Victoria Off Piste

Mighty good value here. This is brimming in dried fruits, raisin fruitcake, prune, lively dark spices, warm toffee, orange peel and ginger. It's pretty complex for a youngster, covering the tongue in a smooth, warm texture, and yet it's so fresh. 500ml. JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

Forget polite aperitifs - this is a dram that walks into the bar heavy-footed and refuses to be ignored. Built from a four-malt mash bill - three drawn from Griffiths in NSW (including one roasted to a decadent chocolate) and a smoky recruit from the Scottish Borders - it's all stitched together into a rich, oily spirit designed to hold its ground.' Aged in small-format ex-bourbon barrels from Kentucky, re-coopered here in Australia, O'Grady's is chewy, muscular, and defiantly Kinglake. It's the whisky equivalent of rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in.'

Naturally fermented in French oak and aged on lees, Beta brings great nuance and savouriness to the usual blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon. Golden Delicious apple, quince, melon, lemon barley and light grassy herbals mix and bind together nicely on the palate, enhanced by an almond mealy creaminess and clean acidity. Drinking well now. JENI PORT, James Halliday Wine Companion

Sauvignon blanc and semillon and spends times in oak barrels on lees.

Supple and slippery, long and with good concentration balanced to zippy freshness. Scents and flavours of stone fruits, ginger, cracker biscuits and toasty, sweet spice. A reserved wine in a way but you seek out all those layers of character. Pretty serious, in its way. A complex and superbly balanced medium white wine. MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

SPECIAL VALUE - From the Scotsburn vineyard planted at 510m. A light, bright ruby red. Reflects its cool origins with its aromas of red cherry, cranberry, pomegranate, lifted floral scents and spice. It's compact and nicely composed on the elegant, gently structured and persistent palate. It's a quiet wine, which I like, and this should really be singing once it fully opens up over the next four to six years. (96) PHILLIP RICH, James Halliday's Wine Companion

We should plant more Pinot in Ballarat. Why don't we? I mean, there are two great producers here, so I assume that means there is scope for more top notch vineyard space. Maybe we could bulldoze the mall in the city centre, no one goes there anyway, and plant Pinot? It's so hard to find this kind of fruit purity with Pinot in Oz, I really dig this. Lighter, but more fragrant, more suggestive of subtle things, some earthy, beetroot, rhubarb scents among the snappier, lively feel to things. Plenty of perfume here too, almost tips in to fresh mint with the cool feel to it. Really engaging, alluring thing that kept me zoned in for a while. Sappy, long and refined with admirable purity to the gentle seeming palate. There is a tonne here that will come out with time, and I expect it will loosen up a lot and fill out. When it does this may be the winner of the three. ROSCOE

...These ‘Selection’ wines come from outside the estate, and posit another level of value and value add to the existing Osicka stable of wines. This wine feels like a red someone would drink in a tavern, taverna, bistro or trattoria – varietal, accessible, x-factor, deliciousness. Not quite the right label here but close enough. At $28 at full whack this is another gift from the Osicka family.

Red cherry, stewed and fresh, some pomegranate juice, a dash of woody spices, some blood orange, a lick of dark chocolate, a pinch of pepper. Tannins tumble in with a gruff but pleasing and somewhat light chew. A graphite mineral line lends detail and a lift. Acidity takes its cue from the blood orange. Pitch perfect. It sits at around medium weight, it’s chuggable and gluggable and damn good. (93) MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

Hand picked, processed without pumping, with whole-berry fruit intact in small open-top fermenters, carbonic maceration pre-ferment, 25 days on skins, pressed and divided between concrete and seasoned French oak. The winemaker believes in the great potential of sangiovese in Heathcote, and why not, when you can enjoy a wine soft, plummy and approachable? It's ripe in black cherries, plums, clove, licorice and spice, with fine, soft tannins in place. Enjoy. JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

Piedmont in northern Italy is one of the planet's most blessed places. In addition to having one of the world's greatest wines, Barolo, and some of the finest food, that also devised the answer to overindulgence in both. Matt Large discovered the magical digestive properties of chinato while working vintage in Barolo. In this homage to the style, he follows tradition by fortifying and aromatising nebbiolo from Victoria's Pyrenees, and adds a little shiraz for an Australian twist.  It's heady, grunty, complex and compelling. It's damn delicious. (96) NICK RYAN

There will only be Camp Hill and this, Gippsland, as pinot noir releases from 2025. From two sites in Gippsland, Matthews Vineyard in Berrys Creek and Guendulain Farm in Yarragon.

