In 1992, Kim and Mark Longbottom started a winery in Australia's Padthaway district in the country's cool southern region, a three-hour drive from the chilly Antarctic Sea.

They were history buffs, so they named the winery Henry's Drive after the carrier who plied the mail route in that area by horse and stagecoach in the 1850s.

They stuck with the theme as new wines came along: Pillar Box red and white for the colorful mailboxes that dotted the then-remote hillsides; Parson's Flat Shiraz for the minister who rode the postal coach to tend to his scattered flock; The Trial of John Montford Cabernet Sauvignon for an outlaw who was hanged for robbing the mails and Dead Letter Office Shiraz for -- well, you get the idea.

Last year, sad to say, Mark Longbottom died, but his wife, Kim, and new winemaker Renae Hirsch are carrying on, working 500 acres of vines that produce 160,000 cases a year.

Imbued with complex scents of minerals from the limestone soils, the wines are made in the rich, fruity style popular with Australians and Americans. The bright sun produces fruit so ripe that their juice's sugar levels can ferment into wines with more than 15 percent alcohol.

''In some of our grape parcels we use reverse osmosis to bring down the alcohol level to make more balanced wines,'' Hirsch says. ``We want the wines to be fruity but without too much alcohol in the finish.''

Some of Henry's Drive's reds -- the Pillar Box Reserve Red, for example -- do end up at 15.5 percent alcohol (compared to a 12 percent average for wine), but they're so intensely fruity that they can handle it.

''We're happy with that,'' Hirsch says. ``We don't plan to change.''

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

• 2008 Henry's Drive Pillar Box White, Padthaway (67 percent sauvignon blanc, 28 percent verdelho, 5 percent chardonnay): tart kiwi and lime flavors, very dry, crisp, fruity; $12.

• 2005 Henry's Drive Parson's Flat Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon (70 percent shiraz, 30 percent cabernet sauvignon), Padthaway: aromas and flavors of lavender, violets, mulberries and chocolate;opulent and smooth; $40.

• 2005 Henry's Drive Reserve Shiraz (100 percent shiraz), Padthaway: intensely minty black raspberry flavors; mocha overtones; voluptuous and smooth; $50.

RECOMMENDED

• 2007 Henry's Drive Pillar Box White (56 percent chardonnay, 30 percent sauvignon blanc, 14 percent verdelho), Padthaway: green pear aromas and flavors; rich, opulent; sweet finish; $12.

• 2007 Henry's Drive Pillar Box Reserve Shiraz (100 percent shiraz), Padthaway: very dark color; aromas and flavors of mulberries and cocoa; velvety; deep, concentrated fruit; $20.

• 2007 Henry's Drive Pillar Box Red (65 percent shiraz, 25 percent cabernet sauvignon, 10 percent merlot), Padthaway: black raspberries and mocha; big, bright and fruity; soft tannins; $12.

• 2006 Henry's Drive Dead Letter Office Shiraz (100 percent shiraz), Padthaway: aromas and flavors of licorice and black cherries; very smooth; $27.

• 2006 Henry's Drive Shiraz (100 percent shiraz), Padthaway: cassis and espresso; lush, concentrated black fruit; $35.

• 2006 Henry's Drive Trial of John Montford Cabernet Sauvignon (100 percent cabernet sauvignon), Padthaway: earthy aromas; flavors of licorice and sweet chocolate; $30.

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