Calvados, White, cider, Grenac...

Paolo Vodopivec, his winery and six hectares of densely planted Vitovska are located in Carso, a plateau of shear limestone tucked between the border of Slovenia and the Adriatic Sea. Vodopivec was inspired by Josko Gravner. Like him, Vodopivec ages most of his wines in subterranean Georgian Amphora, followed by refinement in large neutral oak and a long stay in bottle before release. The results must be tasted to be believed. These are some of the top white wines being made in the world today, like cool-mountain air and liquid stone encapsulated in a bottle, yet with rich textural complexities that boggle the mind.

Crushed rocks and dried flowers give way to peach skins and chamomile as the 2019 Vitovska blossoms in the glass. This is pure and lifted in style, graceful and finessed, quickly gaining a salty tension as young pit fruits and lemon nuances mingle. A salty flourish and flinty sensation come forward through the finale, adding a savory flair as the 2019 finishes with lasting concentration. So youthful today, the 2019 should age beautifully in collectors' cellars. ERIC GUIDO, Vinous

Precise nose with layers and layers of red berries, strawberries, blueberries, hibiscus, and minerals. Hint of moss, stems and white pepper, too. Beautifully knit and nimble with a precise, medium-bodied palate rounded by firm yet very silky, polished tannins. A refined, juicy finish with fine herbs that makes you crave a second glass. Really long. Drink or hold. (95) JAMES SUCKLING

Fabulous nose of red fruits, summer flowers and licorice. The very complex interplay of huge fine tannins and richness reminds me of Grand Cru Burgundy, but this has a southerly personality. Great velvety finish that goes on and on. Doesn't want to stop. 80% grenache, 10% mourvedre and 10% cinsault (97) JAMES SUCKLING

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Le Pied De Baud comes all from more pebbly soils and is a blend of 80% Grenache and the rest equal parts Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Its medium ruby/purple hue gives way to a medium-bodied, beautifully balanced effort that also has a Pinot Noir-like vibe in its bright red and blue fruits as well as peppery herbs, sappy flowers, and new leather aromas and flavors. The texture is spot on, it's as seamless as they come, and it delivers ripe tannins as well as a great finish. JEB DUNNUCK

Dark and meaty nose, but with terrific freshness. With aeration, wild blackberry and elderberry notes unfold. Very concentrated and structured with a dense and dry core that some may find a bit daunting, but really impresses us. Incredibly focused and fresh finish that's laser beam straight. Iron firmness at the powerful long finish. From a co-planting of 80% grenache, 10% mourvedre and 10% counoise growing on sandy soil. 75% whole bunch. Matured in a combination of Stockinger oak foudre and clay amphora (96) JAMES SUCKLING

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Saintes Vierges comes all from the Les Saintes Vierges lieu-dit and is based on 80% Grenache and 10% each of Mourvedre and Counoise. It was partially destemmed and brought up mostly in foudre with 10% in clay jars. Wild strawberries, darker berries, violets, and an incredible floral, almost tropical nuance on the nose gives way to a medium-bodied, elegant, vibrant effort with a sappy green edge in its tannins that avoids being astringent or off-putting. This fresh, elegant, perfumed beauty will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and drink nicely for a decade. JEB DUNNUCK

Black fruit coulis, intense spice aromas and some smoke on the nose. Powerful and robust in the best possible way, the tannins are remarkably polished for a Rhone red with stacks of mourvedre in it. Very compact core, but also excellent energy on the full-bodied palate. Bold and very structured, but there's a wonderfully delicate sweetness, too. A cuvee of 50% mourvedre and 50% grenache from old vines on the high plain of Gigondas. 75% whole bunch. Matured in a combination of Stockinger oak foudre and clay amphora. (95) JAMES SUCKLING

Dark violet color. The nose presents powerfully scented cherry-cola, blackberry, fruitcake and exotic spice aromas, along with suggestions of licorice and incense. Offers penetrating, finely etched red and dark berry preserve, allspice, candied floral and smoked meat flavors that deepen and become sweeter as the wine opens up. Closes with superb tenacity and building tannins that frame reverberating floral and dark berry notes. (96) JOSH RAYNOLDS

Lastly, and a big step up, the 2020 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues is equal parts Grenache and Mourvèdre that was raised in foudres and amphorae. It doesn't have the sheer power or concentration of previous great vintages, but I love its balance, purity, and finesse. Red and black fruits, spicy garrigue, and floral notes make for a classic Gigondas that's medium to full-bodied, has ultra-fine tannins, and a great finish. It's a gorgeous Gigondas any way you look at it. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 15+. 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!

