20% Off 'Bloody Great' Aussie Mixed Dozen

Jasmine, vanilla, talc, a stony crushed rock thing, apple and rambutan, or something like that. It's juicy and just off dry, fine chalky texture lending grip, soft but sure acidity, and very long finish trailing with perfume, white rice and sweet green apple. What a delight, and it's very good to drink right now. Why wait? 95 points. Gary Walsh - The Wine Front.

Anyone with even a passing interest in cool-climate Australia will already know that Garagiste is one of the Mornington Peninsula's brightest rising stars. This top drawer, pristine Mornington Chardonnay delivers a flourish of bright citrus and stone fruit, is deftly light on its feet (you don’t see any winemaker intervention) yet has an intensity and length normally seen only in wines twice this price. Winemaker Barney Flanders tells us that "2019 was a calm growing season, with a dry summer and ensuing condensed harvest, which yielded bright, fleshy wines." Must agree. One of the best value chardonnays in the shop. Ian Cook, FWC

All parcels were hand-harvested, bunches chilled prior to crushing and macerations varied from two up to 24 hours prior to pressing. All fermentations were conducted with indigenous yeasts in a combination of old French oak barriques, puncheons and stainless steel tanks. Approximately 20% also underwent natural malolactic fermentation. Bottled without filtration, after the components spent ten months on full lees, it's another wonderfully vibrant release of this incomparable blend. Expect a layered, waxy, wine with notes of mixed stone fruit, green fig, and subtle herbal brightness (think Chartreuse) that renders it very hard to stop drinking. As always, a phenomenal bargain.

"This release is semillon, vermentino and clairette. Vermentino! There was a bit of vermentino in the blend last year, and a stand alone vermentino now exists in the broader Spinifex range. Times they are a changin'. What a steal this wine is, by the way. Few wines at this price deliver this complexity and interest. Lemon barley water scents, steely whiffs too, a touch of green herb and fennel character. Cool and refreshing in the palate, a little slick in texture and a touch of honeyed richness settles mid palate, but the wine is more about that semillon tang and raciness than anything. That being said, lots of detail here, and deliciousness. 93 points." Mike Bennie, The Wine Front.

Hi-diddly-ho, Neighbor-eeno! Fine wine made by Mr Flanders. Matchsticks, funk and pencil shavings, peach, citrus, cashews, and spiced apple. A little more sunshine in this vintage, peach and pie apple, oatmeal, but with a grapefruit/lime intensity, and some more savoury lactic flavours in the mix. Wild, yet sophisticated. “You’ll find I’m well worth the wait. Like a mild cheddar, I get tangy when I’m sitting on a shelf. 94 points – Gary Walsh, The WInefront

This is drawn from the south-facing Merricks Grove vineyard, where the grey sandy loams are marbled with red ironstone. Hand-harvested, hand-sorted and whole-bunch pressed. Then natural primary fermentation on high solids in 500-litre puncheons (15-20% new in 2018), partial malolactic fermentation and maturation on lees for nine months before bottling. It opens all coiled and reductive: scents of smoky stone fruit and hints of browned butter and oyster shell lead to a layered, textured palate with pulpy yet precise fruit framed by Merricks’ vibrant freshness. It’s an absolutely outstanding example of Mornington Chardonnay with terrific intensity and length (again with that kiss of ocean breeze). Right up there with the very best releases of this wine.

This is stunning. The fruit came from a few rows of Chardonnay sited in the top corner of Merricks Grove that Barney has always felt makes superb and unique Chardonnay. Unlike the majority of the vineyard, the vines are rooted on brown soils as opposed to the more common reddish dirt of the area. The parcel also faces slightly eastwards, offering the vines a cooler, more sheltered aspect. There is therefore less vigour than the rest of the vineyard, and the bunches are a touch smaller. As a result, the fruit from this parcel tends to make a wine of more finesse and textural depth, with a really distinctive floral and saline personality. Over the years Flanders has found himself instinctively putting more work into this parcel and in 2017 he decided to take the plunge and vinify the fruit separately. This second release—raised in a single 500-litre puncheon—strongly backs up that decision. It’s tight, but with some air (or time in bottle) there is (or will be) no stopping it. Racy and elegant with stunning purity; its mixed citrus and white floral notes combine brilliantly with a smoky edge to the fruit. There’s serious intensity and structure driving through the wine’s pulpy core. The balance, extract and length are all class. Simply one of the finest Mornington whites we have tasted.

