Adelina Clare Valley Red Masterclass Pack

Col McBryde and Jen Gardner are Adelina. A pair of smart cookies, each rocking a PhD in microbiology, they have together formed one of the Clare Valley's most esteemed and exciting wineries, based around their family-owned, meticulously farmed 110+-year-old vineyard.

From what began as a small, colourful operation back in 2002, Adelina has slowly but surely established itself as one of the finest quality grape growers and wine producers in the country.  Whether their scintillating Rieslings, fresh-faced red blends, or remarkably complex premium Estate offerings, there is detail, intrigue and sheer deliciousness in every Adelina bottle.

This pack features the full range of gorgeous Adelina reds, and is the perfect way to explore this much-loved artisan producer.

• 2024 Adelina Estate Shiraz
• 2024 Adelina Estate Grenache
• 2024 Adelina Estate Shiraz Mataro
• 2024 Adelina Shiraz Malbec

2024 Adelina Estate Shiraz

Block 4 at Adelina's Springfarm estate was planted in 1915, making these among the oldest Shiraz vines in Clare Valley. Col McBryde and Jennie Gardner have been farming them organically for years, and the combination of century-old roots, red sandy soils over slate and limestone, and 460 metres of elevation produces a wine pretty unique to this place.

Fermentation was in concrete with 16 days on skins before 16 months in large-format French oak (25% new). Short maceration, careful handling, the approach is to work with what the site offers rather than push it further.

The result is a Shiraz of real depth and fine structure: concentrated but not heavy, earthy and savoury, with the mineral character that old Clare vine fruit tends to produce. The tannins are dusty and precise, providing grip and drive through a long finish without any roughness. It's clearly built to age, but also rewarding to open now with some air.

Probably the pick of the bunch in 2024 and that's aaying something - this is an old vine Shiraz to turn heads!

96 points
"Very satisfying. It marries concentration of flavour and deep forest-berry fruitiness with ironstone minerality... Poised, fine, elegant shiraz, nee syrah."
- Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

96 points
"Chiseled and sinewy. Tightly coiled. Fine acidity; tight, finely ground tannins. Substance and structure without the need to be stern."
- Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

Read More

2024 Adelina Estate Grenache

Adelina's is one of the older Grenache sites in Clare Valley, and it produces a wine that's quite unlike most Australian Grenache.

Block 2 at Springfarm is planted to 80-year-old Grenache vines on grey sandy loam, farmed organically by Col McBryde and Jennie Gardner at 460 metres. The 2024 was destemmed, half the berries crushed, then fermented in concrete with 20 days on skins. From there it went into a Drunk Turtle amphora for 19 months, meaning no oak at all. The whole approach is about clarity and texture, letting the fruit and site come through without interference.

The result is fine and pale, delicate in structure but not lacking in character. There's red fruit, spice and earthy complexity, with sandy tannins that grip without any hardness and a finish that's clean and savoury. At 13.3% it's light on its feet for Grenache, which is part of what makes it so easy to drink, though there's enough shape and structure for it to develop well in bottle too.

A seriously individual Aussie Grenache.

95 points
"This is one of those wines that’s more about the feel of it than the flavours... There’s almost an alpine Nebbiolo character about it. So lovely."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

94 points
"A pretty, plush and bright grenache, leaning into the flavour potential of Clare Valley with compact, fine and sleek tannins... Elegance in its way."
- Mike Bennie (Halliday Wine Companion)

Read More

2024 Adelina Estate Shiraz Mataro

Forty percent of this blend comes off vines planted in 1915, making it one of the older Shiraz-Mataro combinations in Clare Valley. Col McBryde and Jennie Gardner farm all three blocks organically at Springfarm, and the century-old vines give the wine a depth and complexity that the younger parcels alone couldn't provide.

Each block was picked and fermented separately in concrete, with skin contact ranging from 16 to 31 days depending on the parcel. The Mataro saw the longest time on skins before everything came together in large-format French oak (25% new) for 16 months.

This is a lithe, even-flowing red with refined tannin and real length, rather than the heavy, extracted style you might be used to from the region. There's dark fruit, savoury complexity and good depth, but the overall impression is elegance rather than density.

A beautifully unique wine, and startling value.

96 points
"This is so good. Shiraz Mataro from this part of the world has tremendous provenance, and this wine comes highly recommended. "Gorgeous" is a word I've uttered a few times while tasting this."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

96 points
"As good a union of these regular bedfellows as you could hope to see... a wine with a beautifully even flow and glide."
- Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

Read More

2024 Adelina Shiraz Malbec

Clare Valley Malbec blends have a quiet but well-documented history, and Adelina's Springfarm estate is one of the better arguments for it. At 460 metres on red sandy loam over slate and clay, with ACO certified organic farming and a lot of hand attention, this is a site that produces reds of real character and without pretention.

The blend is 75% Shiraz and 25% Malbec, drawn from younger blocks planted between 2012 and 2017. Shiraz and Malbec were co-fermented in concrete before 13 months in large-format French oak (20% new), keeping things relatively restrained on the oak influence and letting the fruit and tannin do the talking, as is Col's wine.

It's a medium-bodied, fresh style of Clare red: fragrant and bright rather than heavy, with fine, grippy tannin and a good savoury edge through the finish. The Malbec adds some darker fruit and structure without pulling it out of shape. Drinks well now and an exceptionally priced gateway into the wonderful world of Adelina.

94 points
"This is an intriguing wine, one that I like so much more for drinking—as it should be."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

94 points
"Another testament to the divinely anointed idea that Clare reds thrive with some malbec in them. Unbelievable value."
- Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

Read More