“One of the world’s finest co-operatives, with some superb vineyard sites,” is how Jancis Robinson’s offsider Julia Harding MW sums up Domäne Wachau. Here in Australia its Federspiel Grüner Veltliner and Riesling have established themselves as go-to Austrian whites. That’s understandable – the quality and value is incredible – but you might just as easily say that this producer is sorely underrated, remaining in the shadows of the Wachau aristocracy. Perhaps that stems from a time when its chief feat, and one not to be…

 Scorpo sits comfortably in the highest rank of wines from the Mornington Peninsula – or any of Australia’s cool-climate regions, for that matter. It’s been there for years, yet somehow seems like a slow-burning success. It’s been a little quiet about it, perhaps that’s why. But wine writers are vociferously unequivocal. We thought we ought to speak up, too.   This has been a true, from-the-ground-up project. The planning, planting, nurturing and honing of the vineyard absorb the attention of trained horticulturist and landscape architect…

  Remember how James Halliday called the Jimmy Watson-winning 2013 S.C. Pannell Adelaide Hills Syrah the “poster child of savoury-accented Australian red wine”? Well - emblematic, charismatic and extremely addictive - the poster child is back. We’re really pleased to present the latest release of this modern classic from Stephen Pannell, from the exceptional 2015 vintage in the Adelaide Hills. “I think and hope this will turn out to be one of the best wines we've made,” says the man himself. It’s got all the…

So much happening this September to put a spring in your step. Where to start? How about 2015 – that seems like a theme. Absolutely fantastic vintage, this is shaping up to be. Onannon’s Pinot and Chardonnay from Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland are out and awesome, as is Pip Farr’s Gippsland Pinot, while Matt Harrop and Shadowfax are reaping rewards from their focus on these two varieties in Macedon. From the Adelaide Hills, Stephen Pannell made one of his very best wines in 2015 - a Syrah that is at…

by Ed MerrisonGeoff Weaver is a man of conviction. You’d have to be to ask one of Australia’s most famous winemakers for a job before you’d so much as crushed your first grape. Or to borrow, in the early ‘80s,  $100,000 at 20% interest to sink into a vineyard in a region with no vines. Or to get out and hand-plant it in your spare moments away from your full-time gig, which just happens to be making a sizeable chunk of all Australia's wine. But Geoff - sportsman, farmer,…

It's eight years now since the talented trio of Onannon made their first wine together, and they're going from strength. If you missed the memo, this supergroup comprises three close mates with one goal: to craft wines that speak a little of themselves and a lot of their place. Sam Middleton, Kaspar Hermann and Will Byron each contribute the last letters of their surname to make Onannon. A friendship forged in winemaking studies was cemented in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with each of them serving…

The Michel family have been cultivating their passion for tradition and the Chablis terroir since 1850. The winery is situated in the heart of the village, with the 25-hectare vineyard spread over the very first slopes that were discovered by Cistercian monks in the 11th century. Two-thirds of production is designated premier cru, and the vision here revolves entirely around the vineyards. Of the estate’s team of 10, seven people spend the entire year in the fields. It’s 45 years since the family decided to stop making…

“Focused and direct and very good for the price.” That's the Bourgogne Blanc. It’s red counterpart is an “excellent example of generic burgundy – has lively fruit, fine tannins and unexpected length, all at a good price.” Those particular notes from Jancis Robinson’s faithful sidekick Julia Harding MW tell part of the story. We were unashamedly, and somewhat unhopefully, searching for that ever-elusive holy grail: great-value burgundy.  But like I say, just part of the story. We were striving to find Meursault. Not the village…

"I guess it’s a case of 'well if you think you can do better – go for it'. Swiss wine writer, René Gabriel, has designed a wine glass that, in my view, is brilliant." So wrote Auckland-based wine writer Bob Campbell MW of Gabriel-Glas, which has been an essential part of the CellarHand scene ever since we stumbled on it at Franz Hirtzberger’s Wachau winery years ago. We use it personally and professionally, and find that whatever’s in the glass – Mosel to Meursault, Burgenland to Bannockburn –…

     What a gorgeous discovery this has been. Franz-Josef Gansberger – Goose to his friends – told us about his girlfriend’s wines when he was out here representing Weingut Stadt Krems for Riesling Downunder. We were drawn in by images of these divine vineyards of the Weinviertel – Austria’s largest and most diverse wine-growing area – and the story of a woman whose heart led her back from a high-flying marketing career to her grandmother’s vineyards. Ingrid Groiss is back where she belongs, in the…

 Lots happening in July, both on the home front and internationally. The 2014 vintage steps up the sibling rivalry between Nick Farr's superb Sangreal and Farrside Pinots, and the 2015 Chardonnay is exactly what you'd wish for if you had the imagination. Speaking of Chardonnay, Vanya Cullen takes the grape into a whole new realm with her Kevin John Legacy Series. Staying out west, Frankland Estate's newly rebadged estate series is all present and correct - fab regional, varietal drinking at top value. Stephen Pannell gives us another hit of…

"If there is an estate in Barbaresco that deserves more attention, it is without question Cigliuti. The 2012s were bottled in the weeks leading up to my recent visit, yet they were super-impressive." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media“Cigliuti's 2012 Barbarescos are among the most successful wines of the vintage,” reported Antonio Galloni of Vinous Media from his visit at the end of last year. “For reasons I don't fully understand, this small, family-run estate in the Bricco di Neive district just outside of Neive proper remains very…

 “This is another Pinot masterpiece from the experienced hands of [Nick] Farr,” wrote Nick Stock a few weeks back. This was in a tasting report on the Geelong region. The 2013 Tout Près came top, and the 2014 Chardonnay by Farr – the immediate predecessor to this release, labelled “immaculate” by Campbell Mattinson – came second. Every other wine by Farr and Farr Rising came equal fourth or fifth. Nick Stock went on to ponder why the likes of Nick Farr “can consistently make some…

So, to start this story we have to go back a little in time. Like, 6,000 years. That’s when the world’s oldest wine cellar was built in the part of the world that begat Zorah. The biblical terroir is something to behold, and the tagline for the top cuvée is “vines older than time”. Indeed the Areni Noir grape it’s made from – indigenous to this part of Armenia – grows on low-yielding bush vines in semi-abandoned sites planted well over 100 years ago, in…

Romain and Virginie Taupenot have afforded us the luxury of expecting constant refinement every time we visit. They’ve faced stiff challenges over recent vintages and have risen above them all. 2014 wasn’t a picnic but it worked out beautifully for the best in Burgundy. Taupenot-Merme, thanks to fine sites and the excellent focus of this brother-and-sister act, has firmly earned its place in this rank. “I’ve been visiting Romain Taupenot at Domaine Taupenot-Merme for quite a few years now, and the name appears to be…