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A blend of 90% Grenache (sourced on galets roulés) and 10% Mourvèdre on sandy soils, the 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Piedlong is a stunning wine. Evoking aromas of rose, violets, spices, garrigue and red berries, it’s medium to full-bodied, round and structured with bright acids, a long, delicate core of fruit and a mouthwatering mineral finish.

Taking its name from the lieu-dit Piedlong, this Brunier family project spotlights Grenache Noir cultivated on sandy soils and galets roulés that define the La Crau plateau. The typical blend for Piedlong comprises 90% Grenache from le Pied Long and 10% Mourvèdre from Pignan. This results in a lighter-hued wine that is more refined in expressing Grenache and Châteauneuf-du-Pape yet retains considerable aging potential. The 2021 vintage stands out as particularly successful despite the challenging conditions, tending toward an earlier drinking window, while the 2022 release represents a superb effort by the Brunier family within the vintage’s context. YOHAN CASTAING, The Wine Advocate

Fresh and racy, with inviting violet perfume elements. Bright, with chalky-fine mineral underpinnings and serious graphite-edged energy. Graceful and pure, with high-toned floral accents through the racy, focused finish. KRISTEN BIELER, Wine Spectator

 

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul is 100% old-vine Grenache, sourced from three different lieux-dits: Les Serres (galets), La Crau (clay) and La Guigasse (sand). This preliminary blend came across as rather polite and restrained, with attractive raspberry shadings, silky tannins and a more elegant style than exhibited by past vintages. JOE CZERWINSKI, Wine Advocate

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée De Mon Aïeul is also all Grenache but was raised all in demi-muids (I believe all used). Its more ruby/plum color is followed by an incredible bouquet of mulled red and black fruits, sweet Provençal herbs, spice box, and graphite. It's slightly broader and more expansive than the Deux Freres and has a sexy, full-bodied mouthfeel, ripe, polished tannins, and a great finish. This reminds me a little of the 2006, and while it's already brilliant, I have no doubt it will evolve for 15-20 years in cold cellars. JEB DUNNUCK

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

There are only a select few, perfect locations, to grow great wine on this big blue orb of ours and those are between 30 and 50 degrees north and south latitudes. Those regions need to provide just the right temperature, humidity, heat and climate to grow high quality grapes. We are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to the northern reaches with the whole of Europe at our disposal, but travel further south and things are a little different.

While New Zealand and Tasmania provide us with plenty of choices (and we would be remiss not to include them) the southern reaches sitting on and just below the 40 degrees latitude offer a up a wholy unique drinking experience.

While grapes like riesling, cabernet and pinot noir are familiar to us, a number of the wines in this months pack aren't seen so regularly on your local wines list or on the shelves of your corner wine store. From Malbec's in Argentina to the infamous Pinotage and the more classic varietals like Chenin in South Africa this is an exploration of all that is good in these great southern lands of ours.

Where do we start with such an awesome selection of interesting wine? It's hard to decide we might just do a quick run down by country.

South America is relatively new to the wine scene but has come along in leap and bounds. WE start with a couple of classics with the Finca Los Moras Malbec and the Santa Ana Cabernet. These are text book varietal wines with plenty to love in their up-front fruit and modern styling. For something a little different we through in the Bouchon pais. For those who do not know, Pais is an old variety that is Chile's answer to pinot noir. With a little more bite and a wild flourish this a great introduction to this fascinating wine.

Closer to home in New Zealand we have few classic drops with the Palliser Estate Pencarrow pinot. A wine you would be hard pressed to find with the structure, concentration and complexity at the same price. Off to Hawkes Bay for some stonking Chardonnay from Bilancia fame and some of the world most underrated syrah from stars Te Mata. What a treat!

Just in our backyard, Tassie continues to pump out some of the best wine in the country and while we would never miss out on showcasing another great pinot there is some real winners with pinot gris and riesling on the rise. The Moores Hill gris is a freat example of textural and vibrant gris from the Apple Isle with the Riversdale riesling hot on its tale.

And for something a little different we have got the latest release Willie Smiths Cider. This is an absolute belter, and we couldn't help but included it once we were told it had been released. Perfect timing! We will take that one!

