Beechworth Expo 2025

Good fruit shows on the nose: roses and raspberries. Full bodied but the high acidity undermines the palate flow somewhat. Attractive nebbiolo flavours, true to the grape. This would reward a bit more cellar time and go best wth food. Protein would soften the acid and tannin, while on the plus side, tannin and acidity give the wine structure to go with food. A cooler year wine. HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

This isn’t from Traviarti’s home estate vineyard; it’s from a new-ish vineyard on the other side of the Beechworth township, or down the road, not too far from Castagna. It’s a beautiful little vineyard though I’ve not really seen it since the vines were pups. This wine was fermented in concrete vats and then raised in ceramic. Every time I taste one of Simon Grant’s nebbiolos I think to myself: this bloke has a great feel for the variety.

This wine is excellent. It’s raked with tannin and awash with red berry, cola and red rose characters, its herbal twists working their way into mint and aniseed. Blood orange and orange blossom notes walk across stage as the general drama unfolds. This wine does not hold back on tannin; the squeeze is on, but both the fruit and its perfumes continue to roll. If you like nebbiolo, this wine is a most enticing prospect. (93+) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

Crushed, macerated on skins in large format oak, 18 months' maturation in new and seasoned oak. Built for longevity, not speed, Block 02 is a viticulturist's dream come true, a block planted according to a firm clonal selection protocol. It's one serious sangiovese, still evolving, still very much a taut, precision-driven engine yet to reveal all. Looks to dark cherries, plum, fennel, earth, tobacco, thyme and cured meats framed in savoury tannins and wood-spiced oak. Leaves you wondering and wanting more. (96) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

It’s been a Beechworth and worthy day of tasting for me today. 1,200 bottles produced. I’ve not tasted any wines from this estate before, and was prompted to ask for samples by our Snr Chardonnay Master™, John Humhprey, who tasted the FGR Smith Chardonnay 2022, and suggested I get across it. Wise words. Thank you to Peter Graham (Domenica) and Mark Walpole for sending them in to enlighten me. If you don’t ask, you don’t get, which is as it should be. Sometimes these people are too busy doing what they do to send wines in to simple wine critics. I’d like to add the word ‘humble’, though I’m not sure that would be appropriate, though I am in my own way.

Red cherry, strawberry, mint, dried herbs, tobacco and spice. There’s a bit of oak influence here, which I’d rather not have, though it’s modest and should fold into the wine with bottle age. It’s medium-bodied, at most, fresh and lively, the tannin offers a gentle pumice stone texture, and there’s a bright and minty finish of excellent length, with some almond paste to close. It has energy and vivacity, and speaks well of its grape variety. It’ll improve in bottle, no doubt. It’s very good. (94+) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

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!

Medium-depth red with a subtle trace of purple; the bouquet is earthy/terracotta-like and has traces of licorice and pepper/spices, while the palate is light to medium bodied with good intensity and backed by drying, powdery tannins. A very savoury style of shiraz, medium bodied and quite structured. It's tempting to assume the earthy touches are derived from the amphora. HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

Made with 98/2% shiraz/viognier. A compelling example of syrah, one that brings subtlety and restraint, giving full voice to the grape's aromatic side and innate beauty. Smell the lifted violet, acacia, briar, black cherry and spice. Quietly assumes a personality ripe in black cherries, bramble, cinnamon, allspice, woodsmoke and cured meats. Feel the tension playing out on the palate between tannin and acidity, tight and taut at this still-early stage, and oak (25% new) and fruit. Five years old and almost ready for its close-up. (96) JENI PORT, The Wine Front

This is 60/40% sangiovese/shiraz. A new classic Australian red? Putting these two grapes together works on a number of levels, a melding of the dark and savoury with a free-spirited elegance. Panforte, cherry, blueberry, dark spices, dark, woodsy oak and chocolate. Medium bodied, with a seamless integration of fruit and oak and a gentle flow of tannins. (95) JENI PORT, The Wine Front

Piano Piano translates from the Italian as "slowly, slowly." It's a philosophy that serves the producer well, each vintage seeing a refinement in style. There's a lovely seamless quality to the '23, more sympathetic oak handling and a deeper complexity of citrus, stone fruits and spice with hints of toasted almond, meal and flint. Good depth of flavour concentration and creaminess across the palate. A bright line of acidity adds that extra quality touch. (93) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

Employs a relatively modest 10% whole bunches and the effect is immediate and hugely positive, especially on the fragrance. Dark-fruited expression of plums, berries, black cherries, graphite and spice oh-so lifted and buoyant. The palate is svelte and lively with fine, ripe tannins. Will evolve nicely in the bottle over time, if you let it. JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

An exceptionally wonderful cool season has produced a chardonnay packed with citrus and stone fruit flavours. Balanced with creamy richness, this wine has power and length.

A medium straw yellow hue with beeswax, mango and clarified butter aromas. Medium to full with a richness of texture that is appealing. Mango and papaya fruit is well matched to honey, wax and ground ginger undercurrents. There's a touch of grip to the back palate which stops the wine from losing its way at the finish. STUART KNOX, The Real Review

Stylish and restrained, with a deliberate less-is-more prevailing attitude. The winemaking hand is off the throttle, and what we see is a fine-edged, sinewy-textured tempranillo worthy of more time in bottle. Dark cherry, black plum, chocolate, black pepper, red licorice, baked earth – it's all here, so nicely positioned – against a firm tannin structure. Top wine from a top year. JENI PORT, The Wine Front

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!