Sweeping, squeaky texture, darker fruit spectrum, seamless integration of white mushroom, undergrowth and brambly herbal inflection. Bold perfume, quite a bit of flavour too, fine, grainy tannin landing well. Licks of saline minerality, some salted liquorice characters lending x-factor and a dose of sour cherry through the finish. Quite strict in a way, needing some tuime to unfurl. Serious pinot. (95) MIKE BENNIE, Halliday Wine Companion

Elm is the brainchild of Madeline Marson daughter of Mario Marson of Vinea Marson. Thast's alot of Marson. We've been stocking the white and the red consistently since the first release and these are the perfect mid-week quauffers.

Bomba Rosso is exactly what its name suggests—a juicy, energetic and thoroughly enjoyable Italian red. Bursting with ripe red and dark berry fruit, subtle spice and a hint of savoury herbs, it is medium-bodied with soft tannins and plenty of freshness. Bright, approachable and effortlessly drinkable, it's the sort of wine equally at home with a hearty bowl of pasta or simply enjoyed on its own.

SPECIAL VALUE - From the Malakoff vineyard, sees skins for 22 days before maturation in old French oak puncheon. An opportunity to hear Matt Large wax lyrical about nebbiolo, region and clone, is a masterpiece in and of itself. '24 saw a return to warmer growing conditions, resulting in a classic and pure expression of nebbiolo. Rose petal, orange rind, red cherry and raspberry with earthy savoury notes, leather, terracotta and bay. The tannins are spectacular, chewy and long, providing a nice framework in conjunction with bright acidity and fruit. It's a beauty. (94) KATRINA BUTLER, Halliday Wine Companion

Excellent fruit, excellent structure, beautiful wine to drink. Flavours of sweet cherries and pomegranate, twiggy herbs, strawberries, orange peel and assorted spices. Ultra fine-grained tannin. Fresh-feeling. Both mouth-watering and finessed through the finish. Feels crafted in the best of ways. (93) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, The Wine Front

Silver Medal winner - 2025 Victorian Wine Show

The 2024 Heritage Blend reflects the depth and continuity of the Domaine Razal vineyard, bringing together Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Malbec and Merlot in tribute to the founding Virgin Hills style.Shaped by altitude, varied soils and mature vines, the wine honours the site's history while expressing the season with clarity and balance. A core of dark cherry, blackberry and plum is layered with savoury notes of dried herbs, graphite and subtle spice, with restrained oak adding texture without weight.

The palate is medium-bodied and finely structured, with fresh acidity and well-defined tannins providing poise and length. Composed rather than powerful, the wine shows harmony between fruit, structure and savoury complexity. Approachable now with decanting, yet structured to evolve gracefully over the next decade or more. 100% French oak, 18% new, matured for 14 months in a mix of barriques, puncheons and foudres.

SPECIAL VALUE - Whole-berry ferments in open top fermenters; seven to 10 days on skins, matured 14 months in French barriques (25% new). Totally accessible young Grampians shiraz with classic fragrant dark berries to the fore, matched evenly, aromatically with lifted minty-aniseed-peppery spice. It is both generous and bright in personality. The palate is delivered finely textured with fruit and spice running long. (93) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

Deep plummy red in the glass, youthful and vibrant. Fragrant aromas of Asian spice, white pepper, blueberry, soy, dried herbs and sarsaparilla. Deliciously bright, crunchy and punchy in flavour, with lashings of blue fruits, spice and nutty oak. Textured tannins and perky acidity bring it home very nicely. (93) AARON BRASHER, The Real Review

One of the benchmark names of Grampians and Australian Shiraz more broadly, Mount Langi Ghiran has long set the standard for cool-climate Shiraz in the Great Western region. The Cliff Edge Shiraz continues that tradition beautifully, delivering spice, pepper, dark fruit and the fine structure that has made the region so revered. Consistency is one of the estate’s great strengths.

