It feels like a mixed and meaty kind of news month, with the kind of vibrant diversity that we adventurous winelovers espouse. The big release for the month – along with Mount Mary’s JWDM – is Nick Farr’s 2017 Sangreal and Farrside Pinot Noir alongside his whites from 2018. It won’t surprise you to hear that it’s another affirmation of the way this family is still streaking ahead of the pack, finding ever more precise detail and harmony in the wines. Elsewhere in Pinot-land, there are vintage rolls for fellow Victorians Shadowfax, Punt Road and Onannon. The rest of the domestic news is dominated by stellar reviews, spanning the likes of Frankland Estate, Glaetzer, S.C. Pannell and Charteris.
The import side of things comes with a distinct French accent this month, with 2018 Chablis and its Petit brother arriving from Louis Michel, along with a full suite of organic Viré-Clessé wines from the exceptional old-vine holdings of André Bonhomme. From the Loire, the new vintage of Frédéric Mabileau’s Chenin des Rouillères from Anjou has landed to rejoin the Rouillères Cabernet Franc from Saint-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil and Racines Cabernet Franc from Bourgueil. There’s even a French link to our Californian shipment, as the sublime Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from Hyde de Villaine hits these shores. These are the wines grown on on the vineyard of the Hyde family in Carneros in partnership with viticulturist Larry Hyde’s brother-in-law Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. And heading on a more Teutonic slant, we have a couple of new-vintage Grüner Veltiners bursting on the scene, while Johannes Hasselbach’s Gunderloch wines are basking in the glow of rave reviews from Wine Spectator.
Click here to read the July newsletter in full.