Eddie's Pick:
Kalleske 'Clarry's' 2008

In the Barossa Valley, the Kalleske family have been farming and growing grapes since 1853 near the village of Greenock,  and  after 6 generations of grape growing, the Kalleske winery was established producing a range of typical Barossa wines.
All Kalleske wines are certified organic with a commitment to making genuine estate wines of individuality and excellence.
In the 1920's, a fourth generation family member, Clarry Kalleske farmed the vineyards and spent many years pruning, nurturing and hand-picking the vineyards that produce this wonderful Grenache-Shiraz-Mataro blend.
Clarry's is a soft, fruit driven blend with aromas and flavours of raspberry, clove, chocolate and spices. It is a mouth watering wine with muscular structure and great length. This is surely one of the best value barbecue wines on the market.

Phil's Pick:
Bass Phillip 'Crown Prince' Pinot Noir 2008

Phillip Jones is indisputably one of the best Pinot producers in Australia, if not the entire New World and beyond. Unfortunately, he has also developed a reputation of inconsistency. However the 2006 vintage (coinciding with his 21st release) saw a turning point in all of this. A shift to Biodynamic practices in 2007 coupled with better fruit handling in the winery has seen a huge improvement in the quality of the wines he has released.
The Crown Prince comes off the 10ha 'Village' vineyard situated just outside of Leongatha that was planted in 1996. This is one of the youngest of Phillip's vineyards and has a smattering of Gamay, Gewurztraminer and Nebbiolo to round out the high density Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines.
2008 was a warmer year and has pushed the wines to the riper end of the spectrum, which for Bass Phillip makes for appealing drinking young rather than looking like syrup. The wine offers plums, cherries, chocolate, toast, smoke, undergrowth and fine spices. There is also a haunting whiff of rose petal that floats in and out of perception. The palate has nice stuffing but fresh acid and fine, but muscular tannins stop the wine from being heavy. Crown Prince is drinking well now with a few hours open, but Phillip swears that the balance and structure under the fruit will see the wines improve with time in the bottle. Sounds like a challenge to me.

Adam's Pick:
Alvaro Palacios 'Camins del Priorat' 2007

Priorat is regarded as one of Spain’s most prestigious regions and it produces one of the country’s most important wines, L’Ermita (also made by Alvaro Palacios). This cachet means that the price of even the humblest of Priorats is elevated somewhat (a la Central Otago and Margaret River among others). This is refreshingly not the case with the Camins. While it is no everyday quaffer, its quality is outstanding, its value undeniable. None of our other Priorats are nearly as affordable as this; the closest comparisons are from neighbouring Montsant. But those wines simply aren’t this good.
Black cherries, olives, raspberries, blackberries and floral notes manifest on the nose. The palate is sumptuous, though surrounded by firm, yet approachable tannins and infused with a chalky mineral character. It’s rich and dense, while compactly structured and refined. This will age very well over the next 5 or so years, but it is just so delicious now.

James' Pick:
Pewsey Vale 'The Contours' Museum Release Riesling 2004

Aged white wine is generally overlooked in this country but there is really no excuse for not having experienced old Riesling. We produce a lot of good riesling in this
country and there are a half dozen or so exceptional producers, making wines with the purity of fruit and fine acid structure that offers the potential to age 10 - 15 years or more. There is still the opportunity though to look at wines with 5 or 6 years in bottle, showing very attractive development and Pewsey Vale's 'Contours' is an excellent example.
Young Riesling shows a  lifted, at times almost etherial, fruit character with aromatics that range from fine minerally talc, through a range of florals to the classic bracing lime/lemon citrus notes, and can be reward enough in itself. With age, though, they develop a surprisingly complex depth and breadth, particularly for a wine that sees not even a whiff of old oak. Typically they develop faintly toasty, honeysuckle or lanoline characters accompanied by some rather beguiling aromatics which can at the same time be rich and delicate. This more mature palate weight, however, retains an almost threadlike acidity which can produce a remarkably sustained finish. The Contours 04 is showing lovely nutty, kerosine notes with some very attractive soft florals and a brisk astringency. The palate is developing in the classic style with great acid and the potential to mature further in bottle.

Gina's Pick:
Nantua 'Les Deux' Chardonnay 2008

Most winemakers would be satisfied producing a reserve wine that looks as good as Giaconda's not-so-humble second label, Nantua.
Giaconda's greatest claim to fame is the calibre of their Chardonnay, and this "super second" contains 7% Roussanne as well.  Blended from fruit drawn from their Estate, Nantua and the neighbouring Warner vineyard, this wine offers everything expected in their superstar, though with slightly less oak.  That means more of the hazelnutty, oatmeal, citrus and stonefruits shine through.  Brilliant balance of fruit and acid, the wine can be drunk over the next 3-5 years.  A fantastic example of fruit purity, and how good a drink Chardonnay can be when the oak takes a backseat.  Drink it while you're saving for a bottle of the Estate Chardonnay, or while you're waiting for any Estate you're lucky enough to have, to reach maturity.

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