Ten Apostles

Aylward and Ashton say Australia has 10 great wineries—“beacons in a bleak landscape”. They wanted to write “Twelve Apostles”, but only ten came up to standard. Oblivious to the “wine glut”, these ten battle to keep pace with demand. Each wine tells a story, creates memorable connections between producer and consumers. Worldwide, they’re ranked with the best. There are big names missing from this book, but the plain-speaking authors aren’t looking for industry friends. Innovative techniques last century gave Australia the headstart in mass-producing good wines. The world caught up, Australia’s lustre evaporated, and wineries face painful restructuring or extinction. Not the apostles. This book reveals how they ignored the celebrity winemakers; carried on family traditions and resisted the laboratory approach; listened to the TERROIR of their vineyards, seeing themselves as custodians of the grape, not manipulators.