LANGOROUS AFTERNOON AT LONGVIEW

Peter and Mark Saturno, proprietors, and vineyard doctor Dino Cotsaris entertained a mob of wine critics at their stunning Longview Vineyard and B&B/restaurant complex yesterday. We tasted their large range of premium wines and marvelled at the beauty of their special spot at Macclesfield in the Adelaide Hills. 

I loved the pale buttery florals of their Red Bucket Semillon Sauvignon Blanc 2014 ($17; 93 points); the bone dry, appetising crunch of the Boat Shed Nebbiolo Rosato 2014 ($19.50; 92) and the gentle maturing confection and flesh of the The Piece Shiraz 2009 ($70; 92++) which gives a good indication of how more recent vintages of this line will develop.

The Saturno brothers are always pushing the edges of label design and run an annual competition for graffiti artists who spray big works against the backdrop of that beautiful vineyard. Each year the winning work becomes the label of The Piece, the top Longview Shiraz. King sprayer Tarns One was on hand to commemorate our visit with a big beauty (top and bottom) as we did our gentle work in the tasting room.

Mark Saturno with designer Anthony DeLeo above, and below is public relations diva Karyn Foster, who originally owned the property before her ex husband, Two Dogs lemonade man Duncan MacGillivray - who died in Bali in January - planted the vineyard.

As there was long engaging conversation about design, and the science and art of precise presentation of product to person, it seemed entirely fitting that the last tinctures we took came from these pinnacles of packaging, which happened to hold an elixir which seemed a tad stiffer than their original contents - I'll take all the blame ... photos Philip White