The Reilly's philosophy is to produce low volumes of characterful, hand made wines. Clare Valley Cabernet is picked off closely husbanded vineyards at optimal ripeness to be given a good old fashioned vinification and hand plunging in open vats. The moniker may sound a bit bonkers but the Barking Mads are extremely well made wines, very enjoyable in their early years, they offer the quality of fruit and vigor of tannin to richly reward those with patience, but why wait? Enjoy today alongside grilled meats, osso bucco or veal and tomato ragu.

Clare Valley lies just over 100km north of Adelaide, one of the oldest wine regions in Australia. Hugh Reilly established his homestead here in 1856, it is still headquarters to Reilly Wines. Cabernet Sauvignon is sourced from splendid, dry grown blocks on the St Clare Vineyard at Leasingham, fasidiously cropped to a lean 2.0T/acre. Terroir and climes are ideal, long hot summer days and cool nights serve to fully ripen the grapes while the skins develop fine tannins. Grapes are hand picked, inoculated to AWRI 796 yeasts and treated to a traditional vinification in open fermenters for ten days. The completed wine is matured eighteen months in a selection of fine French oak hogsheads.