Vanguardist

South Australia 

I had the privilege to attend a 10 year vertical of Vanguardist ‘V’ Grenache with winemaker Michael Corbett this week. Michael is a fastidious wine person, articulate and passionate about old world wine with a great reverence for vignerons who highlight grape within site and season. 

The Vanguardist project has flirted with a few regions and varieties since inception in 2014 however, Grenache from the sandy soils of the Rende vineyard in Blewitt Springs has always been the main inspiration and focus. 

Tasting from vintage 2015 to the newly released 2024 Michael’s take is clear to see. The wines are delicate, nuanced, graceful. A focus on transparency of site, highlighting Grenache's ability to be perfumed and ethereal yet carry structure to age. The following wines offered all carry Michael's signature, they are all expertly crafted wines.

 Mitch Milicich, FWC  

 

Notes on Tasting 

 

 2015 - Fantastic definition, a fineness with smokey, dried herb and mineral edge. The elongated finish and very fresh and lively, superb. 

 

2019 - Introduction of large 2200 foudre for elevage. Last year of corks before switch to Diam closures. 

Poised and dense perfume, sprinkling of spice, exceptional depth, dark fruits and a harmony. 

 

2021- An excellent profile of fruit, rich yet very savory and alluring, white pepper, red sherbert and truffle oil. Complex, still great life ahead. 

 

2022 - Extension of elevage in foudre to 24 months before bottling for increased harmony and stability in the wine. High toned red fruit, slightly chewy tannin with musk, nice polish.  

 

2023 - Tobacco, balsamic, dried spice, musk, rosewater, orange rind, so perfumed and delicious and delicate. 

 

Mourvedre 2022 - The last bracket included a back vintage Mouvedre off the Yangarra vineyard, which was in a lovely spot with flavours of violet and blue tinged fruit, melty tannin. Pristine, focused and a fineboned expression. 

 

Vanguardist ‘V’ Grenache Gris/Grenache Blanc 2025 

Single Bottle Price: $57.00 

Dozen Bottle Price: $51.30 

Rohhlach vineyard, Vine Vale, Barossa Valley 

First release of this wine, 62% Gris / 38% Blanc.  

Finger lime, pear water, quince, all showing a fineness and savoury restraint. Aged in amphora, creating a porous like and elongated textural element. The wine is gently coiled, harnessing tension yet is loose enough to express itself, a serious take on the varieties at play. A very smart food wine.  Mitch Milicich, FWC  

"Up front, yellow orchard fruits – pear, peach, apple – then the detail kicks in with fresh, soft fennel seeds and pollen, chamomile flower, green almond, roasted hazelnut skin, citron pith and preserved lemon. A lemon-barley-water texture, salivating, savoury. An excellent debut, and you can feel the potential for greater heights. 95pts, Marcus Ellis, The Wine Companion 

Pear, white nectarine, white flower, a rock pool/marine sort of thing, toasted hazelnut, spice. Light, fine chalkiness, saline, pulls more citrus with some nutty things, has some gloss but keeps itself tight, finishes bright and gently salty with excellent length. Such a great drink. Balance is all just so.  94pts, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front 

Vanguardist ‘V’ Grenache 2024  

Single Bottle Price: $78.00 

Dozen Bottle Price: $70.20 

Rende vineyard, Blewitt Springs 

The Vanguardist calling card, the defining wine. Deeply savoury and intense, layered, detailed, chiselled, seriously complex. The vintage conditions were a little easier in '24 than '23, with a little more warmth, but this continues the Vanguardist upward trajectory with a theme of transparency, elegance and refined detail. Dehydrated cranberry and goji, barberry, amaro herbs and spicing, dried citrus peel, rye, caraway, pumpernickel, sun-warmed terracotta, pressed wildflowers. A sour-fruited tension to flavour and structure runs through it. It’s a wine that is so captivating on the nose, so intense and layered, that it is almost enough as is. But the palate, the chewy, pithy, silty, sandy tannins, the tamarind acidity, the haunting persistence … Another beautifully beguiling world-class grenache from Mr Corbett. Bravo. 97pts, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion 

Raspberry, cherry, almond, spice, slight liquorice richness, dried roses. Medium-bodied, spicy, cherry and raspberry, savoury and gently earthy, a fine grainy richness to tannin, a cranberry freshness to acidity, with a nutty strawberry and spice finish of excellent length. Wonderful finesse and perfume here. Give it a couple more years to come up. 96pts, Gary Walsh The Wine Front 

 

Vanguardist ‘V’ Syrah 2024 

Single Bottle Price: $78.00 

Dozen Bottle Price: $70.20 

McKenzie vineyard, Ebenezer, Barossa Valley

Graphite and mineral texture with saltbush, caper berry and intricate stylings. If traditional Barossa is convex this is concave, more chiselled in the mid palate and outward looking. A very successful wine for me, elegance achieved with great drinkability sitting in the medium bodied camp. Mitch Milicich, FWC 

From Ebenezer, planted to sandy clay loam with fragmented ironstone over limestone. This sits no more than medium in weight, sketched in charcoal and pencil rather than splashed with colour. There’s fruit intensity, concentration, but like other wines of the stable, spice and savouriness and structure are the guiding principles... Tannins, as always, are detailed, carefully extracted, compellingly instructive, leading to the table." 96pts, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion 

Blackberry, raspberry, lots of dusty spices, terracotta, orange peel, a coffee ground earthiness, violet. It’s medium-bodied, quite firm, a juiciness and freshness to acidity, a firm grain to tannin, cherry with an earthy character, some orange peel and floral mouth-perfume, finish has a boysenberry crispness, sappiness and excellent length. Engaging wine. Different. There’s so many layers to it. 

95+pts, Gary Walsh The Wine Front