Buy any 12 bottles and save 10% (excludes sale). Free UK delivery on orders over £250. Tel : 02922 337454

Your Cart: 0 items - £0.00 0

Wine Heroes

This page is dedicated to our wine heroes – the wines, winery, winemakers that have shaped our vinous journey over the past 20 years.
We followed, bought and collected all the wines that feature on this page for many years and their quality vintage upon vintage is without question.
In short, these are the wines we drink, and we hope you will love them as much as we do.

Wine Heroes

Showing 46–60 of 78 results

Results per page:
  • Liqueur Muscat, Skillogalee Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    Liqueur Muscat, Skillogalee

    £3850

    This old vine Muscat is one of our all time favourite wines.  Exceptional quality.

    This Muscat is produced in a similar method to tawny port, with a blend of different vintages of sweet wine. These separate wines are fermented, fortified and left to age for decades in oak puncheons using a solera method. While released as non-vintage, each bottle contains a blend on muscat going back many decades. The resulting blend of fortified wine is sweet, dark, and with a higher alcohol component than typical still wine.

    The current blend is made from a blend of vintages predominantly late 1990’s, with a little older material to contribute some aged, rancio characters of butterscotch and complex fruit, with some younger wine to give freshness and lift.

    It is bright, red-amber in colour with a light young sweet raisin nose. The palate shows nutty raisin apricot flavours, very full and sweet but not cloying. The finish is lingering – very smooth and liqueur like!

    Purchase & earn 39 points!Add to Basket
  • 2008 The Florita Riesling, Jim Barry Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2008 The Florita Riesling, Jim Barry

    £3900

    This legendary dry Riesling from Jim Barry has matured under optimum conditions and displays the complexities that fine Australian Riesling develops over time.

    The Florita Story

    This story is best told by famous Australian wine writer, Huon Hooke and head of the Barry Family, Peter Barry who below tell the wonderful story of Florita…..

    It starts in 1946, just after the war, when Leo Buring bought land at Watervale and planted Pedro ximénez for sherry – the preferred wine of Australians at the time. He named the vineyard Florita, which is Spanish for ‘little flower’ – a reference to the sherry flor (or flower), the film of yeast that covers the dry flor sherry as it matures in its ullaged casks.  Public tastes shifted, table wine became fashionable, and in 1962 Buring’s winemaker John Vickery began to remove Pedro and plant riesling. “He started to make riesling (wine), which began to be seen as the future of Australian white wine,” says Barry. Indeed, Vickery and the Leo Buring brand became almost synonymous with riesling.   “In 1986 Philip Morris (the tobacco company which owned the Leo Buring brand at the time) had six years supply of riesling in its cellars, and no-one was drinking it – chardonnay was the new fashion. They decided to sell the Florita vineyard.

    My brothers and I went to the auction. I was 24.  Mum said ‘You’re not allowed to buy it’. She said we already had plenty of vineyards. We told Dad he’d better buy it, and that would let us off the hook.
    Southcorp (the precursor of Treasury Wine Group) owned the Florita trademark at the time, and although the Barrys began using the grapes immediately, they couldn’t use the name.
    “I had to wait eight years until the registration period was up, but then Southcorp renewed it for another 10 years, so I had to wait 18 years all told, and I registered the name Florita two days after it lapsed.

    Eighteen years is a long time to wait for a drink.”

    Purchase & earn 39 points!Add to Basket
  • 2009 The Florita Riesling, Jim Barry Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2009 The Florita Riesling, Jim Barry

    £3900

    This legendary dry Riesling from Jim Barry has matured under optimum conditions and displays the complexities that fine Australian Riesling develops over time.

    The Florita Story

    This story is best told by famous Australian wine writer, Huon Hooke and head of the Barry Family, Peter Barry who below tell the wonderful story of Florita…..

    It starts in 1946, just after the war, when Leo Buring bought land at Watervale and planted Pedro ximénez for sherry – the preferred wine of Australians at the time. He named the vineyard Florita, which is Spanish for ‘little flower’ – a reference to the sherry flor (or flower), the film of yeast that covers the dry flor sherry as it matures in its ullaged casks.  Public tastes shifted, table wine became fashionable, and in 1962 Buring’s winemaker John Vickery began to remove Pedro and plant riesling. “He started to make riesling (wine), which began to be seen as the future of Australian white wine,” says Barry. Indeed, Vickery and the Leo Buring brand became almost synonymous with riesling.   “In 1986 Philip Morris (the tobacco company which owned the Leo Buring brand at the time) had six years supply of riesling in its cellars, and no-one was drinking it – chardonnay was the new fashion. They decided to sell the Florita vineyard.