El Escolladero is a cuvée of Tempranillo and 15% Graciano from vines at 640 metres in cool climate Ábalos. Aged in larger foudres to soften its tannic structure, it has density and grip, damson, cranberry and black cherry fruit, muscular tannins, a hint of good reduction and plenty of texture and concentration.  (96) TIM ATKIN MW, Rioja Report 2025

The 2022 El Escolladero is 85% Tempranillo and 15% Graciano sourced from El Meadero in Ábalos, Rioja Alta. Aged for up to 12 months in foudres, this purple wine presents aromas of balsamic with an elder and sour cherry core, framed by an oaky touch. Dry, juicy and compact on the palate, this vibrant, fine-grained, chalky-textured wine lingers long with a whiff of pure, primary fruit—a modern Rioja wine. JOAQUIN HIDALGO, Vinous.com

 

 

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!

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!

It has something special about it," says Arturo de Miguel of this remarkable 0.75- hectare parcel planted in 1920 and brought back from near abandonment in 2013. Rightly recognised as one of the world's great wines, this is a field blend of Tempranillo, 9% Graciano, 6% Garnacha and 5% Palomino. Floral, refined but concentrated at the same time, it has some subtle reduction, succulent tannins, sweet bramble, plum and wild strawberry fruit, a hint of garrigue and a long, satisfying finish (97) TIM ATKIN MW, Rioja Report 2025

The 2022 La Condenada is 80% Tempranillo and 20% Graciano, Garnacha and Palomino sourced from sandy loams in Baños de Ebro, Rioja Alavesa. Aged for up to 12 months in foudres, this garnet red wine offers a liqueur-like aroma of sour cherry and plum. Dry, lean and bold on the palate, the fine-grained tannins and juicy flow lead to a compact and flavorful experience. This wine embodies the essence of a primary, new-wave Rioja. JOAQUIN HIDALGO, Vinous.com

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!

Black raspberry fruits and a potpourri of dried country herbs lavender, mint, thyme and sinsimella. Marked by the leather and spice of SamsÌ_, but entirely without heaviness, it has a lovely fresh and easy release. Spicey, chewy, nice sweet pippy-purple fruits of a fine, open developed balsamic herbal expression and a deep sense of the earth.

The vineyard is a 20Ha amphitheater of crumbling slate. The vines are at 350 metres and are surrounded by mountains up to 1,200 metres high and the vineyard’s lower extremes are adjacent to the Siurana River.

The eponymous red 2021 Clos Mogador fermented with some 30% full clusters trying to give it more freshness (but without noticing the stems) with a long maceration (40 to 50 days) and (almost) no punching down, with less extraction. There's been a progressive change in the vineyard (they removed the south-facing Cabernet Sauvignon), and they increased Cariñena (around 30%), which in the future will be almost as much as Garnacha. It has aromatic complexity and a beautiful texture. It matured in 2,000-liter oak foudres and a small part in barrel and later in concrete. The wine has 14% alcohol and has the Priorat, Mogador and Mediterranean character (wet slate, graphite, aromatic herbs) with more elegance and freshness. The tannins are also a lot more elegant, and the wine comes through as very balanced. They produced 35,000 bottles of this. It was bottled in June 2023. Drink 2025-2036 (98) LOUIS GUTIERREZ, wineadvocate.com

… liqueur-like aromas of blackcurrant and plum, along with earthy notes and hints of iron and blood. Dry and compact, it ows with ne-grained tannins, a dusty texture and a juicy, avorful mouthfeel. The nish is exceptionally long, with nuanced complexity. This is one of those rare wines that can shift one's perception of what’s possible in the Priorat region. Clos Mogador is one of the few wineries that put Priorat on the wine map in the early 1990s, and the 2021 vintage is yet another example that justies that recognition. (97) JOAQUIN HIDALGO, vinous.com

Ripe red fruits, blackberries, toast, smoke, spices and warm earth. So alive in the glass, it never seems to start changing and brightening as it opens up. Showcasing the extraordinary freshness of 2021, this is one of the best Clos Mogadors I've ever tasted. This will age for a long time – but it's hard to keep your hands off it! Practising organic. Drink 2024-2036’ (98) KINTAN KERR, DECANTER

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!

Polygon No. 5 consists of two very similar nearby parcels making up 0.37 hectares in size. Working with terroir  specialist, Pedro Parra, we identified this polygon to be  uniquely significant because of its heavily fractured schist  composition. There are deeper soils sitting above a thick  band of micaceous schist that contains veins of iron-rich clay  within the fractures. NASAA certified organic and biodynamic.

