Wine royalty rules with four reds from d’Arenberg, Tyrrell’s, Yalumba and Jim Barry

The First Families of Australian Wine come together in a special deal featuring award-winning wines from McLaren Vale, Coonawarra, Clare Valley and Heathcote.

Four reds from d’Arenberg, Tyrrell’s, Yalumba and Jim Barry

They’re called the First Families of Australian wine and the ties that bind these venerable names are far greater than the competitive tensions that could come between them.

Wherever they may travel across the globe, these dozen families – essentially the royalty of Australian wine – back each other and the Australian wine industry with the sort of long-term view shaped by 48 generations and 1310 years of collective winemaking experience.

“It’s about covering the back of your mates even though business school doesn’t say you should do that,” says Hunter Valley legend Bruce Tyrrell.

Bruce Tyrrell, of Tyrrell's Wines. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Four of these First Families are represented in this week’s mixed case special offer from The Australian Wine Club.

The Tyrrells are on board with their 2023 Blacksmith’s Hut Heathcote Shiraz, while South Australia’s Hill-Smiths are in the mix with Yalumba’s highly regarded 2019 The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon.

Jim Barry’s gold medal-winning 2022 The Farm Single Vineyard Clare Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2022 and the Osborn family’s 2020 d’Arenberg Thunderstep Shiraz round out this nicely priced, $22.99-a-bottle offer.

The First Families came together as a formal promotional group in 2009, much to the surprise of at least one London journalist who saw Tyrrell spruiking wine with Ross Brown, of Brown Brothers fame, and asked why he was helping “a competitor”. Tyrrell’s reply was simple: “He’s also one of my oldest and closest friends.”

Similarly, “if Darren De Bortoli calls me and says he has a problem, we’ll talk about it and work out an answer”, Tyrrell tells us.

The starkest illustration of that came in January 2008, when an explosion at Drayton Family Wines in the Hunter Valley killed well-known winemaker Trevor Drayton and his cousin as the annual vintage was under way.

“That happened first thing in the morning; by 3pm we’d organised with John Drayton who was going to crush what of his grapes,” Tyrrell recalls.

“McWilliams would do the sauvignon blanc and we would do the chardonnay. Brokenwood would do the shiraz and Hungerford Hill were going to do all the other bits and pieces.

“I remember John saying, ‘This is going to cost me a fortune’. I told him, ‘Mate, this isn’t going to cost you anything, we’re not going to charge you’.”

Perhaps the kinship shouldn’t be a surprise as the Australian landscape is dotted with family wineries passed down through generations, and those to whom the baton passes have often grown up knowing their counterparts at other wineries in their region.

“It’s in every industry in the country, like your fourth-generation Italians running the same baker shop and whatever,” says Tyrrell.

“When a business is passed down, I believe it’s a very important part of the structure of our society. If it’s a family business, your view to the future is much longer.

“My grandsons have been driving tractors around, with some assistance, since they were probably three years old. The oldest one there is nearly nine and comes down at vintage time, and he gets in and works.

“My wife and I can know that what we’ve worked for is going to amount to something. I love the old families in the wine industry standing together. It’s very hard to argue against.”

Chester Osborn at his d’Arenberg building in McLaren Vale. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

Tyrrell’s Blacksmith’s Hut Heathcote Shiraz 2023

An inviting nose oozes plum and dark fruits, even blackberry pie and a splash of vanilla. The ripe plums dominate the palate too, complemented with aniseed and dark chocolate plus a hint of savouriness. The tannins are soft and well integrated, leading to a satisfying length in the mouth – just so approachable. 14.5% alc, RRP $40.

SPECIALS $22.99 in any dozen, $22.99 in our First Families dozen.

d’Arenberg Thunderstep Shiraz 2020

There’s serious depth here, starting with the deep ruby colour and seguing into intense dark fruits on the nose with flashes of licorice and vanilla. There’s a beguiling level of spice too, before the soft palate and rich texture usher in juicy plum and blackberry flavours, mingling with coffee, licorice and dark bitter chocolate. 15% alc, RRP $40.

SPECIALS $34 in any dozen, $22.99 in our First Families dozen.

Jim Barry The Farm Single Vineyard Clare Valley Cabernet 2022

As deep purple as any ’70s soundtrack, this offers intriguing notes of cassis and tobacco leaf upfront, cedar too, plus fresh plum and mulberry. The palate is just as fresh, full of black cherry and mulberry but balanced by a perfect dose of acidity and tannins that quietly assert themselves before a cool finish. 95 points, Nick Ryan. 14.1% alc, RRP $35.

SPECIALS $32.99 in any dozen, $22.99 in our First Families dozen.

Yalumba The Cigar Cabernet Sauvignon 2019

Everything about this tells you it’s Coonawarra to a tee. The spice and earthiness on the nose give way to dark plum, cassis, a minty freshness but also dark soy and tobacco notes. The palate is still fresh and lively, full of sweet fruit marshalled by grippy tannins that suggest it will reward cellaring but is also drinking beautifully now. 95 points, Wine Orbit. 94 points, James Halliday. 14% alc, RRP $35.

SPECIALS $31.99 in any dozen, $22.99 in our First Families dozen.

FIRST FAMILIES DOZEN Three bottles of each wine above for $22.99 a bottle. SAVE $174.

Order online or phone [phone] Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST. Deals are available only while stocks last. The Australian Wine Club is a commercial partnership with Laithwaites Wine, LIQP770016550.