We grow Malbec on the Chri-Ro Estate adjoining the winery. Malbec is a Bordeaux variety that we have blended with Rhone variety - unheard of in France, but becoming more popular on the world wine scene as South American, and particularly Argentinian, wines of this blend are more readily available. I like these two varieties in this blend - savoury and spicy and a great accompaniament to a barbeque with good friends.

Ah this is how cabernet should be-what a great drink! Its taking a little while for people to see it but I remain convinced cabernet will with time rival the Barossa favourite shiraz. Deeply coloured and richly flavoured this is also a very textural wine with its ripe tannins plus it is well balanced. All from estate grown fruit.

I have played with this blend of mataro and grenache over many decades and hold the view that the future of the Barossa will hinge on broadening the appeal of these two magical varieties.

Varietal Shiraz

Rich, ripe blend with the 20% merlot softening out the back palate grip of the cabernet sauvignon. A powerful, deep, aroma varying from red berry fruits to black cherries and leads into a sweet, full bodied, intense, richly flavoured palate. Sourced from vineyards owned by the Veritas winery along the western side of the Barossa Valley.

The various batches of grapes are kept separate during crushing, fermentation and barrel-ageing, and then blended to taste for bottling. The blend ratio is 70% Shiraz and 30% Grenache; a combination that has consistently worked well in our years of experience with this particular fruit.

The Heinrich is named after Rolf Heinrich Binder, father and founder of the family winery. This wine was created because of his love of the combination of the three classic Barossans – Shiraz, Mataro and Grenache.

The cult of the Bulls Blood comes from Rolf Binder Senior’s Hungarian heritage. Egri Bikaver (Bull’s Blood from Eger) is the most popular wine in Hungary, and Rolf Senior aimed to reproduce the wine from his homeland on the other side of the world. The traditional grapes used in Hungary are Kadarka and Merlot, but we use local old vine Shiraz and the pressings (skins and seeds) of the century-old Mataro to emulate this wine. Veritas Winery has been producing Bull’s Blood since 1967.

The legend of Bulls Blood originates from the unsuccessful attack on Hungarian troops in Eger by the Turks in 1552. The heavily outnumbered Hungarians saw their fate approaching and decided that, rather than fight a losing battle, they would just drink red wine. This proved to be to their advantage as their red-stained beards and crazed eyes terrified the Turks, who thought they had been drinking Bull’s Blood to give them extra strength. The Turks fled, leaving the Hungarians to turn their drunken solace into drunken revelry.

This is my flagship wine and, because of that, you do live in fear at what the critics will say each vintage. This is of course a style much appreciated by wealthy American connoisseurs, and a wave of the magic wand of Parker is very important to maintain the status of a wine such as Hanisch.

The Shiraz Cabernet uses the weight of the rich berry flavours of the Cabernet Sauvignon to enhance the chocolate of the Shiraz in a classic Australian blend.

Australia needs a luncheon red to consume on warm days when a dense, impenetrable big red does not seem appropriate. The Beaujolais idea turned into the light dry red and while it looked promising has faded away. Grenache and grenache based wines I think are the answer.

The 2007 is a blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Shiraz, coming from 8 growers. Quite a forward style of wine for drinking over the next 3-5 years.My partner in these Magpie wines, Noel Young, calls it "delicious" and who am I to disagree?

Long the forgotten grape of the Barossa, grenache is now part of the great revival. It is thought a difficult grape to get right. The crop must be kept low, to the point that it becomes uneconomic for the grape farmer.

The defining variety of the Barossa Valley is of course shiraz. My partner in Magpie Estate is Noel Young an English wine merchant, who is a great fan of Rhone wines. He asked me to make a great Barossa shiraz that shows terroir and texture but is still bold in the Barossa style. The first release was the 2001.

This is the new release of our super premium Barossa Shiraz. The Election is only made in the best years, unlike many so-called "super-premiums" or "reserve styles", and hence we declassified in 2003.

My partner in Magpie Estate, the English wine merchant Noel Young, asked me in 1993 to make a Barossa shiraz that pushed the variety and style to the absolute limit. I did just that and made two barrels of 1994 which was aged in new oak.