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Harvested from just the home block with a small addition of wine from Leongatha, this spent 14 months in 40% new barrels. There is a breezy freshness to the red fruit on the nose alongside swirling, darker fruits of the forest which emerge, perfumed with iron-oxide and petrichor. The palate is concentrated, brimming with juicy fruit and a kind of urgency. There is a lick of liquorice bitterness and tannins that show density and finesse towards the finish. Fine acidity makes this precise and totally mouthwatering. In a league of its own in the Bass Phillip stable: self-assured and exquisitely balanced.(AK)

Grown on vines with an average age of 45 years. Complex aromatics lead to a complex palate. Anise, slate, lime and wet stone characters make a persuasive, and distinctive, pitch at quality. There's flavour here, but it also feels fine-boned and delicate; it has an elegance about it. (CM)

Fruit off the Leongatha vineyard, destemmed, wild-yeast fermented, left 2 weeks on skins and aged in French oak, 25% new, for 14 months. A selection of the best barrels was then put aside for the Estate. Striking aromatics set the scene: a heady mix of florals, forest floor, blood orange and spiced cherries. The palate unfurls with a core of sweet-savoury flavours from fruit and oak, fine tannins and everything superbly integrated and aligned. There’s complexity, detail and definition all in one. (JF)

Made mainly from WA's Gingin clone and planted in Gruyere on the same grey clay as Applejack. Whole bunches pressed into French puncheons with 20% new oak. Smells tightly wound and concentrated with aromas of ripe peach and nectarine, together with just a hint of lanolin and apple custard. Equally powerful and punchy on the palate. This has more of everything, including sprightly acid and some phenolic grip on the very long, stone-fruit pithy finish. Today, this is my pick of the 4 single-vineyard 2021 chardonnays, but who knows what will come out on top in 5 or even 10 years from now! (PR)

An elegant style, almost gentle with every element from fruit and acidity to tannins neatly in place. It’s a complete wine. Red cherry accents, rose petals, charred radicchio and a host of spices for good measure. It continues to unfurl beautifully in the glass. As seamless as it gets thanks to superfine tannins and a powder puff of acidity. (JF)

Four Pillars spent five years working out how to distill with cold-pressed olive oil and dried olive leaves from Cobram Estate in Victoria, and the result is unlike anything else in the category. It has a richness and weight that most gins simply don't, anchored by rosemary, bay leaf, macadamia nut, and lemon myrtle — a botanical lineup that somehow feels both Australian and Mediterranean at the same time. If you're a Martini drinker, this is your gin. The texture alone elevates the drink into something worth slowing down for. It's equally good in a simple G&T over ice with a sprig of rosemary, and if you want to go deep, try it as a Gibson with fino sherry and cocktail onions. Savory, bright, and genuinely distinctive.

Mild lemongrass and pine aromas lead the nose. The palate treads lightly with mild lemon and lime. Fleeting lemon-sugar sweetness winds into a fiery pink peppercorn exhale. Botanicals include yuzu, ginger, turmeric and sencha genmaicha (Japanese green tea with roasted brown rice).(KN)

This Gin has beautiful dark red color which will add a pleasant visual dimension to a gin and tonic. In the nose there is an interaction of sweet fruit and juniper aromas. In the mouth it is rich and round with the sweetness of the shiraz interacting with subtle botanical and citrus notes. The Four Pillars Bloody Shiraz is a new flavor direction in the gin section providing more depth and choice.

