Wineries

Here are Australia's best kept secret wineries that the big retailers don't want you to know about. Every single wine listed here is something special, made with love and attention to detail and offers so much value it'll make you think twice about buying from anywhere else again. Explore our own independent wineries who are quietly making the greatest wines our country has to offer.

Australia

Cannibal Creek

Gippsland, Australia

Australia

Wilimee

Wilimee is a small family-run vineyard in the Macedon Ranges.Our philosophy is simple: we make great wine.At an altitude of 600m, the cool climate is perfect for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.We hand pick the grapes that we grow on rare Cambrian soil, some of the oldest in Australia. The vineyard is next to a sacred quarry, once mined for its greenstone, which was used to make stone axes by the Wurundjeri people. Wilimee Mooring means 'Place of Stone Axe'.Our vines were planted in 1982, making them some of the oldest in the Macedon Ranges

Macedon Ranges, Australia

Australia

Traviarti

At around 600m altitude on red decomposed shale and mudstone soils just above the Beechworth township our Red Hill vineyard is 100% Nebbiolo, planted to multiple clones on a combination of different rootstocks and own root material.With just over 1,000 vines our vineyard is considered tiny although if you multiply 1,000 by every time you stop to look, prune or tend it quickly begins to appear quite large! Red Hill rises to the east behind Beechworth coincidentally also home to another Nebbiolo vineyard planted just weeks after ours. Two people thinking this is the spot for Nebbiolo feels like a good omen to us. We are aiming to create a vineyard intrinsically in balance ie the goldilocks vineyard with just the right amount of fruit to just the right amount of leaves and just the right amount of root system. So far so good. The fruit has shown intensity with a combination of good colour and acidity.In 2018 we planted a new vineyard on the Beechworth Wangaratta Rd, a venture with a friend which will become our Rosso block of 80% Nebbiolo and 20% Barbera. This will also be our ongoing source of Chardonnay and the potential of this site is very exciting.

Beechworth, Australia

Australia

South Australian Treasures

South Australia is the home to some of the most famous wine regions, best-known wineries and oldest vines in Australia. It’s also the birth place to the iconic big and juicy reds that have put this region on the radar for wine lovers across the globe. There are 18 wine regions in SA and the wines are best described as fruit forward, juicy, bold and generous with ripeness, decadence and richness. Common varieties you will find in SA include Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Shiraz, Grenache, Mataro, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.

Multiregional South Australia, Australia

Australia

Wendouree Wines (AP Birks)

Wendouree vineyards date back to 1893 and its limited production, high quality, unique wines have a reputation for lasting indefinitely. They have achieved a kind of local (Australian) cult status amongst wine drinkers in the know. They are not available retail, the mailing list is the only way to buy them on release and the mailing list remains one of the hardest to get on in Australia.For many lovers of big Australian red wines the discussion begins and ends with Wendouree. Truly exceptionally cellar-worthy, these full bodied and gripping red wines are the result of extremely low yields from the very old, unirrigated vines of Shiraz, Malbec, Mataro (Mourvèdre), and Cabernet Sauvignon, many of them growing on untrellised bush-vines... (Wendouree is) a place of honest, old fashioned, careful and artisan wine making where no short cuts are taken, ever.

Clare Valley, Australia

Australia

Hobbs of Barossa Ranges

Description Coming Soon

Eden Valley, Australia

France

Loire Valley

Loire Valley, France

Italy

Barolo & Barbaresco

Sommeliers love to describe Barolo with two words: “roses” and “tar.” Of course, Barolo is actually the fruitiest and most full-bodied of all the Nebbiolo regions in Northern Italy. Expect flavors of raspberry, red cherry, roses, potpourri, cocoa, anise, licorice, allspice, truffles, and a clay lick.Barolo wines age at least 18 months in the barrel, with a total of three years aging before release. Even though that sounds like a lot, this wine is really meant to age. Most traditionally-made examples only start to come around at 10+ years (when all the tannins chill out).Riserva Wines labeled Barolo “Riserva” are aged for a minimum of five years.Vigna on a label indicates a single vineyard wine.There are eleven different communes of Barolo, with two different main taste styles (based on the soil type: limestone vs. sandstone). (Of course, winemaker influence matters too, but that’s a story for another time.)The lighter-tasting wine communes include La Morra and Barolo, with limestone-based soils. The bolder-tasting wine communes include Serralunga d’Alba, Monforte d’Alba, and Castiglione Falletto, with more weathered sandstone-clay soils.

Piedmont, Italy

France

Alsace

Alsace, France

Spain

Best of Spain

Spain has seen a rebirth of its vineyards in recent decades and has chosen to revitalise its wine culture with a push towards a more “international” style of wine. Think New World bold, ripe and juicy fruit with dusty old world minerality and tannins. There are 69 wine regions in Spain, but most regions fall within 7 areas of climate. The most popular wines of Spain are made from Albariño, Tempranillo, Grenache, Monastrelle (Mataro), Carignan, Mencia or Bobal. Spain also makes some of the best Sherry and unique fortified wines in the world.

Spain, Spain

Australia

Coulter Wines

Coulter Wines are minimal intervention, small batch wines that focus on cleanliness and purity.Working as a winemaker for a large company for a number of years I always had a nagging desire to produce my own wine. After a chance meeting with a mate, who despite having limited access to resources was punching out fantastic small batch vino. This was the inspiration for Coulter Wines. Coulter Wines are wines made in a minimalist intervention/under processed while focusing on cleanliness and purity in the wines. I take it extremely seriously, while at the same time, really enjoying the journey and proud of the wines thus far. I source fruit from premium growers in the Adelaide Hills, Barossa Valley and Riverland. Fruit is handpicked and crushed same day. The Chardonnay is produced in the classic style. With the reds I maintain emphasis on whole bunch were suitable to add interest. All the reds are basket pressed post ferment and all wines are gravity fed. Limited time in barrel allows all the wines to retain their bright and vibrant fruitfulness. Wines are released within 6 months of production.C4 is an experimental label that will allow a change in variety & region, vintage to vintage and I'm excited about the external interest and personal freedom this label will create.I currently live in the Barossa Valley with my wife and 2 children and consider myself very lucky to be able to combine my career and passion in winemaking. I love everything about wine, making it, sharing it and especially the raw passion it evokes.The best is yet to come.Chris

Adelaide Hills, Australia

Australia

Tyrrell's

Tyrrell’s is as much a part of the fabric of the Hunter Valley as the Semillon and Shiraz vines they’ve been nurturing since their founder, English-immigrant Edward Tyrrell, first planted them during the mid-19th century.Having lived and breathed wine growing and winemaking in the Hunter Valley for more than 160 years, they've amassed an unrivalled knowledge of what makes the Hunter one of Australia’s, and indeed the world’s, greatest wine growing regions.

Hunter Valley, Australia