Description
- 2025 Swinging Bridge M.A.W. Pinot Noir
- 2024 Fattoria di Petrognano Florentia Toscana Rosso IGT
- 2025 Protero Dolcetto
- 2023 Varney Wines Mencia
- 2024 Dune The Empty Quarter GSM
- 2025 Head Old Vine Shiraz
2025 Swinging Bridge M.A.W. Pinot Noir
Excluding his terrible banter, Pinot Noir might just be Tom Ward’s great passion. The M.A.W. - named for his father, Mark Andrew Ward - is where he introduces drinkers to his vision for Orange Pinot. It’s not about grand gestures or cellar swagger, but rather about charm, clarity and drinkability.
The 2025 vintage gives exactly that. It's fully destemmed and fermented as whole berries and sees mostly older oak - all designed to capture the energy and vibrancy of the vintage. Bright red cherries, raspberries and a flicker of spice leap from the glass, the palate supple and juicy with just enough savoury grip to keep things interesting. It’s light on its feet, and certainly shaped for early enjoyment.
Think of M.A.W. as your entry point: a window into the style and potential of Orange Pinot, without the wait or the price tag of Tom’s single-vineyard bottlings. A youthful expression that's ready to rip, and it's absolutely delicious.
Read More2024 Fattoria di Petrognano Florentia Toscana Rosso IGT
Emanuele Pellegrini and Monica Rossetti are actively overhauling Fattoria di Petrognano, shifting toward organics and stripping back the winemaking to let their Tuscan vineyards speak for themselves.
Florentia is their everyday tribute to nearby Florence. The grapes are pulled from younger, organically farmed vines rooted in the clay soils of Montelupo Fiorentino, leaning into freshness rather than heavy extraction.
It's a modern blend of 75% Sangiovese backed by Merlot and a splash of Syrah, resting in steel and concrete for six months with zero oak in sight. The result is pure, uncomplicated drinking. Expect classic tart crushed cherry, a grind of black pepper, and a snappy, dry finish. It is exactly the kind of energetic Italian red you want on hand for a Tuesday night pizza, offering serious bang for buck.
Read More2025 Protero Dolcetto
Stephen Pannell’s Protero label has always been about translating the grapes of Northern Italy through the lens of the Adelaide Hills. For Pannell, Dolcetto isn't a lesser cousin to Nebbiolo - it's a daily staple, a style he openly admits to drinking at home more often than almost anything else.
The fruit comes from a tiny, 0.7-hectare west-facing parcel known as Block 9 in the Kenton Valley, bordered by a chestnut grove. A dry spring and warm summer in 2025 pushed the harvest a few weeks early, creating a flawless, disease-free window for late-ripening varieties before the fruit was hand-picked in mid-March.
The goal is purely about capturing that pristine fruit energy. The grapes spent fourteen days on skins in stainless steel with daily pump-overs, then were gently pressed off to extra-large French oak puncheons. It rested there for just three months before bottling in early 2026.
The style here is wonderfully fleshy and exuberant, leaning away from heavy extraction and toward bright, immediate joy. Think crushed dark berries, tart bramble, and a dusting of baking spice, all wrapped up in shifting, chalky tannins that grip and then melt away. You could overthink it, but the best move is to follow Langhe tradition: crack it young, pour it generously, and park it next to a plate of braised beef cheeks.
Read More2023 Varney Wines Mencia
95 points & Top 100 Wines of 2023
"Bright colour; a haunting herbal/dark cupboard bouquet... and that Varney touch of freshness on the finish."
- James Halliday (The Weekend Australian)
Not as much Mencia among the vineyards of McLaren Vale, as, say Touriga - that seems to the grape 'de jour'. But more wines like this elegant, lacy beauty from Alan Varney and lots of this native Spanish grape might find its way in to the ground.
From a small plot in Seaview, this is a bright, lifted, medium-bodied red with some exotic spice and game meat aromatics.
Nine days on skins, short time in Burgundy barrels then bottled. Just 88 dozen bottles made. Not sure how much drinking that works out to per day...
Read More2024 Dune The Empty Quarter GSM
Blewitt Springs has this incredible ability to turn out reds that are intensely savoury rather than just massive fruit bombs, and the Lloyd brothers at Dune have nailed that brief here. This isn't your standard, jammy McLaren Vale GSM blend. They’ve gone for a mix of mostly grenache and shiraz, backed up by a splash of mataro, focusing heavily on the sandier soils of their block to keep the whole thing bright.
It is a medium-bodied red that gives you plenty of substance without any cloying sweetness. You get a massive hit of dark forest berries, juniper, and a really cool, cured meat character that keeps it firmly in savoury territory. There is a wild, peppery edge that runs straight through it.
The texture is what makes it so good. It starts out incredibly juicy but quickly tightens up, driven by fine, gritty tannins and a hint of dark cocoa bitterness on the back end. It is just exceptionally smart, unforced winemaking that delivers a stack of character for the price.
Read More2025 Head Old Vine Shiraz
Alex Head’s 'Old Vine' label is a tribute to the Barossa’s greatest resource: its historic vineyards. While his Single Site releases zoom in on specific blocks, this wine zooms out to capture a broader regional picture, blending fruit from some incredible sites across both the Barossa and Eden Valleys.
For the 2025 vintage, the base is the Riebke Schrapel block in Ebenezer (planted in the 1950s), supported by 1960s plantings on Mengler’s Hill and the high-altitude Mattschoss Trial Hill site (planted in the 1940s). Interestingly, Alex has also included a splash of Cabernet Sauvignon from Moculta and Ebenezer to add a little structural spine to the blend.
The winemaking is all about restraint rather than extraction. Alex uses gentle techniques to ensure the wine retains elegance, ageing it for 11 months in French oak barriques (20% new). The result is a wine that delivers the trademark opulence and sweet fruit richness of old vines, but with a freshness and focus that keeps it vibrant.
It is robust, powerful and classically Barossa, yet wonderfully balanced.
Read More96 points
"If you love Barossa Valley Reds, this is for you and it represents brilliant value. Soft in texture but chock full of flavour."
- Ken Gargett (Wine Pilot)
Customer Reviews
| Price Bracket | $30 or Less |
| Size | 3 |
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