Sourced from cooler vineyard sites across the Grampians and Victoria, Billi Billi combines a plushness and smooth-running mouthfeel with a lively, peppery spiciness. It's all about the fruit: ripe black cherry and plum partnered to dark roasted spices, allspice and black pepper. A most welcoming shiraz at a welcoming price. (JP)

A powerhouse of a wine with a mid-gold hue, loads of flavour from white peach, baked quince, lemon, lime and grapefruit juice, zest and pith with ginger and oak spice. Good fruit within, yet ultimately savoury with creamy nutty lees and baked shortcrust pastry. Slippery phenolics add to the full-bodied palate. It's rich but by no means heavy, complex and detailed, contemplative, too. It’s also the last complete vintage for John Durham, who originally came to help Philip Jones with the change-over of ownership but stayed on during the COVID years. He left in late ‘23. Durham helped put mod-Oz chardonnay on the map back in the early Cape Mentelle days, and this is an excellent swan song.. (JF)

Fruit comes off the Leongatha vineyard and a barrel selection – not of new oak, but ones that didn’t have elements needed to go into the estate pinot. Good news, this is well priced in a Bass Phillip context. Sweet pulpy fruit from macerated black cherries to poached rhubarb and baking spices. Tangy and juicy with some chinotto/amaro complexity. Really good to drink today. Don’t wait. (JF)

A beautifully aromatic wine, this maritime-influenced bottling sings to notes of wild blueberry and strawberry preserves, cracked pepper and a touch of graphite. The succulent, mid-weight palate is framed in fine, savory tannins that structure the tangy blue fruit, with a wet-stone mineral core. (CP)

A blend of equal portions of all the Giant Steps single-vineyard wines. With its aromas of white nectarine, lemon verbena, a little cashew and attractive marine scents, this is immediately appealing. On the palate it's concentrated with grapefruit pith and lemony acidity on the long finish. A class act to drink now and over the next four to six years. (PR)

Warm with orange and spice notes, this gin is earthy and woodsy, finishing with a hint of bitter orange peel. Mix this mouthwatering gin made in Australia's Yarra Valley into Negronis and other bold-flavored cocktails. (KN)

From the Sexton vineyard in Gruyere; 10% whole bunches and matured nine months in French barriques (25% new). A deep ruby. Aromas of kirsch, damson plums, licorice root and spices; this heady, concentrated wine has a lot of meat on the bones, with ripe, persistent tannins boding well for the future. A great contrast to the more delicate Giant Steps wines such as Bastard Hill and Primavera. (PR)

Warm with orange and spice notes, this gin is earthy and woodsy, finishing with a hint of bitter orange peel. Mix this mouthwatering gin made in Australia's Yarra Valley into Negronis and other bold-flavored cocktails. (KN)

The Navy Strength compared to the Rare Dry has more zesty notes of orange and lemon rind, lemon grass, sea salt and anise. At 118 proof, this is serious stuff that should be stocked in every cocktail enthusiast's bar.

From the Primavera vineyard at Woori Yallock, planted in 2001 on the same red soil as Wombat Creek. Both destemmed (55%) and whole-bunch components. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. A very bright crimson purple. So pure and perfumed with briary cherries, ripe redcurrants and freshly cut roses. Poised, juicy and energetic, the wine has so much tang and crunch, you barely notice that this is also structured finishing with long, gently puckering tannins. A wine with immediate appeal, but also one that will reward at least another 7-10 years in the cellar. (PR)

Aromas of melon, lemons, citrus blossoms and flint. The palate is medium-bodied, with bright acidity and generous texture, finishing pithy and rounded. Textural and refined, with a delicate touch. A good Aussie chardonnay in neutral oak.

Follows Bailey Carrodus's method of co-fermenting small amounts of viognier, marsanne adding floral notes, and mataro adding spice. It's another exquisite wine from '17, capturing all the senses immediately you assess the bouquet and palate. It's only just into medium-bodied territory, but it's mouthwatering in its intensity, red fruits flying high like a gaudy scarlet kite. Special.

A classic blend of 70% cabernet sauvignon, 18% merlot, 8% malbec and 4% petit verdot. Hand-picked and sorted, crushed and destemmed, open-fermented, on skins for up to a month, matured for 12 months in French oak (35% new). This is the serious side of '17. The aromas and flavours are still fresh and vibrant, but the palate, in particular, brooks no argument: this is a wine for protracted cellaring to allow the whipcord-tight structure to relax its grip. *Gold*