Troll Creek Wines

Sixth-generation grapegrower James Hage, and wife Jo, first put their toe in winemaking water in 1998, enlisting cousin Christian Canute to make a single barrel for home consumption. The quality of the wine encouraged them to modestly expand production, using the best rows of old-vine shiraz and cabernet from the Home Block, which has been owned by the Hage family since the early 1900s. Tempranillo, cabernet franc and chardonnay have since been planted, too. The name comes from an old red-gum slab bridge spanning a tiny creek among the vines, under which a legendary troll lives, to the delight and fear of successive generations of Hage children. Exports to Denmark, Hong Kong and Singapore. -JAMES HALLIDAY