Chris Ringland Shiraz is an utterly gorgeous wine that not only bombards and challenges the senses but suggests a deep emotional connection between the winemaker and his vineyard landscape. Technical brilliance, physical resilience and a painterly eye for detail makes this wine a uniquely interesting and exciting experience. Ringland is a passionate proponent of Barossa Shiraz. He is very much a scion of Robert O'Callaghan's 'Rockford School' where "meticulous order, accumulation of experience and creativity" underpin the winemaking philosophy.

Chris Ringland Shiraz is a small vinification of around four to five hogsheads or 1500 litres. The "unusually thick skinned" Shiraz is entirely sourced from Chris Ringland's dry-grown vineyard on the edge of the Barossa Valley, but technically in Eden Valley, along Flaxman's Valley near Randall's Hill. The 1910 vines are planted in shallow skeletal granitic sandy loams over underlying clay moisture-holding podzols. On a clear day it is possible to see (by telescope!) the spire of Gnadenberg, the church that lies in front of the Hill of Grace Vineyard.

Ringland believes his century-old vines yield Shiraz of unique "lushness and tremendous concentration". In some seasons the fruit will naturally ripen up to 17° Baumé yet retain excellent acid balance and flavour! Ringland describes his wine as "a celebration of tiny parcels of true vineyard selected fruit". The wines are "painstakingly hand-made" in open fermenters and regularly pumped-over to extract colour, flavour and tannins. After draining and pressing through a traditional wooden basket press, fermentation is completed in 100% new French oak hogsheads. A period of up to 46 months oak maturation follows to achieve optimum complexity and balance between oak and fruit. During this period Chris Ringland generally leaves the barrels alone believing that a laissez-faire approach will allow the tannins and oak to harmonise into the "landscape of the wine".

Typically the wine is deep in colour with intense dark berry/ paneforte/ espresso/ roasted chestnut aromas. The palate is plush and concentrated with blackberry/ mocha/ paneforte/ spicy flavours and dense fine chocolaty tannins. Despite the opulence, flamboyance, richness and concentration, the wine has superb percussion and freshness.

The extraordinarily high release prices (higher than Penfolds Grange), limited production and reputation have made Chris Ringland Shiraz a modern legend appealing to a very small but impressively supportive market.