WHITE WINE - 2018

Winemaker and CEO David Bicknell has proved his worth time and again as an extremely talented winemaker. JAMES HALLIDAY

What is there to say about this superb Yarra Valley winery. Headed up by Dave Bicknell it feels like they can do no wrong. Everything they make from top to bottom is deftly put together and sourced from the Yarra's best vineyards. The quality is always outstanding and the LVS (local vineyard series) is some of the best value Pinot and Chardonnay around. PWS

I’ve probably said it before, and anyone who knows me knows I’m prone to repeating myself, but what a lovely evocative name it is for a vineyard.

It doesn’t need any styling products; there’s not a hair out of place here. White peach and lime, green melon, almond nougat, a whisper of struck match and spice. Smooth and flavoursome, a subtle viscosity interlaid with chalk and flint, some floral mouth-perfume, slight tweak to the finish with citrus rind and grapefruit tang. Right proper Chardonnay here. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

The 2018 Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux is ripe and already quite open on the remarkably fine and precise nose where delicate chalky notes intermix with yeasty aromas of ripe apples and even very fine flinty hints. On the palate, this is a sweet, lush, salty-piquant and refined but tightly woven Chenin with structure, remarkable finesse, tickling salinity and serious but fine tannins, as if it was a Pinot Noir. Filigreed and feminine on the tongue, the 2018 develops a long, tensioned, tightly woven and stimulatingly salty finish. Great class and aging potential. STEPHAN REINHARDT, Wine Advocate

South facing with lots of stones and gravels. A clean, fine and inviting nose. Full of energy, soo good, simply excellent wine, maybe more … BILL NANSON, Burgundy Report

A great exampole of the value from Santentay - this single site Climat Has a high percentage of limestone over clay - it is energentic- vibrant and textural chardonnay, and with a nice balance of oak (25% new)  provides an little more structure to the wine than the Bourgone. ALEX WILCOX

Again, wide, fresh, clean agrumes. A little more structural more depth of flavour, faintly spiced.. gorgeously finishing. Really only at the end, end a touch of oak. Bravo. BILL NANSON Burgundy Report

Damask rose, orange peel and pith and juicy peach make for an attractive combination on the nose of this wine. The palate has gentle sweetness that is countered by pleasant, phenolic bitterness that lends shape to this off-dry, spicy, mellow wine. Yes it is generous, but all that zesty pithiness makes the wine intriguing. The off-dry finish is textured. WINE ENTHUSIAST

This wine is made from all the very old Gewurztraminer vines planted in the Turckheim/Herrenweg vineyards. Some of these vineyards are also located in the richest part of the valley floor, where the gravels are mixed with by richer silt. With deeper roots and richer soils available to them, these vines didn't suffer from drought. The ripeness progressed quickly in 2018. Gewurztraminer is a wine that can surprisingly ferment fast, which is handy, as a higher pH would expose these wines to more problems if the fermentation would last too long. The 2018 grapes were beautiful and healthy.

Bright yellow colour. The nose is classic with an expressive and strong expressive floral character, nice spices, yet delicate and complex. The palate is harmonious, there is a slight roundness well balanced by ripe tannins. Nice length, serious finish with a fresh aftertaste. Beautiful classic Gewurztraminer. ZIND HUMBRECHT

Purple plum is laced with mint on the nose, and those two elements serve for a succulent and subtly cooling effect on the glossy, polished palate. Tangy plum skin, piquant plum pit and a hint of seedy red raspberry serve for invigoration critical to pushing back against unusually high residual sugar, but without diminishing the sense of richness that is engendered on first sip. “I believe some casks would have benefited from fermenting a bit further,” noted Müller, but the fermentations simply petered out. As a result – though, naturally, must weights in the low 90s are also contributory – nearly 60 grams of residual sugar remain in the finished wine. The impressively sustained finish is amply refreshing as well as transparent to smoky and stony nuances. DAVID SCHILDKNECHT, Vinous

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The Bellenos range sit under the newly created Coteaux Bourgignons (Hillside Burgundy) appellation. This new appellation was created in 2011 to allow producers in the region more freedom to blend wines, among varieties and throughout a larger designated area. It is designed to promote Burgundy that is of real quality but perhaps fits outside the traditional constraints of AOC regulations. It extends from Cote d’or in the north to Beaujolais in the south.