    My brothers and I went to the auction. I was 24.  Mum said ‘You’re not allowed to buy it’. She said we already had plenty of vineyards. We told Dad he’d better buy it, and that would let us off the hook.
    Southcorp (the precursor of Treasury Wine Group) owned the Florita trademark at the time, and although the Barrys began using the grapes immediately, they couldn’t use the name.
    “I had to wait eight years until the registration period was up, but then Southcorp renewed it for another 10 years, so I had to wait 18 years all told, and I registered the name Florita two days after it lapsed.

    Eighteen years is a long time to wait for a drink.”

    Purchase & earn 39 points!Add to Basket
  • 2008 The Virgilius Viognier, Yalumba Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2008 The Virgilius Viognier, Yalumba

    £4250

    Yalumba, the pioneer of Viognier in Australia, has devoted 20 years to the growing and making of this rare and exotic Rhone variety.   The Virgilius is Yalumba’s most distinguished Viognier – a wine that shows power with restraint. As Yalumba’s most premium and enchanting white wine, it is loved by wine lovers looking for something beyond the more conventional offering.

    The nose on this 2009 Virgilius delivers a lifted and exotic aromatic profile of honeysuckle, dried apricot and tropical fruit on the turn followed by a hint of citrus and spice as endnotes. Rich mouth filling flavours of ripe apricot, honeysuckle, tropical fruits and spice. Aftertaste of ripe apricot, honeysuckle and spice – the acidity is incredibly fine, almost taking it into top chardonnay territory; amazing!

    At its best with food, The Virgilius complements a wide range of flavors, particularly dishes with spice and richness.

    Purchase & earn 43 points!Add to Basket
  • Sotto di Ferro, Charles Melton Wine Republic Heros Dessert Wine, Port & Dessert Wine

    Sotto di Ferro, Charles Melton

    £4500

    Charles Melton is the only Australian producer of a vin-santo styled dessert wine, he calls it, Sotto di Ferro.   Made from Pedro Ximenez and Muscadelle grapes that are hung and dried in bunches under the rafter of old iron sheds on the Melton property.   From the trickle of juice gathered from the shrivelled grapes comes this wine showing rich, luscious dried apricot and nut characters.  This is not a wine to rush.   Take your time and allow it to impress you with its sweet complexity that develops in the glass.

    For those interested in the winemaking process this from the winery:  Pedro Ximenez and Muscadelle bunches are carefully hand-picked and placed in small crates before being taken to our ‘hanging shed’. There, an experienced team tie six to eight bunches of grapes onto strings which are then suspended from the rafters for up to eight weeks.  The grapes dehydrate naturally as they are exposed to air, and when the team at Charles Melton Wines deems the grapes to be concentrated enough, the bunches will be pressed in a basket press. The juice is then yeasted and fermented in small 60-litre old oak casks known as ‘Caratelli’ for 18 months. After fermentation completes, the wine will remain in barrel for a further four years before it is bottled.

    Purchase & earn 45 points!Add to Basket
  • 2008 ‘La Ciornia’ Shiraz, La ViolettaRed Wine

    2008 ‘La Ciornia’ Shiraz, La Violetta

    £4500

    The inspiration for La Ciornia comes from Andrew Hoadley time spent working in Barbaresco.    Really refined bright, the aromatic nose showing sweet, pure raspberry and cherry fruit with subtle hints of meat, olive and spice. The palate is superbly elegant with pure, seamless, beautifully poised cherry and raspberry fruit. Lovely elegance and freshness   I think Matthew Jukes summed it up best for me when be said of Ciornia “I certainly had no idea that a Shiraz from Denmark could have Pinot Noir tenderness under its malevolent, vampiric exterior.”

    .

    Purchase & earn 45 points!Add to Basket
  • 2012 Trevarrick Riesling, Skillogalee Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2012 Trevarrick Riesling, Skillogalee

    £4500

    “Trevarrick” was the original name of the property when it was first settled by John and Anne Trestrail in the 1850s. More than a century later, in 1970 this magnificent piece of land was planted to vines and Skillogalee was born. With each individual contour block on the estate harvested and vinified individually, the Trevarrick name is reserved for those contours which exhibit exceptional quality and varietal character.

    The grapes for this wine were selectively harvested from the highest altitude, earliest ripening contour on the property at around 500m. The stony, thin soils and topography of this part of the vineyard produce unique, high-quality grapes bursting with varietal character.

