By Ed Merrison“I felt so at the right place. I saw my mum and my uncle and they all said ‘Go away. Take some time off. Do whatever you want’. Nobody said ‘You have to do it’. None of the family said that. I had to actually convince them that I wanted to stay, that I wanted to be there. I just felt at home.” It was the moment that Theresa Breuer’s fate was sealed. May 2004; she was 20 years old and her father…

Congratulations, Theresa Breuer! Just a few weeks after she left these shores, Theresa was named German Winemaker of the Year by influential European wine magazine Falstaff. Great news among many snippets in this month's newsletter. We've had various domestic releases, such as the excellent 2015 single-vineyard Rieslings from Frankland Estate , Wantirna Estate's 2014 Lily Pinot and a leftfield, limited-edition Chardonnay from Airlie Bank. There's also been a clamour for the 2013 Chablis from Louis Michel and new Rhônes from Pierre Amadieu of Gigondas. On…

They’re on high rotation round here: 20 greatest hits from CellarHand's imports range, featuring 13 producers and 10 different regions. Distinctly European and with an irresistible feel-good factor, these wines are priced for everyday enjoyment. Please get in touch for mix n’ match opportunities to create your own playlist…  (more…)

 Chalmers Project is a new initiative from Australia’s undisputed champions of wine diversity. Kim and Tennille Chalmers combine vineyard and winery experimentation with some of the most exciting Mediterranean grapes thriving on the family’s Heathcote and Mildura properties. They’ve variously played with soil type, altitude, picking dates, skin contact, wholebunch ferments and more across Moscato Giallo, Fiano, Greco, Negroamaro, Aglianico and Nero d’Avola. Please note that the micro-batch production means that only very limited quantities are available, so you might have to move swiftly to…

"Each time I look, this little house in the village of Dizy appears more like a fanatical grower producer,” wrote wine writer Tyson Stelzer in The Champagne Guide 2016-2017, adding that no one else in this storied region can match its trajectory. “Jacquesson has leapt from ranking among Champagne’s top 20 houses to a lofty position among its top 10.” Laurent and Jean-Hervé Chiquet go against the grain in order to go forward. While some notable names are looking to procure more fruit and up output, the brothers…

“Chardonnay lovers will enjoy them virtually from the get-go,” wrote Antonio Galloni of Vinous Media of the Chablis wines of 2013. “Many wines are opulent and open-knit in the early going, with highly expressive aromatics,” he went on to say, adding that many growers reckoned the fruits of this vintage “more minerally than their 2012s”.It’d be wrong to paint is as plain-sailing, though. Some beautiful sunny summer days and a fine spell in late September were interrupted by smatterings of thunder, cold and rain. But…

“Jay is a dude. He looks like a rock star, and in his spare time he is one,” wrote British wine writer of the winemaker behind Oregon estate J. Christopher Wines. He’s a proper good guitarist, and the fact that he has a hobby band called Vin Halen hints at a sense of humour that serves him well in a partnership with the other dude in this enterprise: Mosel Riesling legend Ernst Loosen. Jay and Erni struck up a friendship in the early 2000s, cemented…

With each passing year the release of the single-vineyard Rieslings from this domain in far-flung Great Southern is greeted by greater and more widespread excitement and respect.  These new wines are sure to continue that trend. But this isn’t simply business as usual; it is a momentous occasion for the estate. For the past six years, second-generation winemaker Hunter Smith has been joined in the winery by brother-in-law Brian Kent. They’ve determinedly set about building on the tremendous progress made since Judi Cullam and Barrie…

Sharing wonderful wine is and always will be CellarHand's raison d'être. But the business is underpinned by family, a fact reflected by the evolution of our portfolio. Thus Mosel Riesling (Dr. Loosen) begat Oregon Pinot Noir (J. Christopher) and biodynamic Alsace (Ostertag) spawned Chilean Pinot (Montsecano). And now we bring you Napoleone Brewers, whose stream of small-batch beers has started to flow from a Yarra Valley source. We’ve enjoyed a tremendous relationship with Napoleone’s sister winery, Punt Road,  having taken on the role of Victorian distributor in 2001 and…

"No matter what the variety, what the style, PJ has already been there and done it," writes James Halliday of one of the two protagonists of Central Otago's Charteris. The other half of this trans-Tasman love story is PJ's wife, Christina Pattison. The couple met at Brokenwood, the iconic Hunter Valley estate where PJ spent 12 fateful and rewarding years. In 2015, CellarHand had the honour of welcoming Charteris and its superb wines to our portfolio. By this time, of course, PJ had become something of…

The heat is on - so we'd like to take the pressure off a little. To help you on the way, we've compiled a short guide to some of the most refreshing wines kicking round at CellarHand. It features sparkling wines, aromatic whites, rosés, light reds, magnums and a cocktail option - all at pourable prices. Take a look at the full CellarHand Summer Style guide by clicking here, and make sure this sunny season's as beautiful in your glass as it is in the vineyards.

Congratulations to the Balnaves family, for whom 2015 marked a quarter of a century of making wine under their own name. As Coonawarra born-and-bred Kirsty Balnaves puts it: “We made it – 25 years and the family are still speaking”. This is also the 20th year of former Qantas Winemaker of the Year Pete Bissell making the wines for the family. Theirs is a story of faith and faithfulness. They've stayed true to the vineyard, to their region, and to each other. They’ve made a…

Isn’t that nice? They’re letting the girls have a go. And all by themselves, too, to make sure they win! The inaugural Australian Women In Wine Awards  (AWIWA) are with us – and some mightn't know what to do with them. “My first thought was: What a lot of sexist nonsense,” confessed wine writer and convert Winsor Dobbin. How many others questioned whether these were a “necessary” addition to the wine calendar, or deemed this women-only competition self-defeating, serving to undermine the very people it…

    "This impressive 2013 is virtually a cultural monument and a must-buy for all those who regard wine not just as a drink, but as a handcrafted cultural attainment.” Yes, it’s a big statement. But then 2013 in the Wachau was a monumental, must-have kind of year.  Jancis Robinson called the Austrian whites she tasted from this vintage “dazzling”, and the results across the CellarHand portfolio more than live up to the hype. It was largely re-reading the declaration above, uttered by Wine Advocate…

Onannon is a young venture that’s grown up fast. In fact, there’s been some debate over when Onannon arrived. The tight-knit band of brothers released their first wine under this label in the very late noughties and James Halliday wasted no time in offering an avuncular slap on the back. He was in the know from day one, since Sam Middleton, Kaspar Hermann and Will Byron had all worked various vintages at Coldstream Hills. “Strictly speaking, I should disqualify myself from making any comment about them…