“One of the icon wine producers of Austria with one of the icon wine labels of the wine world,” wrote Mike Bennie of The Wine Front earlier this year, adding: “These are excellent wines.” We’re on the fabulous ‘15s now, though it was one of Knoll's 2014 Grüners that Bennie was talking about. Still, he’s bang on when it comes to the respect that Emmerich Knoll commands - not just on account of the forbidding label - and the brilliance of these aromatic whites. There’s…

“The trend is away from exaggeration and toward frankness and wholesomeness,” Lucas Pichler told Vinous Media’s David Schildknecht this time last year. Lucas was talking about the general shift in fine wine and dining, and how it was reflected by the best growers in the Wachau. Certainly the comment is apt to describe the arc of this fabulous estate since Lucas has taken the reins. Purity, finesse and finely-etched lines have become the hallmark of F.X. Pichler. Austria regards 2015 as an “excellent vintage with…

So here we are - the last newsletter from a very busy year. On the domestic front, we announce the arrival of a brand-new, spanking-value Pinot Grigio called Riverlore, made by Marlborough's pioneer Rose family. There's also some rare but inspired innovation from Coonawarra in the guise of Balnaves Entav, plus some good summer-of-Riesling news for Frankland Estate. As for imports, we have a couple of gems from the exceptional 2015 vintage in the Wachau: Emmerich Knoll and F.X. Pichler. Also on the subject of…

2016 Airlie Bank Gris On Skins Yarra Valley RRP $20  Tim Shand’s blend comprises a 60% whole-bunch ferment, with the balance destemmed fruit that spent two weeks on skins. It spent three months in old oak and was bottled without fining or filtration. It’s a teasingly versatile number. Food friendly as well as super slurpable, especially served cool rather than cold. The chalky texture and twist of amaro herb offset a lovely core of sweet fruit – pear and stone fruits into pink berry territory. It…

Wantirna Estate hasn’t got where it is today by being a slave to fashion. Reg and Bettina Egan were, as James Halliday puts it, “among the early movers in the rebirth of the Yarra Valley”. Back in 1963 when they established the domain, you might perhaps have accused them of being trend-setters. Not since, though. The parameters are set by the boundaries of the Egans’ property, and a vineyard planted to those grapes which, time has shown, this region grows to most distinguished effect. Moreover,…

“While there wasn’t a lot of wine made in the Yarra Valley in ‘14,” writes James Halliday, “some wine of very high quality was made - witness this.” The lawyer-turned-critic’s Exhibit ‘A’ is the Mount Mary Quintet. But he could equally have made his case with the Triolet or Chardonnay, both of which notched up 97 points. Or indeed the Pinot Noir, whose balance and length are “nigh-on perfect”. In short, Sam Middleton has turned out another suite of sensational wines. To recap, this season…

"Sparkling wines such as those made by [Hattingley Valley] have really put English vineyards on the world wine map."  Jancis Robinson Wine surprises us all the time but there are some things you just don’t see coming. At the turn of the millennium, when we first discussed importing German wines, even the Germans laughed. These days Mosel Riesling fits as snugly in Aussie dining culture as beetroot in a burger. Even so, we probably thought Épernay was as close as we’d get to the English…

A wild spring in 2013 threw a spanner into the works in Victorian vineyards, producing low yields and occasionally awkward Pinot Noir from the 2014 harvest. The Farr family wasn’t immune to the cut-size crop, but proved utterly impervious to the threat to the completeness and brilliance of their wines. The 2014 Farrside by Farr was “quite simply, a very great Pinot,” according to James Halliday, who had it in his top three Pinots of the year with 98 points. The Sangreal, too, was “a gorgeous pinot…

 It’s back. The unique Chalmers Project, brought to you by Australia’s undisputed champions of wine diversity, is now in its second year. Kim and Tennille Chalmers, together with winemaker Bart van Olphen, combine vineyard and winery experimentation with some of the most exciting Italian grapes thriving on the family’s Heathcote and Mildura properties. This year’s brief has been to show these varieties, chosen by Chalmers for their outstanding potential, in their naked glory – super-simple small-batch winemaking to express the essence of the variety in…

What follows is a compilation of magnums that CellarHand has in stock ready for the festive season. Please note that some wines are in extremely limited supply; for those marked with an *asterisk, we have fewer than THREE units available. AUSTRALIA CLOS CLARE Clare Valley CULLEN Margaret River GLAETZER Barossa Valley MOUNT MARY Yarra Valley FRANCE JACQUESSON Champagne LOUIS MICHEL Chablis ANDRÉ BONHOMME Mâconnais OSTERTAG Alsace PAUL BLANCK Alsace DOMINIQUE PIRON Beaujolais AUSTRIA EMMERICH KNOLL Wachau F.X. PICHLER Wachau PITTNAUER Burgenland MORIC Burgenland GERMANY DR…

A little more noise on the imports side than the home front this month. Top story, though, is the long-awaited release of Koomilya. The culmination of a spiritual journey by Stephen Pannell, ending up with his own piece of viticultural paradise - a McLaren Vale vineyard he fell in love with decades ago as a young winemaker. Elsewhere, we have Tassie sparkling star Stefano Lubiana rebadging its ever-popular Brut Reserve NV with the release of the new cuvée based on the fab 2013 vintage. Shadowfax and Burn…

When Stephen Pannell was a boy of 15 he found an old ship’s bell while diving off the end of Busselton jetty in Western Australia. It was the bell for the SS Koomilya, a ship carrying hardwood from Western Australia to Adelaide.  The word Koomilya means “woman” in Port Lincoln Aboriginal dialect. This wine is about the curiosity that’s driven Steve from boy to man; about his journey to modern-day McLaren Vale and this vineyard, the muse that enchants him among ancient soils, bush and…

Te Whare Ra (TWR) is a true treasure of New Zealand's Marlborough wine region. The oldest small winery in the area, with vines dating back to 1979, Anna and Jason Flowerday have turned this place into an organic and biodynamic haven. Best known for its beautifully aromatic white wines, the estate also turns perceptions of Marlborough reds on their head by turning out convincing, delicious Pinot Noir and Syrah. Anyway, let Anna tell you in her own words... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXE9qZx08hI

The wines of André Bonhomme were a happy discovery during our scouting expedition for affordable burgundy at ProWein this year. The estate was founded by André and wife Gisèle in 1956, making it the first domaine of what is now the Viré-Clessé appellation. Back then they just had four hectares of vines which they’d inherited from André’s father Joseph, who grew grapes for the cooperative in the village of Viré. The wines have always been bottled at the domaine, which now extends to 12 hectares…

“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…