A very bright green gold. A beautifully perfumed and immediate nose of citrus, red apple, lavender and white pepper. There's a gentle lusciousness to the fruit, balanced by the wine's juicy acidity, making it an ideal candidate to drink now or cellar for up to six to eight years. (95) PHILIP RICH, winecompanion.com

Just the right edge of black pepper and a substantial base of juicy, engaging cherry-plum fruit. This is the Langi song sung true and proper. There are no rough edges here, and no signs that it's trying too hard either. It's a quality wine – it just is. It lays out everything in good measure and ties all the pieces together confidently through the finish. (95) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, Halliday Wine Companion

Very deep, bright and bold purple-red colour; the bouquet loaded with chocolate/vanilla/cocoa powder oak derived scents, which morphs into vegetable/spice, pepper and bunchy nuances with time in the glass. The wine is very full-bodied in the mouth with high-impact tannins and concentrated flavour, which lasts very long through a very punchy finish. Bright acidity. A full-throttle red that needs several years before opening. (95) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

SPECIAL VALUE - World-class taste, tiny price. This amber-coloured elixir carries impressive complexity for what is only the second muscat classification level. Invites grilled fig, dried fruits, raisin fruitcake and chocolate panforte with toasted nuts and burnt toffee, launching silky smooth and long across the palate with a delightful freshness. So good. 500ml. (95) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

Medium-depth tawny-amber-orange colour with tinges of yellow and green at the edges. The bouquet is rich and muscaty, with notes of toffee and concentrated muscat grapiness, nicely mellowed by barrel maturation. The palate is lusciously sweet and balanced, supple and rounded, with a clean finish which is harmonious and delicious. A lovely after-dinner sipper, which would also be a great ice-cream topping. It's extraordinary value for money (95) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

SPECIAL VALUE - Average age of 17 years. Crushed, natural fermentation, pressed, neutral high spirit added, maturation starts in large wood and when identified as higher quality moved to small oak; 290g/L RS. Arrives long and unwavering, a delicious road to the sweetest drinking pleasure. A raisin-y richness joins dark chocolate, roasted coffee bean, walnut, salted caramel, honeyed fig and treacle. Mature wood-aged characters come into their own. Shows balance and plenty of TLC. 500ml. (97) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

A blend of four vineyards, hence all the dirts, with the backbone from Berrys Creek giving it ‘bright high-toned raspberry fruit’, as states the note about this. Well, raspberry aromas and flavours abound in this excellent red. Lots of other aromas and flavours from red cherries and pips, warm earth and damp autumn leaves, baking spices plus woodsy spices. Fuller bodied and well composed with fine, silky tannins and refreshing acidity. Needs food of course and more time in bottle advisable. Good luck with the latter. (95) JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion

Four vineyards combine like Voltron to make this pinot noir come alive.

There’s sappy fruit and then this wonderful, twiggy, dried herbal component,  touches of shiitake mushroom and truffle, undergrowth and a lashing of red berries. Pretty in perfume, a dalliance between the savoury and fruity once again. Texture is shiny, the wine feels light weight but very detailed in fruit, spice, herbal and earthy elements; it’s got lots on and then some. Finesse, layers, character plus. Unmistakably fine wine territory. Onya. (94) MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

Just love this for its complexity, vibrancy and all-round deliciousness. It’s thanks to the perfect combo of aromas and flavours of lemon, grapefruit and ginger spice. It’s a little creamy, buttery and nutty (not much, just right), with judicious spicy oak. It’s neat and tight but not so coiled that you can’t enjoy this now, because you can, with the mouth-watering acidity driving this to a long finish.(96+) JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion

