Posted on by Stew Went

Hi everyone!

As per usual no shortage of amazing wine hitting the shelf. I have to say, after spending the last 5 years in Phuket Thailand, I will never ever complain about the sheer diversity of wine types on the retail shelves here in Oz (compared to a small sea of generic swill from France and Chile). And, believe it or not, the pricing is not so bad here either!

 

Critics Favs      

Longview cleans up again with its 2019 'Queenie' Pinot Grigio $22 from the Adelaide Hills.  "Top Value Wines of Australia" - The Real Review, Nov '20, "#1 of 24 2019 Pinot Grigio tasted from Adelaide Hills over 12 months" - The Real Review, Nov '20,  "Hot 100 Wines of SA" The Adelaide Review '19 + '20.

Moores Hill from the Tamar Valley in North Tassie is the state's first 'off-the-grid' winery. They became Tasmania's first 100% solar-powered winery in 2017 and the wines are all made onsite. The just released 2019 Riesling $30 picked up 95pts from James Halliday. 

Fiano is a vine variety the Chalmers (visionary grape-growing family) first imported into Australia in 2002 and made a first wine from back in 2005. This vegan-friendly wine from the 2019 vintage was made with no additions apart from a pinch of sulphur. It's a generous, balanced style with notes of lemon curd, dandelion and pine needle, finishing fresh with an appealing soft, pithy bitterness. "The unique flavour and killer structure make it a must-have drop for 2021." Toni Paterson MW - Gourmet Traveller WINE 

New Releases

Swan Valley's Corymbria has created plenty of buzz with recent releases such that our stocks of existing vintages is largely depleted. Thankfully the 2019 Tempranillo-based blend ($39) has just dropped (95pts Halliday) and again we are expecting big things of this wine.

Battle of Bosworth has always been an industry leader when it comes to certified organic wines and in recent years they have shown impressive skills with preservative free wines. Let's be honest - there aren't a lot of decent examples around the traps but the Puritan Shiraz 2020 $23 certainly shows how good such wines can be in skilled hands.

Margaret River veterans Woodlands have just rolled to the 2019 vintage with their 'entry level' Chardonnay $30. These guys established themselves about the same time as Cullen and Mosswood yet, sadly, rarely receive the same praise. Fortunately for the punter this translates into very reasonable prices for the quality on offer.

 

Wine Show Results

The Lake Breeze Winemakers Selection Shiraz 2016 $45 has picked up Gold Medals at both the Perth Royal Show and the Langhorne Creek Wine Show. As per usual wines from this region remain criminally under-rated.

Lightfoot & Sons 'Myrtle Point' Rose from 2019 has again picked up the Trophy for 'Best Rose' at the Gippsland Wine Show which, impressively, makes it 3 years in a row for such a wine. This is good going at $23.

Longview's Shiraz Barbera blend 'Vista' 2018 has picked up 3 Gold Medals around the country (Sydney Royal Wine Show, Adelaide Hills Wine Show, Australian Cool Climate Wine Show). This is an excellent result for a locally made Barbera blend as I think it's safe to say we haven't yet, as a nation, hit our straps with this variety (yet).

Until next time......drink well!