    Purchase & earn 45 points!Add to Basket
  • 2018 Moppa Springs Grenache-Mataro-Shiraz, Rockford Wine Republic Heros Red Wine

    2018 Moppa Springs Grenache-Mataro-Shiraz, Rockford

    £4500

    A stupendous blend of Grenache, Mataro and Shiraz is elegant and restrained with a subtle note of vanilla and pretty floral notes.  The Grenache supplies tangy sour cherry to this blend whilst Mataro offers a savoury cocoa note and Shiraz holds it all together with a backbone of fine tannins and a touch of brambly fruit.

    Moppa Springs, Ebenezer, and Kalimna, are some of the driest areas in the Barossa. This hard country is cold, wet and frosty during pruning, then hot, dry and dusty during harvest. These are the kind of tough conditions that ensure Grenache, Mataro, and Shiraz give their best.

    The grapes are hand-forked into Rockford’s famed 1880’s Bagshaw de-stemmer, open-fermented and then gently basket pressed. All of the components for Moppa Springs are aged separately in a combination of seasoned American and French oak hogsheads and large vats to allow the tannins to soften and colours and flavours to consolidate.

    Purchase & earn 45 points!Add to Basket
  • 2011 Piccadilly Chardonnay, Grosset Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2011 Piccadilly Chardonnay, Grosset

    £4850

    Since the first release of Grosset Piccadilly in 1993, these wines have made a powerful statement about the potential of the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills, a sub-region so cool that it is often considered marginal for table wine. ‘It’s a sub-region that takes time to understand’, says Grosset, ‘and the wines can be exquisite’.

    There’s a delicacy about the 2011 Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay that is rare with Australian chardonnay: it is delightfully fragrant with white flowers and fresh herbs. The palate is fresh, vibrant and tangy with intense white peach and nectarine flavours that show depth and purity. There’s succulence, a taut structure, and bright zesty acidity to finish. Although restrained, the wine builds in the glass.

    Only 600 dozen produced

    Purchase & earn 49 points!Add to Basket
  • 2018 Rod and Spur Shiraz-Cabernet, Rockford Wine Republic Heros Red Wine

    2018 Rod and Spur Shiraz-Cabernet, Rockford

    £5200

    This incredible blend of Shiraz & Cabernet Sauvignon is a uniquely Australian blend that pays homage to the great Aussie wines of yesteryear.    With plenty of sweet spice and brambly black fruit comes a concentrated blackcurrant and vanilla aroma following on to a rich, full-bodied palate. The flavour is full of crunchy black fruit with soft tannins, refreshing acidity and subtle vanilla sweetness.

    The name Rod & Spur acknowledges the contribution of Rockford’s growers who spend the cold Barossa winters hand-pruning their vines in the traditional rod and spur method. This wine is a return to the great Australian reds of the 1950’s and 60’s, when Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon blends dominated the premium market. This very Australian wine is not common in any other region of the world.

    Like all Rockford reds, the grapes for this wine go through a 1880’s Bagshaw de-stemmer, are open fermented and then gently basket pressed. All components are aged separately in a combination of seasoned American and French oak hogsheads and large oak casks for two years. This allows the tannins to soften and colours and flavours to consolidate, before being bottled under the highest quality cork.

    The 2018 vintage was described by Rockford’s winemaking team as ‘One of those years when things just fell into place. Despite the season being one of the driest in many decades, it lacked any prolonged heat waves or significant rainfall events. The Eden Valley Shiraz components, in particular, were standout in the warm dry conditions. The 2018 wines have striking colours, outstanding structure, richness and mouthfeel.

    Purchase & earn 52 points!Add to Basket
  • 2015 ILR Reserve Semillon, Brokenwood Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2015 ILR Reserve Semillon, Brokenwood

    £5495

    This is, without a doubt, one of the best Semillons produced anywhere in the world.  Consistently regarded as the definition of Semillon and it has the ability to age for decades.

    At 6 years of age on release, the colour is just starting to show some development with yellow tints complimenting the green edges. Lifted lemon curd and floral notes heading to beeswax, brioche and toast. Lively lime juice, lime cordial characters are backed by a superb zesty acidity. The magic of Hunter Valley Semillon is on display with texture, fruit weight and great length from a wine that sees no oak. The ILR Reserve Semillon is only released from the best years and 2015 is a beauty. Drinking well now but will improve for many years to come.

    The fruit for the 2015 ILR Reserve is sourced from Murphy’s Vineyard on Wilderness Road, on the banks of Black Creek in Lovedale.

