Collalto

To say this is a business with a difference is a masterly understatement. It has a real vineyard of 5.5ha of pinot noir and 2.5ha of chardonnay planted in 2001; a real viticulturist (Damon Koerner), and a real winemaker (Peter Leske). Its owner (who grew up in the Adelaide Hills) is London-based QC James Drake. Most of the grapes are sold to Petaluma, but enough to make 800–1200 dozen or so a year is held back. The name Collalto describes the high vineyard, and is also a tribute to their mother Palimira (née Tosolini) whose father came from the village of that name just north of Udine in Italy. Exports to the UK. -JAMES HALLIDAY