Finalist Archives - Young Gun of Wine

Upper Tintara Vineyard, McLaren Vale

Few vineyards in Australia have the historical resonance of the Upper Tintara Vineyard. First planted in the 1860s by Australian winemaking pioneer A. C. Kelly, and acquired by the legendary Thomas Hardy in the 1870s, Tintara grew to become a household name in England in the late 1800s, expanding to encompass 283 hectares of vineyard land and housing a workforce of 360 people. While the trials and tribulations of history have contracted that original, ‘upper’ vineyard area – to distinguish it from the later-planted, lower half of the property – to 33 hectares of productive vines, the property has not left the Hardy family’s ownership. Current custodian Andrew Hardy, with the assistance of viticulturist Stuart Miller, now oversees the vineyard, which features shiraz vines planted in 1891, cinsault and cabernet sauvignon from 1947, and later plantings of cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc, shiraz, fiano, and grenache.

Treasury Wine Estates – Woodbury Vineyard, High Eden

First planted in 1969, the Woodbury Vineyard has been forward-thinking since its inception – at the time, it was Australia’s largest contoured vineyard, designed specifically to mitigate soil erosion and moisture loss. That forward-thinking impulse continues to this day, with Woodbury now home to trials for autonomous spraying units, innovative machine-harvesting applications, initiatives to restore connection to country amongst Peramangk people, and a vine retraining system seeking to undo the damage wrought by traditional trellising practices. This seventy-eight hectare vineyard, managed by Angus Davidson, is planted to shiraz, riesling, cabernet sauvignon and gewürztraminer, with fruit from the vineyard forming the basis of key Treasury wines including Penfolds’ ‘Bin 51’ Riesling, Leo Buring’s iconic ‘Leonay’ Riesling, and Pepperjack’s Sparkling Shiraz.

Torch Bearer – ‘Ese Vineyard, Coal River Valley, Tasmania

Planted in 1994 in the Tea Tree Valley of Tasmania’s Coal River Valley and purchased in 2017 by Anh Nguyen – a chemical and environmental engineer turned vigneron – ‘ese Vineyard is a 3-hectare site growing pinot noir, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling on one of the most marginal, frost-prone positions in the region. Abandoned between 2013 and 2017, the vineyard has been rebuilt by Nguyen under a regenerative farming philosophy, combining rotational grazing, self-built AI-driven vineyard management technology, and minimal-intervention winemaking. The Torch Bearer range – pinot noir, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and fumé blanc, priced from $40 to $70 – is made entirely from this one difficult, rewarding place.

Pipan Steel Vineyard, Alpine Valleys

The Pipan Steel Vineyard is the result of a dedicated quest to find the perfect site for nebbiolo in Australia. Paula Pipan and Radley Steel caught the bug for nebbiolo through tasting Barolo and other Piedmontese examples, then searched across the length and breadth of Australia’s winegrowing regions for the perfect site to grow this famously finicky variety. The half-hectare vineyard they now call home, in the Alpine Valleys region of Victoria, is ideally suited for nebbiolo – at 400 meters elevation, bathed in fog throughout winter, and with high diurnal temperature range, its climate frequently mirrors that of Barolo. As you might expect, nebbiolo is the only variety grown here, in the form of three separate clones – each chosen for their contrasting qualities.

Sawyer Wines – Peacock Vineyard, Adelaide Hills

Peacock Vineyard is a 10-acre (approximately 4 hectare) property at Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills, growing chardonnay, pinot meunier, sauvignon blanc and nebbiolo on clay soils over rock. Managed by Michael Sawyer – a winemaker with more than 20 years of experience across the Rhône Valley, the Willamette Valley, McLaren Vale and the Riverland – and his partner Zoe, the vineyard has been progressively transitioned toward regenerative farming principles since the couple founded Sawyer Wine Co. in 2018. The fruit feeds their own small-batch label – Sawyer Chardonnay, Sawyer Pinot Meunier, Sawyer Rosé and Sawyer Fumé Blanc – as well as a growing number of respected local producers who seek it out for its quality and, particularly, for its pinot meunier: one of the few vineyards in Australia where approximately half the meunier crop is picked specifically to make a still red wine.

Rohrlach Vineyard, Barossa Valley

Since taking over the reins at his family’s vineyard in 2023, Paul Rohrlach has been on a voyage of discovery, continually seeking more environmentally friendly viticultural management methods, new varieties that might anticipate changes in consumer demand, and the best possible expression of the terroir of Barossa Valley’s Vine Vale subregion. Plantings across this thirty-two hectare block include the region’s stalwarts of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and grenache – but are filled out with an exciting roster of alternative varieties, including montepulciano, grenache blanc and gris, clairette, graciano, touriga nacional, malbec, aglianico, saperavi, counoise, cinsault, carignan, fiano, and antão vaz. Thanks to its forward-thinking approach to viticulture and variety, this vineyard’s fruit goes into wines from producers looking for alternative expressions of the Barossa, including Vanguardist, Yelland & Papps, Tim Smith Wines, and Gibson’s ‘Discovery Road’ range.

Mount Towrong Vineyard, Macedon Ranges

Mount Towrong’s estate vineyard, perched at 600 meters amongst the foothills of Mount Macedon, offers a rare sight in Australian viticulture – terraces cut into the side of the slope. Founded in 1996 by George and Deirdre Cremasco, those terraces were originally intended as a nod to George’s Venetian heritage – specifically the rolling hillside vineyards of Soave, Valpolicella, and Conegliano–Valdobbiadene. But as Mount Towrong’s current viticulturist Adam Paleg can attest, the benefits of this intervention into the landscape go far beyond its cultural resonances: the vineyard’s two and a half–hectare patchwork of chardonnay, pinot noir, prosecco, nebbiolo, and pinot bianco offers a model for sustainable water use in a warming and drying climate.

Lirica – Hutton Vineyard, Margaret River

At just 0.85 hectares, Lirica – Hutton Vineyard is one of the smallest vineyards in this country to produce its own wine. Planted in 1976 in the Wilyabrup subregion of Margaret River – the heartland of Australian cabernet sauvignon – it carries 49-year-old vines on their own roots, dry-farmed, in gravel loam over clay, on a mid-slope east-facing site that captures morning light and sidesteps the heat of the afternoon. Since 2017, the vineyard has been leased and managed by Lee Haselgrove, one of Australia’s most respected viticulturists, who helped Swinney Vineyards claim the inaugural YGOW Vineyard of the Year in 2020. Here, working on a scale where every vine is a decision, Haselgrove is building toward a single wine – Lirica – that he believes can make a meaningful contribution to the conversation around fine cabernet sauvignon.

Upper Tintara Vineyard, McLaren Vale Andrew Hardy and Stuart Miller