    Purchase & earn 55 points!Add to Basket
  • 2009 Piccadilly Chardonnay, Grosset Wine Republic Heros White Wine

    2009 Piccadilly Chardonnay, Grosset

    £5500

    Since the first release of Grosset Piccadilly in 1993, these wines have made a powerful statement about the potential of the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills, a sub-region so cool that it is often considered marginal for table wine. ‘It’s a sub-region that takes time to understand’, says Grosset, ‘and the wines can be exquisite’.

    Followers of the Grosset Chardonnay will notice a consistency of style especially between the most recent three vintages of the wine. Jeff sees these as a return to the clearly defined style that he made in the 1990s: finer, lean, tighter and slightly lower in alcohol. Often shy and restrained on release and needing patience and time to reveal themselves, the Piccadilly Chardonnays come into their own by being more age-worthy than most of their peers.

    The 2009 Grosset Chardonnay is exuberant with tangy white peach and nectarine flavours, vibrant, juicy fleshy texture and zingy acidity that cleanses. There’s impressive integration of oak and fruit at a young age, the richness and concentration you’d expect, plenty of weight and a lively raciness that binds it all together.

    The Grosset Piccadilly Chardonnay is handpicked, barrel fermented in French barriques and then left to mature in those barrels for nearly twelve months, followed by a further twelve months in bottle before release.   After 11 years in bottle this wine is singing from the rooftops and just shows the magnificence of the Piccadilly Valley in the Adelaide Hills.

    Only 590 cases produced.

    Purchase & earn 55 points!Add to Basket
  • 2005 Shiraz ‘Savitar’, MitoloRed Wine

    2005 Shiraz ‘Savitar’, Mitolo

    £5500

    Savitar, the flagship Mitolo Shiraz, is a tightly structured wine produced in very limited quantities. Powerful yet elegant Savitar is opulent, brooding and intense.

    The wine name ‘Savitar’ refers to a mythical dragon-like monster.  The fruit for Mitolo Savitar Shiraz comes from the Lopresti vineyards Chinese Block, which is located in the Willunga district at the southern end of McLaren Vale. Savitar Shiraz is sourced from a particularly unforgiving, skeletal soil patch in the North-Eastern corner of the block, where the vines are pushed hard to create very low yields of outstanding depth of flavour and quality.

    In the glass this outstanding Shiraz has a rockstar level aromas with a mocha top note followed by liquorice, spice and vanilla finishing with a blackberry end note. Mouthfilling palate, great concentration of flavours – strong black pepper and spice palate flavours, with white pepper rolling out on the back palate. Fine grained perfectly balanced tannins. Very long aftertaste of liquorice, blackberry and vanilla.

    Purchase & earn 55 points!Add to Basket
  • 2018 Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon, Rockford Wine Republic Heros Red Wine

    2018 Rifle Range Cabernet Sauvignon, Rockford

    £6200

    The nose on this elegant cabernet is generous, rich and ripe with plenty of classic blackcurrant fruit with cocoa and tobacco notes. The palate is fresh and herbal with thyme notes that lift the concentrated black fruit. Smooth, silky tannins and a wonderful freshness on the finish.

    Rifle Range Road which runs parallel to Krondorf Road, is in the heart of the Valley Floor and winds its way up the hills to Kaiser Stuhl National Park. The old rifle range is long gone, but the farming land and vineyards that have long been part of the landscape are still there.  “Because most of our Cabernet Sauvignon comes from vineyards adjacent to Rifle Range Road, it seemed the most appropriate name for this wine which has been part of Rockford since the very beginning.”

    2018 was the kind of vintage winemakers look forward to. They were able to pick some parcels early and some later across a three-week period, ensuring a complex, naturally balanced wine that will reward cellaring for a further 6-8 years and we suspect much longer for those able to resist!

    Purchase & earn 62 points!Add to Basket
  • 2015 Frankland River Cabernet Sauvignon, Larry Cherubino Wine Republic Heros Red Wine

    2015 Frankland River Cabernet Sauvignon, Larry Cherubino

    £6695

    The Cherubino range are the signature wines of winemaker Larry Cherubino, they represent the sum of his experiences, use the best performing vineyards from Margaret River to Pemberton, to the regions of the Great Southern.  Hand made, with attention to detail taken at every step of the winemaking journey.

    This 2015 Frankland River Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes sourced from his Pedestal vineyard in Western Australia’s Wilyabrup region. Inky black, the wine has strong classic bay leaf and earthy cabernet tones. Very focused, mouth filling with very fine tannins. Oak is supporting the intense fruit. Medium bodied, destined for a long life. Drinking Window 2022 – 2040

    Purchase & earn 67 points!Add to Basket