SPECIAL VALUE - A number of different soil types employed here, each batch fermented and matured separately in French oak. A wine with a long-standing history with plantings dating back almost 70 years. It's a slightly finer rendition this vintage but the generosity is there, the Heathcote stamp apparent in sweet, ripe black and blue fruits, wild herbs, baked earth, anise and, yes, spice. Boasts a fine-grained texture and freshness through to the finish. Open and generous but with a nice degree of elegance. Old vines at their best. (95) JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

I think we’ve been here before, but the ‘3’ of the house font for Osicka can look curiously like a ‘5’ and perhaps vice versa – 2023 and a double take for 2025 when looking at the label. Cabernet does good at this site.

Superb wine. Deeply flavoured, intense in concentration, blueberry, mulberry, black olive, fennel and sage leaf, dashes of sandalwood, cardamom and clove. The palate is medium weight or just over though the silky yet firming, freshening tannins are excellent here, lending shape and length to the wine, and then some. The wine speaks of an elegance usually unsaid for the region. Awesome drinking. (93) MIKE BENNIE, The Wine Front

A wine to work the tastebuds and get you thinking about food – I'm dreaming of roast pork as I write this – which is surely its intention. A blend of pinot bianco, friulano, malvasia d'Istria and picolit, it brings a characterful presence to the glass, at once unctuous and savoury, spice-fuelled and citrusy with just a touch of sweetness. The enticing role of quince and almonds is quite mesmerising, a match that lingers on and on well after tasting. JENI PORT, Halliday Wine Companion

What a wine. Everything has come together harmoniously – the enticing aromas all spicy, floral and earthy, the flavours all juicy cherries and exotic spices with blood orange acidity. The tannins are beautiful, shapely and supple yet oh-so fine and the acid just teases out the finish to linger long. Lovely drink here folks. Alas, will sell out in a flash – be quick. (96) JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companion

 

Sourced from heritage Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 1968 in the Macedon Ranges, the 2024 vintage reflects a cool season of slow, even ripening. A fragrant nose of boysenberry and blackberry leads to a medium-bodied palate that speaks clearly of place, where mature vines provide a uniquely complex structure. Firm, graphite-edged tannins and fresh acidity carry the wine to a long, savoury finish. Decanting is recommended in its youth, a hallmark of a wine that will reward both enjoyment now and graceful cellaring over the next decade or more.  A classic and truly distinctive expression of cool-climate Cabernet Sauvignon.

SPECIAL VALUE - This is a stellar red wine. It's so glossy, so svelte, so well flavoured and so well formed. It pushes cherry and plum flavours through peanut and sweet spice, though there are myriad herb and nut characters here, not to mention peppers. It's both an elegant wine and a powerful one, and its velvety mouthfeel makes it a joy to hold in your mouth. Bravo. This is beautiful. (96) CAMPBELL MATTINSON, Halliday Wine Companion

Pretty, lifted and evocative aromas of bramble, spice, whole bunch funk, blueberry, sarsaparilla, soy and cherry. Really aromatic and exotic. Fleshy, blue fruited, bright and deliciously lively on the palate. So much to like here. Lashings of blueberry, cherry, cola, bramble and Asian spice. Textured, layered and a very complete wine with textured tannins and snappy acidity. A glorious cooler climate syrah. (96) AARON BRASHER, The Real Review

Forget polite aperitifs - this is a dram that walks into the bar heavy-footed and refuses to be ignored. Built from a four-malt mash bill - three drawn from Griffiths in NSW (including one roasted to a decadent chocolate) and a smoky recruit from the Scottish Borders - it's all stitched together into a rich, oily spirit designed to hold its ground.' Aged in small-format ex-bourbon barrels from Kentucky, re-coopered here in Australia, O'Grady's is chewy, muscular, and defiantly Kinglake. It's the whisky equivalent of rolling your sleeves up and getting stuck in.'