The blanc is a blend of mainly chardonnay sourced from a cluster of southern Burgundy and northern Beaujolais sites. A touch of aligoté is also blended in to provide a little extra zip and vigour to the wine. Fermentation is all done in stainless steel tank with about 8 months in larger old barrels and aging on fine lees to provide a little extra texture and weight.

A nice little hit of exotic fruits but pulled in tight to keep things fresh and while there is plenty of plushness and mid-palate richness there is a lovely savoury edge and spicey mineral note that threads it all together nicely. 

A bit like a Ferrari 812 Superfast that can go from zero to 100 in 2.9 seconds, this chardonnay seems to race across the palate, leaving a trail of flavour in its wake. It's pure acidity driving this. Of course there's more in the midst: the citrus, the flint and the smidge of nougatine. A complex, fantastic wine. JANE FAULKNER, winecompanion.com

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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!

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!

There’s a bit of mountain stream in the fragrance of the Scharzhofberger Kabinett, but the primary aromas come from local orchards and citrus-fruit groves. Don’t expect an exuberance of sweet temptation on the palate, as zest and spice play at least as significant a role as residual sugar. But what makes the Scharzhofberger so unique is not the fruit, but the zest and spice it is delivered with. It’s still taut at this early stage, not so much a ‘come hither’ but a ‘come up and see me sometime’ Kabinett. MICHAEL SCHMIDT, Jancis Robinson

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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!

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's always a lot of class to this chardonnay. It has flavour aplenty, yet everything is reined in by fine and tight acidity. It's also flinty, spicy and tangy. The oak is a mere part of the overall profile, not at all dominating. Long, pure and utterly refreshing. (96) JANE FAULKNER, Wine Companion

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The 2018 Cialla Bianco is smoky, wafting up with dusty chalk and musky notes of peach and pear. This gains a confectionary melon note with time in the glass. It’s texturally deep with cooling acids and mineral-tinged melon, while it soothes yet also stimulates the palate. The 2018 tapers off dry and lightly structured, yet also refreshing and long, leaving a hint of sour citrus and a lingering salty sensation. Lose this in the cellar for three to five years. The Ciallabianco is a blend of 65% Ribolla Gialla, 25% Picolit and 10% Verduzzo from 50-year-old vines. ERIC GUIDO

Cropped from Philippe Germain’s estate vineyards in the heart of the Layon Valley, at Rochefort-sur-Loire. Unusually for the Loire, the clay and schist-rich soils here are cut into an amphitheatre of terraces. Compared to much of the appellation (and especially the wines of the Layon Crus of Bonnezeaux, Chaume and Quarts de Chaume) this wine showcases the more delicate, almost Germanic style of Layon.

Eric Louis is producer in Thauveney-en-Sancerrois in the Loire. The Louis family wine business began as early as 1860. Now Eric is at the helm and winemaker at the domaine, which extends over 10 hectares on the south- east side of the Sancerre vineyard.

A flinty whiff of reduction appears first, then a notion of passion fruit, but the flavors home in on ripe tangerine and Meyer lemon. These aromatic citrus notions swirl on the palate, offering up hints of juicy peach here and riper tangerine there. All of this exuberance is anchored in a stony and slender but solid core. The mild freshness carries all to a lingering, dry finish. Drink 2025–2045. ANNE KREBIEHL MW

The 2018 Riesling Smaragd Ried Steinertal is clear, coolish and flinty on the remarkable mineral, herbal and concentrated nose. Crystalline, refined and elegant on the palate, this is a great 2018 Riesling classic from the Wachau. The palate is lush and perfectly ripe but very elegant, fine and sustainable in its crystalline and crunchy structure and its salivating salinity. A fascinating wine.  slightly smoky spice with a faintly floral accompaniment – that’s a nice nose. There’s impressive intensity here, weight but never heavy. Slightly structural finishing but very long. This is showing beautifully. STEPHEN REINHHARDT, www.robertparker.com

