A pale copper pink in the glass, the Murdoch Hill rosé - from one of the best vintages ever in the Adelaide Hills - has an inviting, heady fragrance of muddled rose petals, mineral and spice, and a generous palate with a real strawberry and cream element. A blend of Sangiovese (50%) and Merlot (25%) with random white varieties making up the balance, there is lots to love here. Just delicious!

As with everything in the world of wine, there’s plenty of debate surrounding just what it is that makes a great New World wine region. In the case of Adelaide Hills, you could easily point to the unique climatic conditions, the mineral-rich soils, or the Oceanic influence… but we reckon all of these features pale in comparison to the impact that family-run wineries - and their passion for their produce - have upon the resulting wines. In that respect, Murdoch Hill is an absolutely classic example, and one we’d encourage you to get to know very, very well indeed. Run by ambitious and talented young winemaker Michael Downer, Murdoch Hill is a family operation of two distinct sides. On the one hand, this vibrant winery produces superb estate wines, which have gained a powerful reputation for their excellent value and clean-cut, classical approach. On the other, there’s Downer’s quirky artisan range, which really gets stuck into the peculiarities of Adelaide Hills terroir, and offers plenty of alternatives to the norm. While radically different, both ranges reflect the love that Downer and his family have for their estate, for their fruit, and for this incredible wine region as a whole.