After a 10-year search, winemaker Adam Richardson selected the very special terroir of his Hard Hill Road Vineyard site for the production of his Chockstone and Hard Hill Road labels. With its own special microclimate, the Hard Hill Road Vineyard’s cool ripening conditions and naturally low-yielding vines produce wines with layers of intense flavours and a velvety structure. Like many of the best wines in this historic region, A.T. Richardson wines are approachable in their youth and possess the potential to age gracefully. In A.T. Richardson Wines, you will taste the rich and enticing flavours of the Grampians and get caught up in the excitement of wine, adventure, and life.

Blackberries, cassis, dark chocolate, black pepper, hints of violets, bacon fat, and liquorice; a warm, velvety structure and long, plush finish. A sophisticated, pretty thing now, but if you have the patience (and the extra wine), watch it evolve over the next decade or two.

This is where the fun starts. Silken texture, wild flings of spice, sweet/ripe cherry-plum fruit flavour and a long finish, replete with roasted nut, ripe fruit and savoury nuances. Grade A Grampians shiraz, open, sweet-fruited and accessible but with a lot going besides. Date: Mar 2023; Alcohol: 14.5%; Price: $28.00; Drink by: 2030; Rating: 95 Points & Special Value Star; Campbell Mattinson; James Halliday Wine Companion