Remember those Raspberry Twisters you used to get from the corner store as a kid?

I’m instantly transported back in time. A textured raspberry flavoured wine that develops into forest fruits. Unfiltered red blend of Carignan, Syrah, Malbec and Grenache coats the mouth and provides a hit to the middle of the tongue. Young and fresh. I really like this and will be buying more…simple…

 Sigurd Wines 2019 Red Blend Rating: B+ Price: $30

 Tough decisions @ochotabarrels Which one🤔 Have you got a

Pinot Blanc, not all that common but could be a new ‘go to’ white variety. Described by

 as “the white cousin of Pinot Noir”, it is a creamy lemon, citrus delight with a texture that provides instant happiness. A crisp finish that makes you demand more…simple…

 Colours of the South by Purple Hands Wines 2020 Barossa

What wine do I pick prior to fasting for a colonoscopy? Well I want something that is;

This one ticks, ticks and ticks all of those wants.

Grown in the Angaston foothills of the Barossa Valley,

 has made a beautiful sexy wine that is truely an expression of how these grapes are given the upmost respect.

 JC’s Own Angaston Foothills Grenache Rating: B+ Price: $50

 A bit of cleaning; Decanter style…simple… #decanter

Completely opposite to this photo, this is a light, plump and juicy Grenache that is utterly delicious to drink…simple…

 Geyer Wine Co 2020 Sands Grenache Rating: B Price: $33

. Sunday arvos don’t get much better than this! Not one, but two stunning Standish Wine Co wines from 2016. The Standish and Relic are mind-blowingly good… maybe the best Shiraz I’ve had this year. Is there a better producer of Shiraz? If so, please let me know!

 Oops… #thishappened . Sunday arvos don’t get much better

This International Grenache Day is looking awesome! 🙌

 Produce some of my favourite Grenache out there from some of the oldest vines in the Barossa. The Tri-Centenary vines are a mind blowing 130 years old! Epic. Now, where do I start!! -

 This International Grenache Day is looking awesome! 🙌

. Classic Barossa, intense colour, full bodied and fruit forward. Less oak than I was expecting, but the power and concentration more than suffice. Blackberry, spices, chard meats and a feint fennel edge, balanced brilliantly with crisp acidity and grainy tannin. Quality find! If you see it grab a couple, it’s bloody good 🍷🙌

 Magical Moppa Hill by @laughingjackwines . Classic Barossa

They don’t come more mysterious, cult-like, and iconic than this Wendouree Shiraz, 2012. Ancient vines planted by A.P. Birks in 1893 produce low yields and coupled with a more hands off approach to winemaking the results⁣

are mesmerising. These wines will go the distance but it’s always worth having a little look sooner rather than later! The 2012 is a beaut, fantastic concentration, dense deep fruit flavours, and awesome tannin and all signs that this will sing decades from now! Good job I have a few more tucked away!!⁣

 They don’t come more mysterious, cult-like, and iconic than

*MAGNUM ALERT* Rockford Basket Press 2012. 1.5Ls of iconic, truly Barossan goodness. Now... there are a lot of producers in the Barossa making stunner Syrah style wines which I love, LOVE, but there's always a place in my heart for a traditional blockbuster Barossa Shiraz. ⁠

The Rockford wineworks and apparatus on Krondorf Road at Tanunda date back to the 1850s. Parcels of the best dry grown old vine Shiraz, some of which were planted in the nineteenth century, from a select cabal of growers, operating vineyards in the Barossa, Kalimna and Ebenezer, Moppa Springs and the Eden Valley, are treated to an ancient basket press followed by vinfication in old fashioned open fermentation vessels.⁠

The batches are matured in a selection of mostly well-seasoned French and American oak barrels, before a rigorous selection to determine the final assemblage. Deeply coloured wine. A dense bouquet of aromatic dark fruits and berries with a twist of spice efore the most engaging palate of reductions, power and richness over⁠

 *MAGNUM ALERT* Rockford Basket Press 2012. 1.5Ls of iconic

Golden Autumn day complimented with the magical inky Spinifex Syrah 2018. Second bottle in week and this is rapidly becoming a firm favourite! Wouldn't mind laying a few down to see how they evolve but I think the temptation would get the better of me! ⁣

 Golden Autumn day complimented with the magical inky

It’s hard to imagine that this wine is produced from 167 year old vines... planted in 1843. Putting it in perspective, in 1843 Charles Dickens published “A Christmas Carol”, Hong Kong was pronounced a British colony, and the typewriter was patented...

