New Releases & Highlights - January 31st 2021

Critics Favs         

Canberra’s Mount Majura scored a spectacular Shiraz vintage in 2018 with Gold Medals @ the NSW Small Winemakers Wine Show and the Canberra & Region Wine Show. James Halliday is a fan as well, scoring the wine 96pts. Yet another classic case of an amazing low-key wine that gets hidden in the market place, or more precisely, our website.

There’s no shortage of amazing micro producers in the Adelaide Hills these days but Turon has really stood out from the pack with recent vintages. Beautifully crafted wines with a focus on proven classic varieties for the region. In particular we like the 2019 Chardonnay $31 (96pts Halliday) and the 2019 Pinot Noir $31 (95pts Halliday, 93pts WineFront)

"This is the thoroughly impressive venture of newlyweds Turon and Alex White. They have built a winery at their property in Lenswood and turned it into a co-operative winery from the outset, where young winemakers can work together, share equipment, resources and knowledge. Given the quality of the wines released under the Turon Wines label, one is tempted to say the sky's the limit. As it is, it was one of the top new wineries in the Wine Companion 2019." James Halliday

New Releases

There’s no doubt the reputation of Geelong has risen more sharply than any other Victorian wine region in recent years. This newfound glamour has been driven by the likes of the Farr family, Lethbridge & Clyde Park but we should never forget the original trailblazer Bannockburn. We have updated our range to include some new releases but safe to say quality (& relative value) remains extremely high across range. And if we had to make some recommendations? The 2017 SRH ‘reserve’ Chardonnay $79 (Geelong’s oldest Chardonnay vines; 14 rows at 45yrs of age), a Northern Rhone lookalike in the 2017 'De La Roche Shiraz $59 and the 1314 AD ‘’baby’ Pinot Noir $27 (a recently developed entry-level label).

And speaking of trail blazers let’s move further west, 220km to be exact, to the rapidly emerging Riesling superstar region of Henty. Pioneering winery Crawford River singlehandedly put Henty on the map and in doing so firmly established itself as one of Australia’s greatest Riesling producers. Actually, some say THE best (myself included). Henty will never match the Clare Valley and Great Southern for output but I’m confident in time it be regarded as 'Numero Uno' for top quality Riesling. As it happens Crawford River have released a trio of new vintages covering the ‘entry level’ Young Vines 2019 $32, the ‘original’ 2019 $45 (“Pound for pound one of the greatest wines in Australia, by my reckoning, value and quality” – WineFront) and a new edition to the museum release program in the form of the 2013 $75.

Wine Show Results

David Bicknell and Oakridge just cleaned up big time at the Yarra Valley Wine show. I can’t recall the last time we witnessed such a dominate result from a single producer. How does 9 Trophies including Best Red and Best White sound? Not bad eh!

Lucky for you we have deep coverage of the expansive Oakridge rangeacross all points and, as per usual, super-competitive pricing. All wines Vegan Friendly.

864 Single Block Releases

2018 Chardonnay ‘Funder & Diamond Drive Block $65 

2018 Syrah ‘Close Planted Block’ $75 (Gold Medal, 97pts Halliday)

Local Vineyard Range

2019 Chardonnay ‘Willow Lake’ $34 was $39 (oldest vineyard in the Upper Yarra Valley)

2018 Chardonnay ‘Henk’ $30 was $37 (Gold Medal, 97pts James Suckling, 95pts Huon Hooke)

2019 Pinot Meunier $30 (2 Gold Medals)

Yarra Valley Range

2018 Chardonnay $25 (94pts Halliday, Gold Medal Sydney Royal Wine Show)

2019 Rose $26 (Gold Medal)