Hill & Valley is all about highlighting the ripe and balanced flavours of great wines, such as this full bodied red, from the warmth of the Barossa Valley in South Australia. From the cooler Adelaide Hills to the elevated Eden Valley vineyards to those situated on the Barossa Valley floor, these ancient soils provide the base for great wines that speak of their origins.

"Dense with a bright red edge, there are dark brooding fruit aromas with hints of blueberry and choc-mint. The palate is medium-bodied with blue fruit and fine grained tannins for a very soft finish."

Elspeth represents their top tier of wines produced from their own vineyards in the Gimblett Gravels, Hawkes Bay. The fruit is hand-picked and only under the Elspeth label when fruit is of exceptional quality. Their winemaking team shares the philosophy of a hands-on, no expense spared approach to produce these fine award-winning wines. The range is limited to Chardonnay, Syrah and Bordeaux style reds. The Elspeth tier is named in honour and memory of their winemaker Grandmother, Elspeth Preston.

source - Mills Reef

This distinguished Cabernet Merlot is made from ultra-premium grapes (73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc) grown on low-yielding vines in the Mere Road Vineyard, situated in the celebrated stony soils of the Gimblett Gravels district in Hawkes Bay. Medium to full bodied, it bursts with notes of black fruits, plum, chocolate, and liquorice intertwined with beautifully refined tannins, yielding a distinguished silky smooth wine.

The grapes for this generous wine were exclusively sourced from the stony soils of our prestigious Gimblett Gravels vineyard in Hawkes Bay, on low yielding vines. A rich full bodied wine, this traditional blend exudes intense blackcurrant, blackberry and plum flavours, layered with caramel and spicy cedary oak.  Ageing in quality oak has conferred a velvety smooth texture.

Serpico is the flagship Mitolo Cabernet and is made using the Amarone technique of drying grapes before fermentation. This process concentrates flavour, contributing mid palate plushness, complexity and mouth coating silky tannins. 

Winemaker Ben Glaetzer describes it incredibly aptly, we think, as a brooding, dark and deliciously seductive red. Its smoothness is thanks to the dried grape  winemaking method, which provides intensely rich and concentrated dark fruit flavours to an already powerful grape variety ? Cabernet Sauvignon. The dried grape method also seems to soften and smooth Cabernet?s sometimes edgy tannin structure by providing a suppleness and richness to the palate.

This wine was named after one of Frank Mitolo?s heroes, namely Frank Serpico, who fought crime in the United States police force. 

Like it namesake, this is powerful, structured and focussed. 

This is a wine for now or the long haul in a good cellar. 

From the winery

This wine is much like the man it is named after, Frank Serpico, who went against all odds to expose an immense depth of corruption in the New York police force

Complex Hawke's Bay blend modelled on the best of Bordeaux as a blend of Cabernets Sauvignon, Franc and with a dash of Merlot to add soft, smooth, sweet black plum textures and flavours. This wine has great structure and intensity of flavour. A silky attack with concentrated black currant and spicy plum flavours some liquorice and mineral elegance with a long flavored fine grained tannin finish. This wine will improve with cellaring. Recommended drinking from mid 2013 till 2023 (and possibly beyond). Red meats, hearty roasted game, and rich mushroom dishes.  

A complex aroma of black plum and cocoa, black olive, with fine cedary notes and hints of leather, star anise, clove and aromatic spices. The palate is plush and rich, with seamless tannins and concentrated black Doris plum flavours, complex spice notes and a long savoury finish. This wine will improve with cellaring.

Pirramimma is a family run winery with a history dating back to1892 and today comprises over 100 hectares of prime McLaren Vale fruit.

The 2019 Cabernet Merlot displays a bouquet of red cherry, blackberry and violets with hints of spicy oak. On the palate there are ripe blackcurrant, plum, quince and chocolate notes which are complemented by hints of pomegranate and subtle toasty oak. 

Drink now and over the next three years with rich meaty fare, stews and hard cheeses.

Dark, ripe and concentrated Cabernet Sauvignon from the Barossa Valley, which is full flavoured wine made with black olive and dried herb complexity which will reward cellaring for up to a decade, longer in good cellaring conditions. 

A superlative wine to keep or decant and serve at room temperature in your best large red wine glasses now. 

Rockford Wines' legacy

Rockford Wines is an icon itself and a relatively new one, established in 1971 by Robert O'Callaghan, who has forged a reputation for preserving winemaking tradition and saving many of the world's oldest grape vines from being pulled up in the Australian Government's vine pull schemes of the 1970s and 1980s.

The Rockford vintage shed houses equipment from 50 to 100 years ago, which was discarded by other wineries as modernisation took over.

100% destemmed but not crushed. The three varieties were cofermented and pumped over once a day to ensure gentle extraction during fermentation. After pressing, the wine remained in tank for malolactic fermentation before being transferred to new French (60%) and seasoned American (40%) oak barriques for maturation. The wine was bottled after 21 months in barrel. 

Tasting Note - Dense almost opaque black cherry colour. A complex hedonistic nose of warm stones, black orchard fruit, cassis, cocoa, tobacco, vanilla and cedar. The palate is rich, dense and generous without being sweet or overt, with the flavours reflecting the nose alongside a distinctive fine gravelly texture and twist of steel. Incredible cellaring potential although will always be delicious.

Son's of Eden Pumpa is a full bodied red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Tempranillo, all grown in the Eden Valley, a higher altitude and slightly cooler climate area of the Barossa Valley. 

This wine is named as a tribute to Len Pumpa and his fellow Eden Valley winemakers who pioneered one of Australia's most challenging but rewarding winemaking regions. 

Eden Valley had a mix of British and continental European settlers that tried their hand at grape-growing. When times were tough particularly in the 1920s many turned away from viticulture, however the Prussian settlers like Len Pumpa persisted in the face of difficulty, preserving the vineyard resources we are custodians of today.

Stone Paddock is a fleshy, dry, full bodied red, modelled on the best from Bordeaux. The blend is Merlot 73%, Cabernet Franc 14%, Cabernet Sauvignon 7.5% and Malbec 5% and is a prime example of great red wine made from the stony soils of Hawke?s Bay. Highly scented plum, blackberry and cassis aromas with hints of five spice, cedar and fine spicy oak. Dark fruit flavours of plum and blackberries are accentuated by lifted ripe aromas of spice and a beautifully balanced tannic structure. 

Coonawarra is one of Australia's famous Cabernet Sauvignon regions and home to 100% of the grapes used to make this full bodied, well structured, dry red, which is produced by winemaker Corey Ryan and Nicholas Crampton. They collectively aim to make great value wines that over deliver and shine a new light on classic styles. If this wine is any indication, they totally succeed - we sell stacks of this and one sip will show you why.