Last, and something we don't see much in Aus is a cracking selection of wines from South Africa. Long-term customers may recognise some of these wines and as far as we are concerned, they are some of the best modern day Cape wines to make it over. The Bare Bones cinsault is a zippy red full of energy while the Winery of Good Hope pinotage is a juicy and fun take on this classic red variety,

And what would a selection of wine from South Africa be without a chenin blanc. The Secateurs is clean and crunchy with a plush fruit profile that is cleaned up by chenin's zippy acidity.
All in al a pretty awesome and exciting collection of stellar wines from the great south!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

For madeira to get the classification frasqueira, they are required to be aged a minimum of 20 years in barrel, and a further 2 in bottle. The variety used for this madeira as well is Malvazia, a white grape, usually used in sweeter styles of Madeira, due to higher acid and create balance in the finished sweet wine. This particular vintage was bottled in 2019 and released in 2021, with a total of 28 years cask aging.
Here's Crazy Mary-Jane! A big herbal hit on the nose takes away any possibility of candy over-sweetness. Caramel and grilled nuts run around in a complex of wood notes, and excellent freshness partners aged and developed secondary characters. Herbal-columbine, toffee-tobacco, sweet but smoky and caney. A lashing of acid squeak teases out a long, almost savoury tea-like finish, with sugar memories tumbling along behind. Scott Wasley, The Spanish Acquisition

The 2022 Gigondas Le Regard Loin is a stunner. Rich and explosive, the 2022 showcases intense rose petal, orange rind, crushed violet, raspberry, strawberry and cranberry. Minty elements and spice box nuances usher in. On the palate, this 2022 strikes the perfect balance between uplifting acidity, concentrated fruit flavors and a polished web of structure-lending tannins. A cuvée first made in the 2019 vintage, the Le Regard Loin has already secured its place amongst the leaders of the appellation. 94-96, NICOLAS GREINACHER, vinous

Shows a stream of blue and black fruit, layered with floral notes and a subtle kiss of vanilla. Fresh, with a frame of iron giving shape to the creamy palate, which reveals wafts of mesquite smoke and cool minerality. Medium-weight and long, this is well-meshed through the finish, with refined yet persistent tannins that have a firm hold. KRISTEN BIELER, Wine Spectator 

More time in wood equals more complex wood-and-balsam volatile secondary beauty. The fruit characters are raisined, dried, preserved and citric all at once, wandering through a sky-wide nose of fine aromatic timber, grilled bread and nuts. Dry Sercial's vegetality is largely subsumed by fine old wood perfume. It’s complex as all get-out, but with great harmony and composure. Dry and saline in the mouth, it’s almost austere but with a nice textural generosity through the palate, marked by complex herbal-woodiness and juicy palate acidity. Scott Wasley, The Spanish Acquisition

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

 The same can be said for the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin, as this insanely impressive barrel sample transcends the vintage. Full-bodied, decadent and layered, with massive concentration and purity, it’s loaded with black and blue fruits, violets, truffle, licorice and assorted floral notes. This cuvee always shows fabulous fruit in its youth, and it doesn’t start to gain its hallmark gaminess until after a few years in bottle. In addition, this cooler vintage, with its ample moisture and autumn summer, produced Mourvedre with off-the-charts aromatic purity and perfect ripeness. It will clearly be in the top 1-2 wines and will have 3-4 decades of longevity (100) JEB DUNNUCK, Wine Advocate

Extremely aromatic with blueberries, blackberries, and flowers. Full- bodied, dense, and rich yet agile and exciting. The tannins are seamless and beautiful. The finish shows stones and spices. The ancient mourvedre in the blend gives this wine elegance. Incredible depth. So drinkable now but goes on for minutes. Fantastic Hommage... (98) JAMES SUCKLING

The wine of the vintage is the Perrins' 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage A Jacques Perrin, which has a classic, sexy, accessible style yet is also going to age beautifully. Massive amounts of smoked black fruits, ground pepper, iodine, truffle, and bloody meat all emerge from this inky colored behemoth. With full body, building tannins, no hard edges, and a rock star of a finish, it’s primary and youthful, but incredible. Ideally, it would be given another 4-5 years of bottle age and will keep for another 3 decades or more. It’s an awesome wine! (99) JEB DUNNUCK

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!