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 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape le Plateau—the only one of these four vintages to be bottled—is velvety and forward, with notes of ripe cherries, cedar, vanilla and mocha. It's full-bodied, but not overbearingly tannic, making it approachable already. Only the second vintage to be produced, it's a 60-40 blend of Grenache and Syrah that matured in a mix of tanks and new barrels. JOE CZERWINSKI, The Wine Advocate

In the same ballpark, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Le Plateau comes only from the Mont Redon plateau and is a limited release based on 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah brought up in a mix of used and new barrels. Its saturated purple color is followed by a rocking bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, graphite, violets, and crushed rocks. With plenty of background oak, terrific depth of fruit, full body, and ripe, present tannins, it’s another balanced, age-worthy effort from this estate that should be snatched up by readers. Give bottles 4-5 years and enjoy over the following two decades. (93-95) JEB DUNNUCK

Made in small volumes only in the best years, this comes from plots chosen on the famed Le Plateau de Mont-Redon, the high plateau of galets roules, (large round stones) that makes this one of the most prized terroirs in the appellation. These large stones up to 2 metres deep combine with fine safre (sandy soil) over thin layers of clay which provide important water holding capacity providing an ideally moderate supply of water. The plateau sits high and is exposed to the sun and the Mistral wind giving an optimal ripeness and sanitary state for the vineyard.

Made from parcels of Grenache (63 % planted 1940s) and Syrah (31 % planted 1950s-1960s) and 6 % Mourvèdre. Hand harvested and 100% destemmed with 2-3 days of cold maceration and skin contact of 15-20 days during which extraction is performed mostly by punching down the cap of the ferments. Elevage of 40 % in stainless steel and 60 % in barrels (50 % new) for 18 months, the selected parcels are blended and aged on fine lees for a further 10 months in tank before bottling. Immense ageing capacity giving a wine which shows the quintessence of the older vines of Le Plateau de Mont-Redon.

Regarded as one of the premier producers in Jurançon, Clos Joliette was founded in 1929, when the Migne family cleared forest in a natural southeast-facing amphitheater to plant a hectare of vines.
The result has been an incredible selection of complex and aromatic off-dry wines, reflecting the reputation Antoine Gerbelle bestowed on the domaine as “the Romanee Conti of the South-West France”.

What makes these wines so sought after is the combination of three unique aspects. First, its location. With only 1.85 hectares Clos Joliette sits at 300m altitude, on the slopes of the hill of Beauvallon (Commune of Jurancon). The vines were planted in 1929 by Madame Migné and exposed to the East and South-East in a natural amphitheater, allowing the grapes to capture the gentle morning sun, rather than afternoon heat.

Second, an atypical terroir made of clay-silica, pudding stones, Ponto-Pliocene pebbles and crossed through by a vein of iron.

Third, the wine itself - a single varietal 100% Petit Manseng, treated with minimal intervention throughout vinification, no fining or filtration, and long aging in oak barrels for 4 to 6 years.

This 6 pack includes some of Australia's best Grenache:

2 x Old Macdonald Grenache 2022
2 x Smart Clarendon Grenache 2022
2 x Little Branch Grenache 2022

2 BOTTLES AVAILABLE

Keeping the classical profile, the 2016 Clos Mogador has been fine tuned, reducing the French grapes, and it matured approximately 18 months in oak foudre and barriques. There is a lively sensation on the palate, vivacious and with very fine tannins. It has a meaty touch and feels really young , despite the long élevage. There is a strong mineral sensation on the palate, something that is a texture and mouthfeel rather than a flavor. This is an unusual, fresh vintage. LUIS GUTIERREZ, Robert Parker

Regarded as one of the premier producers in Jurançon, Clos Joliette was founded in 1929, when the Migne family cleared forest in a natural southeast-facing amphitheater to plant a hectare of vines.
The result has been an incredible selection of complex and aromatic off-dry wines, reflecting the reputation Antoine Gerbelle bestowed on the domaine as “the Romanee Conti of the South-West France”.

What makes these wines so sought after is the combination of three unique aspects. First, its location. With only 1.85 hectares Clos Joliette sits at 300m altitude, on the slopes of the hill of Beauvallon (Commune of Jurancon). The vines were planted in 1929 by Madame Migné and exposed to the East and South-East in a natural amphitheater, allowing the grapes to capture the gentle morning sun, rather than afternoon heat.

Second, an atypical terroir made of clay-silica, pudding stones, Ponto-Pliocene pebbles and crossed through by a vein of iron.

Third, the wine itself - a single varietal 100% Petit Manseng, treated with minimal intervention throughout vinification, no fining or filtration, and long aging in oak barrels for 4 to 6 years.