Traditional method, 47/44% chardonnay/pinot noir with 9% reserve wine from ’12. Three years on lees, dosage 4g/L and disgorged January ‘21. It has the perfect amount of complexity – think brioche with lemon curd with a touch of aldehydes – to the brightness of apple and stone fruit within. While it comes across with a richness of flavour, it’s crisp and refreshingly dry. JANE FAULKNER, James Halliday

Fontana Bodegas & Viñedos is a leading producer of Estate wines, owning over 600 hectares, and managing a further 400 hectares of sustainably farmed, high-altitude vineyards in Castile, Central Spain.

Jesús Cantarero, the current owner, has now brought together a highly experienced, eclectic, multi-national team of wine professionals, including Sam Harrop MW, who produce authentic, contemporary wines of great purity and freshness.

Leaps out of the glass with a melange for of frest fruits' ; apple, citrus, green melon, lime and nectarine. Fresh notes of grass, fennel and white pepper hit little top notes here and there. There I no oak to trick this up it's all about purity and freshness. Dry and crisp with excellent balance and a persistent finish and a tug of minerality to keep things interesting. Packed full of flavour and will go down and absolute treat.

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Each parcel was harvested separately, based on the degree of maturity of the grapes so as to preserve and enhance complex territorial characteristics of each individualvineyard block. Upon arrivalat the cellars, grapes were destemmed, delicately crushed and gently pressed. The resulting must was transferred into stainless steel temperature-controlled fermentation tanks where alcoholic fermentation took place atatemperature of 16 °C (61 °F). Each individual lot was carefullyand systematically evaluated and then blended.

Straw yellow on colour with greenish highlights. Excellent aromatic intensity on the nose offers notes of citrus fruit, white flower blossoms and tropical fruit. On the palate it's savoury with good persistence of flavours and a fresh and pleasant citrusy finish.

Comes from two hectares of well ventilated 50 year old vines from both the Fuisse side and Pouilly vineyards A ripe and nicely perfumed nose features notes of citrus blossom, acacia, pear compote and a whiff of spice. The precise and mineral-driven flavors don't possess the same mid-palate density as the 2019 version though they do still possess an attractive texture as well as good persistence on the youthfully austere and chiseled finish. Outstanding, BURGHOUND

…Pale pure primrose. Very classy, the Puligny of Pouilly for its vibrant backbone, then fattens out somewhat behind, the fruit clings to the teeth. JASPER MORRIS MW

Golden colour. Deep and honeyed, grilled cashew and white flower aromatic. Fruit spectrum dances around the orchard and something slightly more exotic with a puff of white smoke putting a complexing note into the conversation. The palate follows suits with a lovely attack of sweet citrus and melon fruits spreading across the palate before a blast of limestone-linked austerity and tension pulls everything back into line. It's a wine I just loved drinking. you get Macon generosity and enjoyment alongside enough tension on the backend to keep you wanting another glass. This guys is a "watch-this-space" producer. MICHAEL MCNAMARA, PWS

The trio of Rhône grapes is folded together nicely indeed in this warm-hearted, gently spiced blend. Light gold in hue, lifted in honeysuckle, beeswax, stone fruits and pear with a hint of apricot, the palate is textural and glossy with a distinctive waxy mouth feel. Screams for a rich food pairing. JENI PORT, winecompanion

Marie and Sylvie Courselle are two sisters most certainly doing it for themselves, not afraid to break from tradition in order to create truly tasty wines. A short 25 km from Bordeaux, the Courselle vineyard is located at Chateau Thieuley, the historic family property on the clay and limestone hills of Entre-dux-Mers. From growing up in the region, and studying their craft, to travelling widely abroad, the Courselle sisters came to have a deep understanding of the complexities of the family vineyard, and also its potential. They wanted to make wines to reflect their values, while show their great pride in their family history at Chateau Thieuley and pay tribute to the knowledge they learned from their parents.

Marie and Sylvie have also worked hard to obtain their sustainable certification from Terra Vitis, working to ensure vineyard health and vitality that shines through in the end result.