 Staggering to think that these very vines were planted that same year. Simply put, an Aussie icon and a total pleasure. It’s a must try 🙌🍷🔥 🍷

 It’s hard to imagine that this wine is produced from 167

I’ve now found the second hardest label to photograph after Giaconda, Jack West’s Western Barossa Shiraz. The 2017 is a quintessential Barossa Shiraz and all the better for it. Dark fruits and dried herbs on the nose. Medium to full bodied Shiraz character on the palate with plenty of plum, blackberry, spicy and slightly peppery notes going on. It’s a smart drop for the $$$, we’ll worth checking out 🙏👍🏽🍷

 I’ve now found the second hardest label to photograph after

Found a great producer this year? I’d love to know who! -

These are two of my favourite producer finds from the last 6 months, Quin wines and Saint Petri (Calabria Family Wines), from the

. Both are producing serious quality and classy wines that I can’t recommend highly enough! If you see them they’re well worth trying!

 Found a great producer this year? I’d love to know who! -

. The Vice is Rollick’s cracking Eden Valley Shiraz. First up, the colour is awesome; crimson, magenta, violet. Youthful intensity on the nose, dark cherries smashed with blueberries and hints of baking spices. A fresh, youthful, exciting palate of blackberries, blueberries, dark cherry and violets, with herbal touches and soft velvety tannins. It’s smile inducing and that, for me, is the sign of a quality wine. Well played Rollick! -

 Rocking a Rollick for a Sunday #sundowner . The Vice is

Penfolds Grange is arguably Australia’s most famous wine and the 2010 is considered to be the 21st centuries reference Grange, the one that all others are measured against. -

It’s describes as being deep crimson and having intense liquorice, dark plum, blackberry, praline aromas with beautifully balanced malty, mocha, spicy oak notes. The palate is richly textured, dense and powerful with generous deep-set sweet blackberry, dark plum, mulberry, inky, dark chocolate flavours, rich mocha espresso notes, fine dense graphite textures, superb mid-palate richness and underlying roasted chestnut notes.

This is one for the ages and it’ll be left, undisturbed, for another 15 years before I even consider a look! -

 Penfolds Grange is arguably Australia’s most famous wine

When wines like Grange, Hill of Grace, Runrig and the like costing anywhere from 3 to 8 times the price of the Standish Wines you really have to ask yourself the question.... which would you rather have, 1 Grange or 6 Standish? I’m in the Standish camp, cost/quality ratio is insane. This, 'The Standish' Shiraz 2016 is stunning, in every sense a beautiful wine. Long live the king! 🍷🙌 -

The wine itself, the 'The Standish' Shiraz, is made from fruit farmed by the the Laycock family in the Greenock sub-region of the Barossa Valley. Dan has worked closely with this great vineyard since 2005, with previous releases of  Standish 'Andelmonde’ and ‘Borne Bollene’ coming from this site. I’ve tasted wines from different producer who produce using the same grapes. How he’s able to surpass those other wines is insane. Pure genius! -

 When wines like Grange, Hill of Grace, Runrig and the like

Everything about my recently delivery of Quin wines has impressed me. From the packaging and tasting notes, right through to the bottles and labels. If this tastes half as good as it looks it’s going to be awesome!

The wine… Single Vineyard Eden Valley Shiraz. Latitude: 34⁰32’06”S  Longitude: 139⁰02’46”E. 450m above sea-level and planted in 1982. The fruit is traditionally handed and sees 10 months of French oak.

 Everything about my recently delivery of Quin wines has

 wine? Personally it’s the Lamella for me, but this 2016 Relic is something special! I’m interested to see what you all pick! -

 Have you got a favorite @standishwineco  wine? Personally

BBQ bound and I’m taking this Pirathon Silver with me. I’ve reviewed it before and it’s one of those brilliant wines that manages to skew the cost / quality ratio massively in its favour. It’s total bargain by anyone’s standard! Also, unrelated....that tree! What a stunner! Sydney in November, you just can’t beat it. All in all, a bloody great combination!

 BBQ bound and I’m taking this Pirathon Silver with me. I’ve

I’m definitely getting my fill of Riesling this summer and that’s no bad thing. Poonawatta’ “The Eden” single vineyard Riesling light straw in colour with a subtle clean nose of mild citrus and minerals. Floral, highly mineral and bone dry on the palate with green apples and crisp refreshing acidity wrapping it up. Great length and a sense of purity coming through. Great drop!

 I’m definitely getting my fill of Riesling this summer and

Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon, if this isn’t the quintessential Aussie blend then I don’t know what is. It’s up there with the Bunnings Sausage Sizzle (better quality I might add), and yeah nah. This interpretation is Trent Burge’s Double Trouble, a blend of Barossa Shiraz form the valley floor and Eden Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and it’s a ripper.

