A couple of big domestic releases lead the way this month, with great old mates Ben Glaetzer and Rob Mann releasing their flagship wines. Ben's label turns 25 years old in 2021, and he's celebrating in style with the '19 Amon-Ra and Anaperenna. Rob and wife Gen, meanwhile, have put out the third iteration of their Calgardup Cabernet Sauvignon. It's another absolute pearler. In Pinot news, it's Stefano Lubiana that's making the headlines, with a pair of single-plot wines from 2018. Fellow biodynamic estate TWR…

Ben Glaetzer's label turns 25 this year, and these two 2019 flagships are a great way to celebrate this Baron of the Barossa's mastery of his art. The Ebenezer sub-region in the valley's north has a monumental reputation for old-vine excellence that belies its size (just one square mile). And that's thanks to Ben and those growers, like Adrian Hoffmann, who are spot-on with the quality and character of the fruit. Cool ferments in 1- and 2-tonne stainless-steel pots tease out fragrance and elegance that…

“An exceptionally elegant, powder-fine Cabernet, part of the new Margaret River breed. A massive, resounding, YES.” That was how Erin Larkin of Halliday Wine Companion heralded the second coming of this wine. The 2019 had followed a debut that met with monumental, joyous fanfare. “Beautiful wine. Succulent, seamless, flowing,” said Mike Bennie of the ’18. “Beautiful expression of Cabernet here,” gushed Gary Walsh. “Beautifully balanced, precise and poised,” crowed The Real Review. So, the scene is set for number three: the 2020 Cabernet Sauvignon from…

“Yields were a disaster, but the way the wines turned out healed us!” jokes Theresa Breuer. “We are super happy with the vintage, which shows a lot of tension and inner density.” Like the vintage that preceded it, 2019 was warm in the Rheingau. However, the vegetative cycle didn’t kick off crazily early and it wasn’t sweltering hot during harvest. The dry conditions caused the vines to produce tiny grapes that were full of concentration with pretty tight acidity. A happy combination. For an estate…

They were two very different years. Well, 2020 was a year like no other anyway, but the vintage conditions were ice and fire – though not necessarily in that order. Nick Farr’s vintage reports below detail the rollercoaster rides perfectly, so there’s no need to labour the point in the preamble. In short, 2019 saw the heatwaves – culminating in the purchase of 35 headlamps for pre-dawn harvesting to get the grapes in fast and cool. 2020 didn’t need headlamps – and even if it…

Stephen Pannell is at the heart of domestic goings-on, with a pair of very different releases. First, we have the pace-setting single-site old bush-vine Grenache from the Smart and Old McDonald vineyards, and second - from Steve’s pride-and-joy Koomilya site - a couple of stonking 2018 red blends: Touriga Graciano Mataro and Cabernet Touriga. The other key domestic release comes from Stefano Lubiana, whose single-plot Pinot Noir wines - Ruscello and La Roccia - are out now. These, too, are an essay in site definition…

“How good is Tasmanian Pinot Noir!” asks Jeni Port, clearly rhetorically, in the face of compelling evidence of its wondrousness from Stefano Lubiana. If you missed the memo about these bottlings, then we’ll fill you in with the help of Jeni’s Halliday Wine Companion colleague Ned Goodwin MW, who wrote of the previous release: “These single-plot Pinots are among the finest of the country, demanding serious attention.” There are three blocks singled out for special attention on account of their special terroir and the way…

It’s an exciting time to be a Grenache maker, and even more exciting to be a Grenache grower. But as the popularity of Grenache increases, I find myself wondering: Does it need to be a ‘session wine’? Have we fully embraced the unique opportunity to make Grenache Australia’s own medium-bodied wine of place from a warm climate? Varietal wines made from Grenache are a rarity in the wine world. In McLaren Vale this comes down to scarcity, with only 6% of the region planted to…

Touriga Nacional is a great grape, dabbing its powdery tannins and blue floral brushstrokes over everything it touches. It plays a key role in both of the 2018 red blends from Stephen Pannell's pride-and-joy Koomilya vineyard in McLaren Vale. These are a surprise in more ways than one. It's an early bonus ahead of the traditional Koomilya release, which will take place as usual in spring. And then there's the fact that Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga were never meant to end up together in a…

Marco Lubiana arrived on the wine scene with a bang. His first pair of releases, from the 2018 vintage on the family’s Lucille Vineyard in Huon Valley, garnered off-the-chart plaudits. “Star quality,” was Nick Stock's verdict. “A powerful, complex Chardonnay and a stunning Vosne-like Pinot Noir.” Gary Walsh of The Wine Front was equally effusive: “So stylish and lovely to drink, not forced. Beautiful.” That was the Chardonnay, while its sibling was “a terrific expression of Pinot Noir” that managed to be “bright and rich…

We hope this missive will drive away any hint of winter blues – and also the gloom of lockdown for those in Victoria. One of the surprise trends of the pandemic has been a rush on Grüner Veltliner. (Makes more sense than loo paper, I suppose.) We’re delighed to report a bumper shipment from Austria, with Grüner and more from the likes of Bründlmayer, Domäne Wachau, Groiss, Stadt Krems and Stift Göttweig. The first 2020 wines from Austria point towards a cool, classic vintage with zippy, pure wines. Meanwhile we also…

“Romain Taupenot has overseen this domaine ratchet up through the gears in recent vintages,” wrote Neal Martin of Vinous Media on tasting the Taupenot-Merme 2018s. “He is a very conscientious winemaker, constantly questioning his wines, always a virtue in my book.” One thing that Romain isn't questioning is the quality of ‘18. He describes it as a pretty much perfect vintage. The early rains set it up neatly for a sunny spring and summer, with gloriously warm weather continuing through to an early harvest. “With…

“I’m looking for joy.” Those were the words uttered by Patrick Walsh as the CellarHand team got their heads stuck into a hardcore blind tasting of Grenache, including various off-portfolio benchmarks from around the world. Putting the spotlight on one of Australia’s most exciting varieties du jour, the tasting unsurprisingly included many engrossing examples. But everyone will recall that moment when the joy floodgates broke open. Wine 1, bracket 3 – who could forget? “Pretty. Red berries, flowers, and dried herbs. Settled, dusty, almost Italianate…

It was André Ostertag himself who sounded the warning. “Prepare to be surprised by this new wave blossoming at the domaine with contagious energy!” he wrote in late November 2018, when announcing that his son Arthur was taking the day-to-day reins at the estate. With the new 2019 Les Jardins wines, you can feel the crashing freshness of that new wave rolling in. This is the fifth vintage since Arthur has been more heavily involved at the estate, and everything on this current offer has…

“As debut wines go, this takes the cake. It’s a stunner.” That was The Wine Front’s Campbell Mattinson commenting on Pip Farr’s curtain-raising Gippsland Pinot Noir. Eight vintages later, Pip seems to have turned her dual-Pinot label into something of a cult classic. And she’s still taking the cake every time. The Farr family has long been happy to let their wines do the talking, and Pip seems to have taken this to new levels with a level of reticence that only highlights the eloquence…