Marlargo Wines

This is the ultimate virtual winery, with virtual homes in Yarra Glen, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley. Each of the garishly labelled wines is contract-made by a different winemaker at a different winery, and the range is being extended further. The partners in the venture are Simon Austerberry, a sixth-generation farmer in the Pyrenees, and Mark Gibbs, a financial adviser from Melbourne. I'm far from convinced by the labels and purple prose (the Latina Cabernet said ‘be seduced…sultry, seductive, sensual' and assured us the wine is matured in ‘charismatic oak'). Both prices and production volume aspirations have been significantly - and sensibly - reduced. Exports to the US, Canada and Singapore. -JAMES HALLIDAY