El Muelle is named for a pier which used to serve fishing boats in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. It’s ‘nominally’ a Vino de Pasto, a wine with some bodega ageing development, but short of the requirements for Fino. In the case of ‘el Muelle’, it’s a Vino de Pasto very lightly touched by ageing.

El Muelle is a structured, detailed rich and savoury wine, part of which is given a brief soleo. It’s fermented and aged in a mix of stainless steel (80-90%) and bota. Only a small portion develops flor. Both portions spend 6 months in tank to unify. The wine is naturally acidified with addition of a light ‘green wine’ fermented from the green harvest in July.

Somewhat tropical fruit, with peach, apple, and pear. After release, this fruit resolves into citrus and chalk. There's a touch of plumpness, then toast, cereal, and floral aspects in balance, with the false sweetness of chalk filling out the flowers. Savoury and long, with the feel of chalk and lovely structural definition.

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***Tre Bicchieri Winner***
Red volcanic ferrous soils with ample black basalt strewn amidst. Suits the later ripening Garganega, while screw cap promotes the freshness sought at this address. 6 ha. 60-70 year vines on a cooler site, rising to the creme of top quality sites as the climate warms. A richer wine than the younger Classico, but without the same sassy vitality. While the Classico is an unbeatable everyday wine, this is a complex wine demanding food and a little more contemplation. Mirabelle, apricot pith, a whiff of dried mango and plenty of smoky, pungent mineral grip, with dutiful freshness towing tenacious length. Drinkable now, but best from 2025. NED GOODWIN MW

Elegant and characterful Soave Classico, hailing from the prized Monte Carbonare 'cru', known for its distinct basalt soils. And this wine has a volcanic soul, with smoky nuances to the filigree lemon, apple and almond flavours. There's a pleasant width to the mid-palate. DECANTER

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Stonefruit, preserved lemon, wheat germ, mint and garden herbs, cashew nuts. It’s intense in acidity, but rich in ripe lemon and peach flavour, kind of savoury and saline too, oatmeal and grapefruit, glossy yet flinty, with a finish of huge length and gently nutty oxidative character. Such personality, power, and presence. Wonderful. (95) GARY WALSH – TASTED NOVEMBER 2022

Lethbridge's flagship chardonnay, capable of stopping you in your tracks. With fineness, concentration of fruit and judicious winemaking, this is one of Geelong's best expressions of the grape. Citrus to the fore on the bouquet, with grapefruit, lemon, white nectarine and almond-meal notes. Fine lined throughout with a tantalising theme of bush herbs and lemon thyme. Bright, crystalline freshness to close. (95) JAMES HALLIDAY’S WINE COMPANION – TASTED 2021

A rich Chardonnay in the context of Australian tendencies to push the linear, reductive and taut. Yet there is no dearth of freshness. White peach, truffled lees and brulee segue to mineral crunch, a lick of classy oak and a long, penetrative finish. This mid-weighted, bottled aged iteration is for flavor hounds as much for those who like textural interplay and considerable complexity. JAMES SUCKLING – TASTED AUGUST 2023

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From the Lusatia A Block, Woori Yallock, Yarra Valley. Whole bunched pressed, racked to older French oak casks, natural fermentation. Lees are stirred toward the end of fermentation and then left to rest until late November. The wine was gravity racked to vat for a further 6 months on fine lees before bottling.

“Jurançon may be well off the beaten track for most wine lovers, but in the intelligent perfectionist Henri Ramonteau, France has one of its greatest winemakers.” ANDREW JEFFORD, The New France

60 % Gros Manseng and 40 % Camaralet, crushed and destemmed then macerated on skins for 12 hours before pressing. Cool-fermented in stainless steel and matured on lees for 5 months.

The nose expresses a fine and intense bouquet, with notes of citrus and exotic fruits coming from the Gros Manseng, along with hints of white pepper, cinnamon and fennel from the Camaralet. This aromatic register is amplified in the mouth, where there is lovely volume and texture, finishing long and refreshing with crisp acidity.

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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!