Quite a change to the blend this year; however no change in quality – still our favourite Australian Rose. The 2019 is a Mataro (31%), Grenache (29%), Carignan (16%), Cinsault (14%), Ugni Blanc (10%) blend. All these varieties play their part. Lifted red berry, rose petal and grenadine from the Grenache; acid freshness from the Cinsault; spice from the Carignan and brown spices, earth and bramble from the Mataro. Who knows what the Ugni Blanc gives! It’s absolutely delicious. – Ian Cook, FWC.

From Garagiste's Balnarring, Tuerong and Merricks vineyards. The grapes were sorted then destemmed--a small percentage was fermented with 10% whole bunches--and fermented in concrete using indigenous yeast, minimal hand plunging and spending 22 days on skins. The wine was aged for ten months, on gross lees, in both concrete and and foudre (5% new). Bottled unfined and unfiltered.

2019's Surrey is drawn from a small single vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley, an elevated (550 metres) northwest-facing parcel that is home to 20-plus-year-old vines. A dry, warm growing season resulted in an early harvest and concentrated fruit. This was wild-fermented in small-batch, open fermenters with 40% whole bunches. Maturation took place in barriques and puncheons (20% new Stockinger oak) for six months. In the right hands Meunier's stock continues to rise in Australia, and this is a great example of why. It's a wonderfully elegant and savoury red, with a juicy, cherry, plum and sappy-noted palate and a vibrant and mouth-watering close.  

“Formerly known as Graillot. This is the first vintage made at the new Place of Changing Winds winery. This has come along nicely over the past few months. It’s low-ish in alcohol but it packs a punch; it’s certainly not light on for flavour. It’s peppery and twiggy, a little vegetal, a lot meaty. There’s a core of cherry and a spray of florals. When you first open it things seem just a little tannic for their own good, but as it breathes it falls closer to balance. Indeed it’s the kind of wine where your impression keeps shifting. At the tasting bench I was in two minds; at the dinner table I was far more convinced. Rated: 92+ Points. Drink : 2020 - 2026+.” Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front.

I drank a bottle of this over Easter (seemed to be quite a lot of bottles opened over Easter) with a big lamb chop and a couple of sausages on the BBQ. A perfect wine for the moment – a juicy plum and cherry centre with lots of savoury, dry underbrush and briar notes at the edges. The wine gobbles up the charry BBQ notes. Highly recommended as a value wine from Heathcote – it may not be Jasper Hill but at half the price its pretty good. Ian Cook, FWC

“Fermented and aged in concrete, instead of oak. Rosy perfume, spice, red fruits, as little sap and crunch, with charm laid on and a fine fluid line from front to back. Fine tannin, a sort of ash ‘minerality’ too. It’s light but long, brightly lit, and flat out fantastic to drink. Strange to say, but it’s a little like a wine from Etna. Rated: 95 Points. Drink : 2019 – 2026.” Gary Walsh, The Wine Front.

New. Cuve Béton means concrete tank and this new bottling was fermented and raised in a single, sealable 5000-litre concrete vessel from the Italian tank maker Nico Velo. Barney first experimented with this tank in 2017, finding a noticeable difference in the finished wine—the concrete-raised Pinot displayed more freshness and a different tannin profile. Obviously the vessel’s gentle transfer of oxygen and the cooler thermal mass of the juice during fermentation makes a difference. The fruit comes from a key parcel of Merricks Grove, and the fruit was entirely destemmed and fermented wild, spending four weeks on skins. It was bottled unfiltered. This is a noticeably more structured, minerally tasting wine that Flanders has produced with deliciously crunchy red fruits and loads of spices that leap from the glass and flood the palate. There is impressive structure from the long maceration but it’s oh so fine with powdery, talc-like tannins running the length of the palate. Super, super impressive.