Spring is in the air! Dare we be hopeful? Hell, yeah! For what else is there to do? And here are some wines to fuel optimism. We have a few high-profile releases this month, led on the mainland by the sensational second coming of Julian and Alana Langworthy of Nocturne‘s sub-regional wines from Margaret River. And then, from Tasmania’s Tamar Valley, we have the annual release of the Stoney Rise and Holyman wines from Lou and Joe Holyman. From New Zealand, PJ Charteris has released just his second Chardonnay in four years,…

The year 2020 marks the second of our partnership with Lou and Joe Holyman of Tamar Valley’s Stoney Rise and Holyman labels. This, more importantly, is the second spring release of the full range – and range is an apt term, given the array of delights on offer. It begins with the naked immediacy of the ‘No Clothes’ Pinot Noir, made with no SO2 and bursting with newness and nowness. Grüner Veltliner, meanwhile, flies the flag for alternative varieties. It’s a grape that has shown…

A new Chardonnay – PJ’s first since 2014 – is a great reason to crack out the Charteris and celebrate this Kiwi who’s become a jovial giant of the Aussie wine scene while allowing his heart to reside in Central Otago. It’s a single-vineyard Chardonnay from 2018, and hails from the VanderMark Vineyard perched 400m up in Bendigo. Its arrival comes at a time when PJ’s 2018 Central Otago Pinot remains a head-scratcher, offering unparalleled quality for its price in the realm of great Central…

It’s hard to believe that the fifth release of Nocturne is upon us. The support and love shown for our first four releases was astounding. This year the big man himself - the one and only James Halliday - gave us two lots of 97 points and a lazy 96 for last year’s releases, not to mention the title of Australia’s best Rosé! This year’s sub regional wines are pretty damn cool. It’s fair to suggest that the 2019 season was not as strong overall…

We’d really love to brighten up your month. August can be beautiful but heading into the third month of winter with ominous news in the air, we’re sending you our warmest wishes. So onto the wines, then! We have a few high-profile releases this month. These are led on the mainland by the sensational second coming of Rob and Gen Mann’s Corymbia Cabernet Sauvignon from Calgardup in Margaret River. Philippa Farr‘s single-vineyard 2018 Pinots from Gippsland and Mornington Peninsula are also out, as is the 2017 Moonlight Race…

Steve Lubiana is a perfectionist. In the world of wine he’s not alone in striving for the best. But even at the extreme, there’s a spectrum. The Stefano Lubiana estate would be perched at the extreme end of that. Striking out for Tasmania – the end of the earth and final frontier of Aussie cool-climate winegrowing – was pretty extreme back in 1990, when Steve and Monique began their dream of growing world -class traditional-method sparkling wine. The mastery of fizz was followed by a…

Star quality. Welcome second-generation Tasmanian vigneron Marco Lubiana who is just releasing his debut wines from 2018. A powerful, complex Chardonnay and a stunning Vosne-like Pinot Noir. - Nick Stock We are family at CellarHand. So much of the growth of the portfolio – and the strength, character and fun of the enterprise – has come from deepening and extending roots that are planted firmly in existing, evolving friendships. Such is the case with this new member of the band, Marco Lubiana. His parents Steve and…

Visceral Margaret River energy: crunchy, minimalist and natural of feel. Cabernet done deftly. Light of touch. Lovely drink. Kudos, Corymbia. - Ned Goodwin MW The inaugural release of this wine, from the 2018 vintage, was one of those jaw-dropping moments for the CellarHand team. There was no doubting the pedigree. But it was released so darn young. And though Rob and Gen believed in the site and had worked their socks off to bring it up to scratch, the question remained: How much could you really…

Among the headlines on the home front, we’ve celebrated the release of Onannon’s single-vineyard wines and a big win for their cool-climate Victorian stablemates Shadowfax. On the bright white side TWR of Marlborough has been fêted once more, plus we have a new vintage of Corymbia's Swan Valley Chenin Blanc. If it’s something skinsy you’re after, Airlie Bank‘s 2020 Pinot Gris is out now. And we bid farewell to the great Pete Bissell of Balnaves, who bows out after a glorious 25-year reign at the Coonawarra estate, handing…

The latest vintages from the Farr family are always eagerly awaited and the 2019 whites and 2018 reds justify the anticipation. They are all lovely, and the By Farr Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs and Shiraz continue to be Australian benchmarks for these varieties. Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Real Review Much as the layperson likes to imagine the wine critic’s life a charmed one, in truth it’s often a repetitious slog through a seemingly unceasing conveyor belt of samples. Even the most jaded scribe is, however, open to…

The 2018 vintage marked 10 years since the vines for Mount Mary’s “Rhône Project” – whence RP1 and 2 get their name – went into the hallowed turf of this Yarra Valley icon. It was a relatively warm and dry vintage that provided the perfect endorsement of the Middleton family’s decision to embark on this endeavour in the first place. The seven Rhône varieties – Marsanne, Roussanne and Clairette for the white, Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre and Cinsault for the red – were selected for their…

Three’s the magic number at Onannon. Of course, this is the number of friends that make up this enterprise, and now we have a third single-site wine added to the top of the Onannon tree. Will Byron, Kaspar Hermann and Sam Middleton released their first single-site Pinot Noir wines from the 2016 vintage. Named Leongatha and Red Hill, they show off an excellent pair of vineyards in, respectively, Gippsland and the Mornington Peninsula. In this offer we bring you the third incarnation of these, from…

“It’s a beautiful thing. 96 points.” Gary Walsh, The Wine Front on ’18 Smart “What a wine! 96 points.” Gary Walsh, The Wine Front on ’18 Old McDonald I’ve told the story of moving to McLaren Vale in the mid ‘90s and discovering the medium-bodied  nature of Grenache countless times. My love for the variety has not diminished, nor has my belief in McLaren Vale Grenache’s place in the line-up of the world’s great varietal wines. Further, I believe it is the variety that best…

Biodynamically farmed for 22 years now, Domaine Ostertag is one of those places whose virtues are so simple, strong and enduring that you kind of forget to mention them. Conviction and constancy hold sway in the family’s farming. They follow the season, follow the vine, follow nature - and thus the spirit and the vital wines flow. We're due a recap on what this looks like. With André taking a step back to heal from Parkinson's - a disease that’s afflicted him for more than…

“Ooh la de da. It’s now a Syrah,” quipped Gary Walsh on tasting the latest edition. The 2017 Isolation Ridge- back when it was plain old Shiraz – cleaned up at the 2019 Royal Melbourne Wine Awards, you’ll recall, picking up three trophies including Best Shiraz. The Wine Front critic’s tongue-in-cheek remark doesn’t detract from his reverence for this “very impressive wine” which is “sweetly fruited and fragrant, but savoury and packed with stony tannin, cool acidity and fresh, juicy raspberry length”. Yep, that’s the…