Cirillo Estate, Barossa Valley Marco Cirillo

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  • Cirillo Estate, Barossa Valley

    Cirillo Estate’s core vineyard is a museum piece, home to the world’s oldest productive grenache and semillon vines. Those vines, along with a smattering of shiraz and a few random mataro vines, were planted in 1848, with Vincent and Marco Cirillo – father and sun – the sole custodians for the last 50 years. Today, with sensitive viticulture that excludes synthetic herbicides and pesticides, and a blend of old-school practices and modern knowledge, Marco Cirillo is bent on preserving those vines in the best health possible for generations to come.

  • Bowyer Ridge, Adelaide Hills

    Charles Rosback’s Bowyer Ridge Vineyard is the source of fruit for some of the Adelaide Hills’ most lauded wines – supplying chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot gris to a roster of producers that includes Shaw + Smith, Murdoch Hill, Bird in Hand, Wirra Wirra, S.C. Pannell, Paralian, Lambrook, Bondar Wines and others. Chardonnay takes the lead across the 15-hectare property at 495 metres elevation in the Kenton Valley area of the Adelaide Hills, planted in 2003 and 2007 on deep red loam over fractured mica schist and ironstone. The fruit from Bowyer Ridge contributes to some of the region’s most celebrated chardonnays – among them Murdoch Hill’s ‘Rocket’, Bird in Hand’s ‘Nest Egg’, Shaw + Smith’s ‘M3’ and Wirra Wirra’s ‘The 12th Man’ – as well as providing the fruit behind Shaw + Smith’s iconic sauvignon blanc. In 2025, Rosback released the first wine under his own label: the Bowyer Estate Home Block Chardonnay ‘Bowyer’, Vintage 25.

  • Koonara – Ambriel’s Gift, Coonawarra

    The Reschke family have been based in Coonawarra since 1906, running a cattle property that stretches over 1,200 hectares. In 1988, Trevor Reschke decided to indulge something of a hobby, planting vines on the family land. The wines were initially made just for family and friends, until 1999, when the first commercial release hit the shelves. Today, though they work out of Mount Gambier for pinot noir and sauvignon blanc, Koonara is centred on Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. A block of those original vines is responsible for their marquee cabernet, ‘Ambriel’s Gift’. That site is a 3-hectare block – which also includes five rows each of merlot and cabernet franc – planted by Trevor Reschke, which is now managed, along with the rest of the vineyards, by his son Dru who farms organically (certified by ACO), but with his own unique take that sees the vineyards flushed with flowers.

  • Adelina Vineyard, Clare Valley

    The Adelina vineyard, in the Clare Valley, is an old one. The first shiraz vines were planted in the early 1900s and were supplemented with grenache sometime in the ’40s. When Col McBryde and Jennie Gardner took over the management of the site in 2002, their work was cut out for them. With rampant wild olive trees and weeds aplenty, they set about regenerating the landscape, working with organic methods for many years before finally seeking and achieving certification in 2020. Today, those old vines are in fine health, while further plantings have increased the vineyard size a little to now occupy six hectares.

  • Vinden Wines – Somerset Vineyard, Pokolbin

    The Hunter Valley’s Somerset Vineyard has been responsible for some landmark wines, from back in the days of Maurice O’Shea in the first half of the twentieth century, then later for Lindeman’s at its peak in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, as well as supplying fruit to Len Evans as he reshaped the Australian wine landscape. Today, Angus Vinden tends 22 hectares of vines dedicated to his family’s eponymous label, with the Hunter stalwarts of shiraz and semillon leading the way alongside verdelho, chardonnay, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, fiano and tempranillo. Vinden has given this historic vineyard a new lease of life through a transition to organic and regenerative practices, with organic certification the ongoing goal.

  • Ravensworth Vineyard, Canberra District

    For over 15 years, Bryan Martin was Tim Kirk’s righthand man at the towering icon of the Canberra District that is Clonakilla. That was while establishing his own Ravensworth label, which now twinkles just as brightly in the region’s firmament of stars. Martin now devotes all his time to tending the vines and making wine from his own site, just down the road from the Kirk’s property, as well as from selected vineyards in the Canberra district. That home site has 13 varieties across 3.3 hectares, with the regional leaders – shiraz and riesling – sharing the spotlight with sangiovese, along with a brace of French and Italian whites and newer plantings of gamay and nebbiolo. Martin hasn’t used synthetic chemicals for a decade, farming with an unwavering focus on soil health and microbial life to better express the signature of site.

  • Lake George, Canberra District

    Anthony and Sarah McDougall are the current stewards of Lake George Winery, one of the Canberra Districts first vineyards. Founded by the legendary Dr Edgar Riek, the site was planted with chardonnay, semillon, riesling, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon and merlot, though that composition has been tweaked over the years, with varieties such as tempranillo, viognier and pinot gris joining the roster. Today, the McDougalls have moved away from synthetic herbicides and are busy employing innovative options to reduce their imprint on the environment, as well as ensure long-term economic viability.

  • Smallfry – Vine Vale Vineyard, Barossa Valley

    Suzi Hilder and Wayne Ahrens’ Smallfry Wines is centred around their Barossa vineyard in Vine Vale. With a slew of vines over 100 years old, as well as climate-apt newer plantings, the pair grow grenache, shiraz, semillon, riesling, mataro, tempranillo, trousseau, marsanne, roussanne, cabernet sauvignon, cinsault, pedro ximènez and bonvedro. Their 18 hectares under vine has been certified organic/biodynamic since 2011, and they practice regenerative agriculture, encouraging species diversity of plants, animals and microfauna/flora. As well as making their own natural wines under the Smallfry imprint, the pair sell grapes to some leading makers, including Frederick Stevenson, Les Fruits, Ad Lib, Rasa and Sierra Reid.

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Smallfry – Vine Vale Vineyard, Barossa Valley

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