It was wonderful to mark our 20th Anniversary with tastings in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, featuring 25 international growers and a further 30 from Australia and New Zealand. Producers from Champagne, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Alsace, Loire, Mosel, Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Wachau, Kremstal, Weinviertel, Piedmont, England and Armenia rubbed shoulders with exceptional homegrown talent. And of course we thank all those from the trade and wine-loving public who came out to show them love!
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- Matthias Müller poured the wines of husband-and-wife Riesling power couple Eva Clüsserath (Ansgar Clüsserath, Mosel) and Philipp Wittmann (Wittmann, Rheinhessen). [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Pete Bissell, winemaker for Coonawarra’s Balnaves family since 1990, has for many years crafted some of Australia’s finest Cabernet Sauvignon, as well as a Chardonnay to rival the very best of the usual suspects. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Claire Mulholland of biodynamic Central Otago producer Burn Cottage. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Pip Farr showed off her 2017 Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir alongside Joel Carey, who assists Pip’s brother Nick with the By Farr wines. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Kim and Tennille Chalmers flaunted their best-ever set of wines, all rebadged with labels which give more of a clue as to the energy and vibrancy of this family and their wines. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- PJ Charteris with Central Otago Pinot Noir from his self-titled venture with wife Chrissi Pattison. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Claudia Cigliuti was one of three Piedmontese producers to make the trip to Australia, and won a legion of fans with her wonderful Barbera and Barbaresco. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Rob Mann had to leave wife Gen back in Swan Valley to pick the 2019 Corymbia wines. This is a new name in the portfolio, but already making waves with super Chenin Blanc and a Tempranillo-dominant red blend. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Dario Sirotti came across from Margaret River to pour the Cullen wines, including the unveiling of 2017 Diana Madeline. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Heather Stewart from Delta in Marlborough showed two renditions of her Pinot Noir. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Sophie Allan did a great job standing in for parents Claire and Mike of Huia, showing the small-batch wines of this biodynamic estate in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Jeroen Erens of Domäne Wachau showed Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from great terraced vineyards on the Danube, as well as a delicious Beerenauslese. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Dominique Piron, president of Inter Beaujolais, is a great ambassador for his region with charming Beaujolais-Villages, Brouilly, Fleurie and Morgon Côte du Py on display. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Erni Loosen loves Australia so much, he’s pretty much a permanent fixture here each February. He’s the life and soul of the party – we’re so lucky to have him here! [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Sam Barry of clos Clare poured Riesling, Grenache and Shiraz – and unveiled a pair of future-release Rieslings he and brother Tom have made with Erni Loosen. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Lizzie Smith and Brian Kent of Frankland Estate, the estate that planted the seed that grew into CellarHand, and a lynchpin of the portfolio. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Eugene Qiao, winemaker at G.D. Vajra in Piedmont, showed Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo alongside Luigi Baudana’s Dragon white blend. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Franz-Josef Gansberger – Goose to his friends – showed his Stadt Krems and Stift Göttweig wines alongside those of Weinviertel superstar – and his girlfriend – Ingrid Groiss. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Johannes Hasselbach was on Aussie soil for just five days, but as always made an impact with his intellect, humour and scintillating Roter Hang wines. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Here’s Dominik Sona of Koehler-Ruprecht in the Pfalz. It seems like more and more people are cottoning onto the brilliance of this man, and this highly individual estate. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Geoff Weaver, one of the true gentlemen of wine, brought his kind smile and pristine single-vineyard Adelaide Hills wines. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Emma Rice of Hattingley Valley left them in doubt as to why she – and English sparkling wine – are a force to be reckoned with. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Ben Glaetzer, the man behind Glaetzer of Barossa Valley and Heartland of Langhorne Creek. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Nadine Gublin was exceptionally busy, not least because she is the winemaker for estates in Champagne, Burgundy and Beaujolais. The wines of Champagne Labruyère, Domaine Labruyère and Jacques Prieur are relatively new to the porfolio and making a very deep impression. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Benjamin Vitrac of Jacquesson, unarguably one of the finest growers of Champagne. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Rising star Jean-Marc Sélèque’s grower Champagne from Pierry and surrounds is another relatively recent, but massive, hit. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Manuela Rivetti of La Spinetta was among a trio of women from Piedmont in attendance. She had beautiful single-vineyard Moscato to round out a tasting of Barbera and Barbaresco. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Guillaume Michel of Domaine Louis Michel showed how thrilling, precise and diverse unoaked Chardonnay can be from its heavenly home in Chablis. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Rémy and Nathalie Mabileau flew the flag for the Loire Valley with their biodynamic Chenin Blanc, Pineau d’Aunis and Cabernet Franc from Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and surrounds. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Elsa Matrot delighted all with the wines she grows in Meursault with sister Adèle. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Roland Velich, Austria’s baron of Blaufränkisch, was one of three close Burgenland friends who made the trip. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Gerhard and Brigitte Pittnauer are Austria’s most forward-thinking couple with wines bursting with character and vitality. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Hannes Schuster of Rosi Schuster, the third of the Burgenland triumvirate, is one of Austria’s true young guns and captured the imagination with Blaufränkisch, Rotburger and Sankt Laurent. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Claire Middleton of Mount Mary showed perhaps Australia’s most revered four-wine line-up from 2016 on the hallowed Yarra Valley site. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Alana Langworthy felt a little weird showing the sold-out Nocturne wines she makes with husband Julian. But that’s what you get when you’re outrageously popular – and they’ll be back! [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Will Byron, one third of Onannon, didn’t stop smiling all week while showing the wines he makes with Sam Middleton and Kaspar Hermann. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Thomas Larmoyer of Domaine Ostertag in Alsace demonstrated what makes this France’s foremost, and most exciting, biodynamic domaine. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Freddy Blanck of organically farmed Domaine Paul Blanck in Alsace grows wines that celebrate the joie de vivre of this magical little pocket of France. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Tim Shand of Punt Road has shown audacity and tenacity in spades as he’s elevated the estate to the top echelon of the Yarra Valley for excitement as well as value. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Stephen Pannell is rightly one of the most revered winemakers in Australia for his knack, going back decades, of translating vine cultivation into the culture of eating, drinking and sharing in modern Australia. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Paul Scorpo showed the fruits of his idyllic ridge in Merricks North on the Mornington Peninsula. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Al Timms flew the flag for the Macedon Ranges, showing Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the coolest region on the Aussie mainland. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Anna Flowerday of biodynamic estate Te Whare Ra (TWR) showed off what she calls “an acoustic version of Marlborough” – moving wines of texture and nuance. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Marco and Steve Lubiana have a range of wines from sparkling through aromatic whites to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with every element of the range absolutely purring. Tasmania’s first biodynamic estate, still leading the way! [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- The newest addition to the portfolio, Lou and Joe Holyman of Stoney Rise in Tasmania’s Tamar Valley made their CellarHand debut at Zinc. Great to have them in the family. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Virginie Taupenot of Domaine Taupenot-Merme in Morey-Saint-Denis modelled the merchandise and seduced the crowds with beguiling Burgundy. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- It’s always a family affair for Wantirna Estate, with three generations coming out to represent this jewel in the Yarra Valley crown: Amelia, Liz, Reg and Maryann Egan. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Sandra de Pury enlisted the help of son Tasman to pour the 2015s from this historic, iconic Yarra Valley estate. [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]
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- Yeraz Tomassian and Zorik Gharibian of Zorah in Armenia blew minds with their ancient-vine Areni Noir reds and white blend of indigenous grapes Voskeat and Garandmak. An incredibly vibrant and engaging couple, with wines to match! [Photo: Elizabeth Clancy]