Placed in the top ten new wineries by James Halliday, "Five star winery and outstanding vineyard!" Sergio Carlei makes wine from the heart; his passion has moved him from the family garage to a fully-fledged operation producing over 10,000 cases of wine per year. Sergio and esteemed grower Paul Jenkins have combined their respective talents to craft the line of Turners Crossing wines. The Shiraz fruit is from low yielding vines and was harvested at the appropriate time to ensure optimum balance, ripeness and intensity of flavour. They were destemmed; berries not crushed or pumped to preserve their physical integrity and transferred to a majority of open 4000 L wooden and some stainless steel 5000 L vats. The Viognier was co-fermented with Shiraz in the stainless steel vat to preserve fruit flavour intensity. A combination of different maceration times (mainly pumping over) from 12 to 24 days on skins and a majority of the batches were naturally fermented. The wine was aged in French oak for 18 months.
 
With adjectives such as 'deliciousness' and 'lipsmacking' you may just begin to appreciate just how 'drinkable' this is. I tend to pour single ounce tasting amounts when doing my own evaluations but found myself topping my glass up again and again and again. It is dangerous stuff, in the nicest possible way. Shiraz Viognier wines as a rule have the most attractive bouquets and this takes it to the nth degree with apricot, blueberry and Christmas cake spices on the nose. The lashings of fruit are immediately noticeable in the mouth but so as the balancing savouriness that holds the whole kit and kaboodle together. The fruit sweet tannins and firm acidity finish it off spectacularly. I'm not sure if I've hit 'Exceptional' with a twenty buck wine for a while but if drinking the stuff is why we buy it, this is just classy, bargain based stuff. Drink: Now-2016; Quality: Exceptional BW; WineStar© November 2008
 
The grapes from both vineyards have gone to a who's who of winemakers in Central Victoria, but an increasing amount is being made under the Turner's Crossing label, not surprising given the exceptional quality of the wines. Phil Bennett and winemaker Sergio Carlei have joined Paul Jenkins as co-owners of the vineyard, with Sergio putting his money where his winemaking mouth is. Turners Crossing Shiraz Viognier 2006: Crimson-purple; a strikingly opulent wine, the 95% Shiraz/5% Viognier doing all the talking, with a rippling cascade of black fruits and almost powdery but persistent ripe tannins; maturation in older oak exactly the right call. Screwcap. 14.5% alc. Rating 95 points Drink 2021 $26 Date Tasted Mar 08 James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2009
 
Super stylish. Deliciousness plus. It’s roasted and spicy, blackberried and chocolatey, and while it’s got a good amount of sweet fruit impact it’s also savoury and grainy and, dare I say it, classy. Dry, lengthy, A-grade tannins and a good balance between straight-out flavour and complexity. Fantastic wine. Drink : 2009 - 2014; 94 Points; Price :$25; Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
 
It may not be the most fashionable region in Victoria, but for sheer depth and generosity of flavour, Bendigo takes a bit of a beating. The current available Turners Crossing reds are absolute crackers; it’s never easy to capture such lovely rich, ripe grape flavours within such perfectly poised and polished structures, but this winery does it with rare aplomb. In this case, the 5 per cent Viognier adds an intriguing tang of apricot and sweet spice to the essential blackberry flavour of the shiraz. Genuine lipsmacker. 5 Stars * * * * * Paddy Kendler, Herald Sun, March 24 2009
 
It looked good on opening. It looks even better after 24 hours. Such an evolution means that the news is all good when it comes to this cracking Shiraz Viognier. Perfectly ripe, fragrant, dusty, with savoury dark cherry/choc flavours and a long, powdered tannin finish, this is a hugely enjoyable wine, and at $25 fights well out of its weight class. You can buy it by the case even cheaper from the winery website and that makes this a complete no-brainer. Bring the truck. Upgraded this to 94 points because of its sheer drinkability. Love the old oak influence (or lack of it) and every mouthful was a pleasure). Price: $25; Drink: 2009-2015; 94 Points; The Wining Pro