DOMAINE BERNARD GRIPA
St Joseph of Rare Power, Brightness and Class.
"I just tasted this 2023 red today, for the first time, and it is stupendously great! The Decanter note below is right in stating "classic and correct" but the 92pt score, IMHO is very mean / tight! This is a simply mind-blowingly great, clean, pure, focused, fruity, smokey-meaty, raspberry and pepper infused red dripping with class. I'm so excited to take a bottle home later this week to drink it and watch it unfurl over several hours. This has more "brightness" and pepper than a Chave, less iodine and ferruginous character than a Gonon, and more minerality and less oak than a single-site Guigal." Bernard Gripa is a leading name in the Northern Rhône, known for wines of quiet power and crystalline precision from the steep granite slopes of Saint-Joseph and Saint-Péray. There is a marsanne/roussanne that shimmers with minerality as well as the afore-mentioned shiraz, the wines are thoughtful, restrained, and resolutely terroir-driven. Run by Bernard and his son Fabrice, the domaine marries generations of tradition with a mastery of touch, producing some of the region’s cleanest, most elegant and age-worthy whites and reds.
From a remote hillside above the Wye River valley - OSSA Wines
Founded in 2017 by Rod and Cecile Roberts, OSSA is named after Tasmania’s highest mountain — and that sense of altitude, ambition and clarity runs through every wine. The Belbrook vineyard near Swansea is a true cool-climate site: sandstone and ironstone soils, sea breezes, and a strong sustainability ethos (off-grid, solar-powered, carbon-neutral). It’s one of the most exciting new estates in Australia.
These are elegant, characterful wines with great tension and length. The pinot noir has already bested more established names, winning the Australian Pinot Noir Challenge on debut. The chardonnay is fine-boned and flinty and there’s also an impressive "cool" peppery and spicy shiraz that's really classy.
Ossa has been purchased by the Hall Fogherty Group that now has Taltarni, Clover Hill and a new large vine-friendly site at Swansea, so watch this space!
PRE-ARRIVAL OFFER - DUE END OF AUGUST 2025
The 2009 Anniversary cuvée marking Jadot’s 150th year, the 2018 edition follows the same principle: a blend of only the oldest vines in the best plots within the 16 different Beaune Premier Cru sites. It is made only in the best vintages—the previous release was in 2015. It is treated with grand-cru like attention from the earth and vines, through the winemaking process (lots of structure and richness for ageing and a generous amount of new oak too).
The 2009 Anniversary cuvée marking Jadot’s 150th year, the 2018 edition follows the same principle: a blend of only the oldest vines in the best plots within the 16 different Beaune Premier Cru sites. It is made only in the best vintages—the previous release was in 2015. It is treated with grand-cru like attention from the earth and vines, through the winemaking process (lots of structure and richness for ageing and a generous amount of new oak too).
