A heck of a lot happening on the home front this month, with Nick Farr’s inauguaral Irrewarra wines being the prominent new release. Chardonnay-swilling Will Byron of Onannon has been named as a finalist in Gourmet Traveller WINE‘s Winemaker of the Year, at the same time as Matthew Jukes placed this Gippsland beauty in his 100 Best Australian Wines. That same list included the likes of clos Clare Riesling and 2015 Glaetzer Anaperenna, which along with Amon-Ra received its first reviews this month. A lot of news revolves around Tyson Stelzer‘s Australian & New Zealand Wines of the Year 2017, in which Stephen Pannell featured heavily and Vanya Cullen took out both best Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
On the Kiwi side of things, Anna Flowerday of TWR has been invited to speak at the Terroir Conference in Shanghai later this year alongside the likes of Stéphane Derenoncourt, Philippe Guigal and Aubert de Villaine of DRC. Anna’s MANA Winegrowers’ pal Claire Allan of Huia visited Melbourne to wow people with the beguiling subtlety of her wines, while PJ Charteris has just released the 2014 version of his Central Otago Pinot Noir. And another Kiwi, Matt Harrop of Shadowfax, is breathing a sigh of relief after his colleagues and wines came out unscathed from a major blaze in Werribee.
As for imports, get ready for Burgundy. We’ve got 2015s from Taupenot-Merme on the way, plus a Bourgogne red and white from legendary Lalou Bize-Leroy. From Austria, the Pittnauers have picked up a coveted trophy for their wines and biodynamic viticulture, and we’ve just taken delivery of Prager’s 2016 Federspiels from the Wachau. Lastly, we have a fab option for you to mix it up naturally with Contratto during Negroni week.
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