Joe and Lou Holyman, together with CellarHand, are delighted to announce that CellarHand has taken up the mantle as exclusive distributor of the Stoney Rise and Holyman throughout Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Several members of the CellarHand team have long been friends with the Holymans, and all of us have sought out and enjoyed their exceptional wines. This mutual admiration culminated in Stoney Rise’s entry into our Tassie portfolio in 2018. A natural – and bloody exciting – progression has been the adoption of these fabulous wines for our broader customer base.
This standout Tamar Valley producer provides an excellent complement to our other Tasmanian star, the biodynamic estate of Steve and Monique Lubiana in the Derwent Valley. Joe and Lou clearly fit the CellarHand mould as a small, family producer with long-term vision and the highest quality aspirations from the outset. A fairly young initiative in its own right, the roots here are fittingly deep, what with Joe’s parents’ Tasmanian grape-growing history stretching back four decades. And, of course, it was the old vines of this beautiful 1986-planted vineyard that drew Joe and Lou to this beautiful site back in the early 2000s. There’s also a strong precedent in our portfolio of growers who take the quality of their work dead seriously, but with the creativity and fearlessness to push the envelope. We can also relate to the principle of honouring great terroir and loving top booze in equal measure. And this is what the Holymans do, from the outstanding fruit-first Stoney Rise Pinot and delicious fringe of No Clothes and Grüner Veltliner, right up to the old-vine Holyman wines. Year after year the latter rival the finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay reared on the Apple Isle – or anywhere on mainland Australia.
This is an ideal fit and an exciting new chapter for Stoney Rise and CellarHand. We’re really excited to bring these wines to you.
2018 Stoney Rise ‘No Clothes’ Pinot Noir RRP $35
The fruit for this Pinot Noir comes from a vineyard in Evandale, Tasmania. The grapes are handpicked and basket pressed prior to minimal aging in old French oak. A fresh, bright and juicy Pinot Noir made to drink all year round. No fining, filtration or sulphur.
Fruit comes from Evandale, just south of Lonny International Airport. Goes into old oak because Joe doesn’t have a spare tank to put it in. Here we go. Best served chilled, like revenge. 90 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front September 2018
2017 Stoney Rise Pinot Noir RRP $35
Our 2017 Stoney Rise Pinot Noir is a 50/50 blend of fruit we grow and fruit we purchase from our small growers around the Tamar Valley. The 50% from our vineyard comprises just over half fruit from vines planted in 2004 and the remainder from our older vines, planted in 1986 – which is the component of the blend that gives this wine its structure and backbone. The fruit was cold-soaked for five days before undergoing a natural ferment. Once the ferment was finished the wine was basket pressed into French oak. Approximately 10% of the barrels we use for our Stoney Rise Pinot Noir are new, with the remainder two years old or older. There’s some dark cherry and raspberry fruit on the nose. The palate starts out with fresh fruits and a hint of earthiness, and then the depth and structure of the old-vine fruit kicks in giving the wine a long and savoury finish. While the initial juicy freshness makes this wine immediately enjoyable, the structure will make it a wine that you can happily lay down for 5+ years. – Lou & Joe Holyman
Spice, coffee grounds, cherry and raspberry, stony things. Light bodied, some sourness and tang to the flavour profile, though a fair volume of red fruit is there too, in with some earthy character. Tannin is light and grainy, and the finish is fresh and ‘mineral’. A more bony style, but good fresh drinking. 92 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front September 2018
2016 Holyman Pinot Noir RRP $57
Handpicked and sorted, this 100% estate grown fruit comes from vines planted in 1986, which 60% of fruit are whole bunch. Thirty percent of the wine is aged in new French oak to bring complex smoky elements complementing the vibrant red berries and chalky tannins. No fining or filtration and minimal sulphur. Light in colour, but full of flavour. Typical forest floor and hints of cranberry and red cherry. The palate has all of the hallmark red-fruits, hints of mushroom and a complexing smoky oak edge. The chalky tannin from the whole bunch component perfectly complements the fresh fruits. Whilst this wine is slightly more fruit forward than our usual style we still think it is built to last. – Lou & Joe Holyman
Raspberry and cherry, pencils and roses, dusting of sweet spice. Medium bodied, juiciness of fruit, a little graphite tannin, ‘minerally’ acidity, lovely polish and freshness, with a fine long finish. It’s perhaps the not the most concentrated, but has a charm and delicacy that pulls you in. A few years in the cellar will see it come along nicely, I feel. 94+ points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front October 2017
2016 Holyman Project X Pinot Noir RRP $90
100% estate-grown, single-block wine, from vines planted in 1986. The 2016 season was a warm one for us, with the warm days moving into warm nights, which kept the fruit ripening. Our earliest start ever! The fruit for Project X comes from a block we like to call Boris. It’s all handpicked, and our well-trained pickers do all our fruit sorting in the vineyard. For this wine they only select perfect bunches with well lignified stalks allowing us to make this 100% whole bunch, 100% new oak wine. It was bottled without being fined or filtered, and only about 55 dozen bottles were made.
One of the things I love about our whole bunch wines is that they always have less colour than our other wines and the fruit characters are always in the brighter fruits. Fresh raspberry and strawberry on the nose. The palate is clean and structured with the usual hints of Campari, with the underlying intensity of the stalk tannin. One to be cellared for many years. – Lou & Joe Holyman
It’s a 100% whole bunch with 100% new oak (puncheon). Red fruits, flowers, exotic spices, alpine herbs. Light in body, fresh and bony, red fruits and spice, lacy acidity, graphite tannin, a translucent character, Pinot Noir poured over river rocks, or something like that. Pulls bunchy and savoury on the finish, which is clear and long. Excellent, but needs time. 94+ points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front September 2018