estate in the southern Barossa Valley is blessed with a small block of Mataro (France’s Mourvèdre) that was planted in 1898. These ancient, exceptionally low-yielding vines produce a tiny amount of wine – a yield that was reduced even further in the heat of the brilliant 2018 vintage. The little that was made was blended with Shiraz to create one of the best premium Australian red wines. Post-fermentation it was given three years ageing in season

92 Points - The Wine Front / Halliday 5 Red Star Winery. A limited release Fiano from Briar Ridge winery, this wine is made in the traditional style displaying aromatic notes of honeysuckle and orange blossom. The intensely flavoured palate shows ginger spice, Nashi pear and subtle nutty characters combined with a rich and textured mid palate. The traditional style adding the acid line providing length and a crisp, persistent finish. Wine Press Ratings / Awards Halliday 5 Red Star Winery "Outsta

On the doorstep of the National Capital, the Canberra District is situated between the Southern Tablelands of Murrumbateman and the shores of Lake George. Set within a tranquil rural countryside, the area is one of the most promising emerging wine regions of NSW, producing world class Shiraz and Chardonnay. Bright and direct with crunchy fruit flavours of ripe cranberry, red cherry and white pepper, with a seamless silken finish of slatey tannins bringing great length, this is a wonderful cool c

96 points - Ned Goodwin. The Definitus is a special bottling from The Foggy Hill Vineyard. Foggy Hill is typical of the spectacular, steep, cool climate sites that have helped revolutionise Australian fine wine in recent years. Laying at 350m above sea level on the ancient soils of the Fleurieu Peninsula and cooled by the waters of Victor Harbor and Cape Jervis, it is the perfect spot for producing world-class Pinot Noir. Grapes are hand-harvested with each clone being brought in separately. Chi

94 Points - The Wine Journal. The Lou Miranda Estate Heritage Series 1907 Old Vine Shiraz is a piece of Australian wine history. It is produced in minuscule quantities from fruit from their Church block which was established in 1907. These precious old vines are planted on their original rootstocks, not grafted onto American ones as is the norm today, and are afforded royal treatment. Dry grown rather than irrigated, and hand-tended at every stage of their development to ensure each vintage meet

The Barossa’s tiny 2020 vintage – yields were 50% lower than the ten-year average – tested the winemaking mettle of all producers. The Lou Miranda team routinely take a fanatical approach to vineyard care, but in 2020 daily assessments were undertaken to ensure grapes were picked at the optimum moment. This turned out to be up to three weeks earlier than usual. The tiny harvest was sorted, pressed and fermented in stainless steel for nine days. The team watched fermentation like Goshawks to ensu

A medium bodied Chardonnay (with a dash of Sauvignon Blanc) with flavours of fresh nectarine, grapefruit and pear, with a soft, creamy palate complimented by textural oak. Fowles Wine vineyards are situated on a similar latitude to renowned wine regions like Gisborne in New Zealand, Sonoma and Napa Valleys in the USA, Mendoza in Argentina, Sicily in Italy, and Jerez in Spain and as the southernmost and coolest state on mainland Australia and has gained fame for its diverse wine regions and refre

95 Points - James Halliday / Halliday 5 Red Star Winery. When the godfather of Australian wine awards a producer a 5 Red Star Winery and 95 points, you know it’s something special. Briar Ridge’ Briar Hill Chardonnay 2021 is just such a wine. This mighty Hunter Valley wine pulls off that seemingly impossible trick of being powerful, yet elegant, fruitful yet reserved. Wonderfully pure fruit – apples, melon, peaches, pears – are perfectly aligned with the generous, but well-integrated, new French

93 points / Silver Medal - Decanter World Wine Awards. If you like your Australian red wine to combine power with finesse, then the Tapanappa Whalebone Vineyard Cabernet Shiraz 2017 is the perfect wine for you. Produced on the famed terra rossa soils, arguably Australia’s greatest, in the warm Wrattonbully region, it gets its name from the remains of a 37-million-year-old whale that were found here. Made from old, low-yielding vines, the quantity of fruit produced here is tiny, but the quality i

Halliday 5 Red Star Winery. The Squire Vineyard was the original name of Briar Ridge's estate in Mount View, Hunter Valley. Chardonnay was the first planted white variety on the grounds, and this wine pays homage to the crucial role that this grape has in Briar Ridge's history, as well as the history of the region.A traditional style Chardonnay, rich & opulent packed with notes of peach & melon. Subtle influence of oak provides structure & spice notes, with a natural nectarine like a

92 points - Falstaff. The Tapanappa Piccadilly Valley 2020 Chardonnay is a wonderful example of the new wave of cool-climate Australian wines. Produced in the Piccadilly Valley, a sub-region of Adelaide Hills, it’s made from thirty-year-old vines that enjoy a long, slow ripening period on poor, rain-leached sandy loam soils. Once ripe the grapes were harvested by hand and chilled to 2oC before pressing to preserve the aromas and freshness. Using innovative air-bag presses, the juice was fermente

A blend of 85% Yarra Valley Pinot Noir from the silt loam soils of Nenagh Park and 15% Syrah grown on the gravel loams of the nearby Highbow Hill. The development of power and richness with great restraint results from the vast easterly aspects of these two sites and their protection from the north and west. Wines from these spectacular vineyards are flavoursome and poised. Tasting Notes An eye-catching wine, glittering deep pink with purple edges. A generous bouquet of fleshy red fruits, cherri

93 Points - The Wine Front.  Sally and Tom Belford are pioneers in the natural wine movement and their third release of Bobar Cabaret, is 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from their Nenagh Park vineyard. Undergoing carbonic maceration (the same process used in Beaujolais) this is a fresh, complex and delicate Cabernet Sauvignon, nothing like you may have tasted before. Medium pink and impossibly pale with a sweet smelling nose of crystalline purity. Red currants, barely ripe satsuma plums, berry leaves,

95 points - Decanter World Wine Awards. The Tapanappa Tiers 2018 Chardonnay is a wonderful example of the new wave of cool-climate Australian wines. Produced in the Tiers vineyard in the south of the Piccadilly Valley, a sub-region of Adelaide Hills, it’s made from old vines that enjoy a long, slow ripening period on poor, rain-leached sandy loam soils. Once ripe the grapes were harvested by hand and chilled to 2oC before pressing to preserve the aromas and freshness. Using innovative air-bag pr

91 Points - The Wine Front. Grown at the base of the Christmas Hills on the western of Yarra Glen, the Homestead vineyard has an expansive easterly exposure with a degree of protection from the westerly heat and hot northerly winds. This little subregion grows wine with the full and rich expression of the Yarra Valley floor with a restraint that the more exposed hillsides don’t afford. Pale straw yellow with a restrained youthful nose, quietly complex. Poached pear, freshly cut quince, jasmine b