Dandelion Vineyards is a unique and exciting Vineyard Collective - a fusion of Vineyards and Vignerons spread across South Australia. Established by the hugely talented Elena Brooks, originally from Bulgaria. Elena's wine career began as a teenager when her mother worked in a PR and Communications role at a local winery where she would help out during school holidays. With the fall of communism in the late eighties, the market for Bulgarian wine opened up quickly and before long Flying Winemakers, mostly from Australia came over to introduce a more modern style of winemaking techniques to compliment Bulgaria's old world traditions. Luckily Elena was learning English at school so she was relied upon as the winery's only translator and soon amassed a wealth of knowledge on the subject, and a growing thirst to learn more. She went to study Oenology in Adelaide where most of the Flying Winemakers she'd met had studied too, and her love of the region ( and an Aussie bloke ) has turned into her new home.

Elena believes the more time you spend in the vineyard understanding the site, the soil and the fruit...the easier it is to make the wine. She refers to her wines as more natural than bespoke, more born than made. She is a firm believer in the right grape, right place theory, which is why the Collective works so well for her winemaking style. She and fellow co -owners of Dandelion Vineyards, own properties throughout the region and use their vineyards to supply grapes from their respective sub regions. And if they need a variety outside of their own resources, then together they use a network of local contacts of family owned vineyards with the right grapes from the right sites.

Lionheart is a tribute to Barossa's lifelong champion of ancient vines and fellow Collective Owner Carl Lindner - known as the Lion of the Barossa for his huge community heart and leonic beard/mane. Carl was associated with no less than four extraordinary Barossan Wine Brands during his life - St Hallett, Langmeil, Dandelion and Seppeltsfield but sadly passed away from cancer in 2017. The fruit for this wine comes off one of Carl and wife Peg's vineyard properties. An old vine Barossan vineyard with gnarly vines spanning back as far as 100 years, not just surviving but thriving on some of the most ancient soils found on the planet!

This is quintessential Barossa Shiraz, but Elena has weaved her winemaking magic and created an elegant style while retaining all the powerhouse flavours of the region. The wine is beautiful not brazen, and balanced not boisterous. Made with the utmost of care - hand harvesting the fruit, gently basket pressing and naturally fermenting into a mix of new and seasoned French oak barriques for eighteen months.

There's plum, olive, chocolate and rosemary on the nose, and jammy rich ripe fruit abundantly clear on the palate, but with a restraint that also highlights its clean minerality and more savoury characters. This is drinking superbly right now but has the structure to keep unfolding through to 2027 and beyond with careful cellaring. An absolute bargain to put away in the cellar for 5-7 years to unfold.

It's an extremely versatile wine so pair with robust pork dishes or char-grilled chicken, a spicy sausage or perhaps a classic peppered steak!

Dandelion Vineyards have made a grand entrance onto the Australian Winemaking scene, and turned the heads of many critics already. This particular Lionheart of Barossa Shiraz has a long list of accolades including Platinum at the Winemaker Challenge International Wine Competition 2020 and a further four Gold Medals from around the globe too.

If you're a red wine lover who wants power as well as poise and balance, then do not pass up this stunning promotional price of only $22.90 ...why pay up to $32.99 elsewhere!