Elegant, rich, full of ripe fruit, plenty of power on the nose, concentrated dark fruits, trademark Shiraz Cab. Expansive on the palate. Oodles of dark fruit, cassis and blackberry with firm-ish tannins all lending to the full body and providing great texture. All feels very balanced, elegant, and actually quite fresh. No doubt this would reward some cellar time, but it’s also bloody good now!

 Shiraz / Cabernet Sauvignon, if this isn’t the

Rollick’s Eden Valley Riesling is doing the business tonight. Zesty, crisp, and floral on the nose. Clean, steely, and crisp on the palate and packed with lemons, crisp green apples, fresh acidity and slight mineral notes. B E A U T iful! -

 Rollick’s Eden Valley Riesling is doing the business

After ten years as Chief Winemaker at Hentley Farm Andrew Quin, and wife Skye, have launched their own label... Quin Wines. Being a big Hentley Farm fan I’m pretty excited to try these! Is there a Beauty and a Beast in this line up?! If you’ve tried them let me know 🙌🍷

 After ten years as Chief Winemaker at Hentley Farm Andrew

Barossa Boy Wines, Trent Burge’s project label, turned up today and I have to say these are right up my street. A combination of a sixth generation Barossa winemaker’s know-how and legendary vines means one thing... Awesomeness in a bottle! Can’t wait to open these!!

 Barossa Boy Wines, Trent Burge’s project label, turned up

This. Is. Epic. Inky, glass staining, depth. Full bodied and rounded, thick and rich. This is a complex wine. Seriously intense fruit. Herbal, earthy, smokiness going on. I actually can’t fault this wine, it’s perfect. Standish Wine Co, I’m hooked! ⠀

 This. Is. Epic. Inky, glass staining, depth. Full bodied

Kicking off Saturday eve with this cheeky little Ebenezer

. The nose is packed with sweet strawberries, raspberry liquorice, a raft of red frogs and Turkish delight. Light bodied, sweet red fruits, and  pomegranate across the palate. Very easy to drink, too easy perhaps! -

 Kicking off Saturday eve with this cheeky little Ebenezer

The secret revealed... The Perfect Swirl! 🤗

Head over to my reel to see in full detail. Thanks to IGs lovely formatting you can’t see all the steps but here they are;

Step 1 – Make sure you have “Live” photo turned on. Steps are for iPhone. Sorry androids.

Step 2 – Swirl as hard as your heart desires

Step 5 – Select the rings to the left of the edit settings

Step 6 – Drag the frame to choose the best swirl

Couldn’t be easier to get that perfect shot. Happy swirling people!

 The secret revealed... The Perfect Swirl! 🤗 Head over to my

Torbreck “The Pict ” Mataro, probably OTT for a harbour side picnic for the boat race but nonetheless I’ve a soft spot for Torbreck so it got the nod. Initial impressions, it’s big and robust yet lush with a fruitiness I don’t usually get with Mataro. Rich dark fruits, dried plums, and dried herbs on the palate, long finish. It’s a very smart wine, too smart for a picnic perhaps!

 Torbreck “The Pict ” Mataro, probably OTT for a harbour

If there’s such thing as a “value” wine in the $50+ bracket then this surely has to be a contender. My view on the wines from

 are that they punch well above their price tag throughout the range. The Orphan Bank is 87% Barossa Valley, 13% Eden Valley, made from 70+ year old vines and has all the hallmarks of a classically styled Barossa Shiraz, yet it’s elegant and poised. Everything you’d expect, and a little bit more. Great balance, great length.

Interestingly ten rows of Shiraz planted pre-1860 were saved from the developer’s bulldozer and replanted alongside the original Langmeil vineyard on the banks of the North Para River. These ten rows are called the “Orphans”.

 If there’s such thing as a “value” wine in the $50+ bracket

​Sami-Odi Hoffmann Dallwitz 17 ticks every box and tastes even better on a Friday. ​This small batch Syrah project focuses around the Hoffmann’s ‘Dallwitz’ vineyard (below) in the Barossa Valley. The result? A powerful, brooding Syrah, and a bloody big smile! Glad I've got a few of these tucked away!⁠

​The wine is a compilation of the finest and most regal casks procured from the Hoffmann families two oldest plantings; DW-OLD & ER-27. The gnarled thicket of DW-OLD was sown between 1888 & 1912 with the adjacent ER-27 planted in 1927. ⁠

Label: Hostel details on ‘ODI’ paper; drawn Chiavari, 2001. Rear – Andy’s Pear, printed 2017.⁠