News
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Newsletter #1 (Nov 2025)
Hello.
As I've said before it's been a while 'between drinks', as least as far as newsletters and email comms are concerned. I have a decent excuse however - we've been busy with real-world stuff like selling the Smith Street site and taking over the 'Grape and Hop' neighbourhood bar in Montmorency in Melbourne's north east (near Eltham).
The bar has an incredibly strong local following and we've had much success introducing craft via 5 rotating tap options) and introduce nearly 100 packaged beer options. We've given the wine a fair shake-up as well with the additional of 150+ high quality wines to the bottle list. There are plenty of superstars on the shelves (Rockford, Bindi, Mosswood, Koomilya, Fighting Gully, Blue Poles, Yeringberg etc etc) and we are pretty confident we have the most expansive and exciting list in Melbourne's north east.
On the digital side of things we have given this site a facelift and broadened the reach to include quality small wineries and some emphasis on Old & Rare. Our other wine e-com venture, Slow Beer & Wine, will continue to focus on both quality wine and beer, most of which is from small producers.
Ok - down to business........
New Stuff - we are just a little bit chuffed to be one of very few retailers across the country for Hoffmann Family (Barossa Valley) and Domaine Razal (Macedon Ranges). Both possess a great and storied history; I'm sure references to 'Dallwitz Block' and 'Virgin Hills' will catch the eye of any true wine geek.
Wine on Sale - some excellent bargains to be had here from some big name high end red wines.....think Grant Burge, Hewitson, Passing Clouds and Dave Powell's newish gig Neldner Road. Some of these are running at 50% (at least) off the cellar door price!
Bindi / Dhillon - we have finally got our act together and moved a bit quicker on securing a Bindi allocation this year. The wines under the proprietory label are as rare as hens teeth and for most wines we have an allocation of no more than 2 or 4 bottles! (seriously!!). The regional range (Dhillon) is a much different story and we have good stocks on most. Shout out for the 2025 Rose (dry, loads of textural mouthfeel) and the super simple and effective Merlot blend the 'Accidental Red''. Might even be able to take a chill but we haven't tried this approach yet.
See you in the bar sometime!
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Natural Wines - A Quick Guide
The key to Natural Wine is minimal chemical and technological intervention. This covers both the growing of grapes and the production of wine itself. Whilst wine can be considered both organic and biodynamic it still might fail a strict Natural Wine criteria.
But that’s the problem! There is no agreed standard of Natural Wine (be it across regions or nations) and indeed legally recognizable qualification bodies do not exist.
Perhaps it is more sensible when describing such wines to reference Natural ‘principles’ rather than any apparent factual statement.
It is generally agreed that Natural Wines, at a minimum, must be grown organically. Although it should be noted some wines considered ‘Organic’ may have tiny amounts of sulphur added. This in itself would contravene many Natural Wine definitions.
Some scouring of the internet reveals some common themes around views on Natural Wine criteria:
- No irrigation
- Hand picked
- Grown to organic principles
- Native yeasts only
- No added sugar, acids, colour, sulphur, flavouring of any kind (some consider oak a no no!)
- No or very limited filtration or use of techniques such as fruit concentration
Simply put, nothing should be added or taken away in the production process. The wine is simply naturally fermented grape juice and nothing (or very little) else.
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Certified Organic Wines - A Quick Guide
If you see a wine tagged or classified as 'Certified Organic' on the Good Soul Wines website you can be sure we have been able to identify / verify that the wine has achieved a legally recogised organic certification in its home market.
Some of these certifications include:
- ACO Certification Ltd (Australia)
- NASAA Certified Organic (Australia)
- OGA Certified Organic (Australia)
- BioGrow (NZ)
- AsureQuality (NZ)
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What We're Drinking - November 2025
Naked Run 'Hill 5' Shiraz Cabernet 2018 (Clare Valley)
Solid AF and a brilliant auction buy at $10 pb. Clare Valley reds have a habit, at least IMHO, of showing a restrained seriousness and class, and that is certaintly evident here. Dry red berries, some firmness initially, but superb balance and calmness. Hitting its stride at 7yrs.
Domaine Razal 'Heritage Blend' Cabernet Shiraz Malbec Merlot 2024 (Macedon Ranges)
Wanted to like this more than I did. Always a tough gig growing Cab and Shiraz at 650m in this part of the world and I think the challenge shows here, albeit in an expected way. Subtle dry berries and looks like a slightly shy BDX blend with soft spice and minor tannin fur. Very fine boned and will have greatly appeal to those with classic sensibilities.
Ghost Rock Riesling 2024 (North West Tasmania)
Plenty to like here. Fruit forward with sweet citrus but the acid backbone is very too far away and keeps things (mostly) straight. Should have instant/wide appeal.
Antinori 'Peppoli' Chianti Classico Sangiovese 2023 (Tuscany)
Antinor's effort to make an 'international' style? Works for me......soft billowing fruits early before some game a chocolate kicks in. Typical CC backbone albeit the fruit always does the talking. Like.
John Duval 'Eligo' Shiraz 2021 (Barossa Valley)
A rare act of midweek excess (for me at least). Very well mannered and under control, particularly for the vintage. Fruits and just starting to open up but the spicy oak still features (very well handled BTW). Just stretches beyond midweight but will be assured a long life.
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Organic Wine Making Principles - A Quick Guide
Compared to the sometimes vague nature of 'Natural Wines' the legitimacy of an 'Organic Wine' claim is much easier to assess
Why? Many markets globally have introduced legally recognizable and enforceable labeling laws around what constitutes an organic product.
Whilst laws and regulations differ from country to country there are some common themes for authentic organic wine (both grapes and production):
- No Synthetic Fertilizers, Herbicides or Pesticides
- No Added Sulfites
Wineries employing organic farming principles often adhere to grape growing and wine making practices that also happen to be closely aligned to most definitions of 'Natural Wines' These include:
- minimal technology intervention for grape growing (e.g hand picking)
- natural/native yeasts
- no added acids
- nil/low filtration