Balnaves

For the Balnaves family, Coonawarra and Cabernet are one and the same. Doug Balnaves planted his first vines on the famous Terra Rossa strip in 1975, and three generations on, the family still farms this red earth at the heart of Australia’s greatest Cabernet country.

For two decades they were celebrated growers rather than winemakers. That changed in 1995 with the arrival of Pete Bissell, whose quarter-century at the helm brought a James Halliday Winery of the Year and a wall of accolades. His hand still guides the wines today.

The vineyard is farmed as a mosaic of tiny blocks, each picked and fermented apart, giving the winemaking team a rich palette to draw from. The result is Cabernet of purity, poise and structure: cassis and graphite wrapped in the region’s signature mint and cedar.

It culminates in The Tally, the reserve Cabernet made only in the finest years and named for the old sheep-shearing tally book. Among the very finest wines Coonawarra produces.