Perhaps the mystery starts with the fact that Eden Valley is not a valley. This should have been obvious from "Mountadam". The region is high country within the Barossa Valley, so can be declassified to Barossa. Picturesque, with calla lilies on rolling hills, Eden Valley has the terroir and climate that produces grapes for well structured red wines and steely whites. Henschke is easily the most famous name of the region, and Hill of Grace its most famous wine. Henscke and its neighbours make many other great wines, including Riesling comparable to the Clare greats, the best Viognier in the country and some wonderful Shiraz. The 2006 Smallfry Riesling is crisp and minerally in the month, an excellent example of what the region can do with this varietel, and for $18 a bargain. The Virgilus is the name given by Yalumba to its sensational Viognier, with grapes from Eden Valley. At $36 this outstanding example of the variety was barrel fermented, and its opulence, with flavours of pears and apricots, lasts and lasts. This is a wine that is reminiscent of a summer day in Provence and was certainly one of the best wines tasted in Australia. Yalumba also produces a less complex (and less expensive) alternative which retains the crispness with slightly less opulence. It's called Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier. The 2002 Hutton Vale Shiraz crept up on me, and then took me down. This is a real wine, full of rich blackberry and raspberry fruit, starting to soften but still taut after five years. Grace comes to mind, and perhaps it should. As the rumour goes, the owners sold one of their three vineyards many years ago to Cyril Henschke when times were not so good, and those grapes are now used to produce Hill of Grace. If you can find Hutton Vale at $40, get as much as you can and let me know where.

Not to be outdone was The Eighth, produced by Saltram and named after its eighth winemaker (one was Peter Lehmann). This Shiraz won the Jimmy Watson trophy as the best Shiraz in the country, and when you consider the competition, you know how good it is. In 2002 the weather was very cool and the grapes ripened slowly. The result - outstanding - restrained spicy fruit on the palate that goes on and on. Oh, and by the way, the 2003 was just released at $185.