2020 Ziereisen Lugle Weissburgunder
$81 | $44
This is a single-site pinot blanc from the S-facing slope above the village of Effringen-Kirchen, southern Baden near the "three-country" corner of Germany. Crushed white grapes and left to macerate then are pressed hard to give a dense wine with firm textural tannins that soften with the 2 years barrel age (large old oak). A lush fruit medley which is at once powerful and ripe, yet light-footed and lifted by a pleasant zing of acidity. A must-try wine from the Baden legend!
Super Special Champagnes and a few amazing value wines I've tasted this week are on offer here.
Best wishes, Randall.
2018 Taittinger Brut Millesime
$228 | $169
The 18's I've tasted so far are (Bollinger Grande Annee, Taittinger, Various Grower champagnes, Gonet-Medeville to name s0me, It's the riper and slightly more exotic start to the golden trio of 18,19 and 20. This vintage wine is a huge step up in quality over the Brut Reserve and I am super impressed, the 50% pinot noir showing through nicely, and the 5 years of lees ageing really adds to the complexity.
2014 Taittinger Comte de Champagne
$530 | $449 | $445 in 3-Packs
This is a monumental wine, the smokey / struck rock of Cotes de Blancs minerally character adding grivatas to the nougat, yeasty / brioche notes. There is good grand-cru richness and a flicker of the exotic, with mandarin peel and grilled almonds.
2024 Cullen Red Moon
33% Malbec, 23% Grenache, 22% Mourvedre, 17% Petit Verdot, 5% Merlot
$38 | $33 | $29.90 in 3-Packs
Wow this malbec, grenache and mataro blend is a real unsung hero; a stunning value and generous red of class and generosity.
2024 Cullen Diana Madeline
90% Cabernet Sauvignon 5% Cabernet Franc 3% Malbec and 2% Merlot
$165 | $155
Super Impressive, gorgeous and also statuesque red of purity, perfume and richness.
2024 Cullen Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot
$170 | $48 | $44 in 3-Packs
Classy cabernet for this super price is a real gift! Classy and "bigger" or firmer than it first appears, the tannin building with consecutive sipe (will be perfect with food of course!).
2025 Domenica Estate Chardonnay
$60 | $55
This is from the great granite soil slopes of beechworth and it's made by Peter Graham, who was previously a winemaker at Giaconda. This is a different style to mighty Giaconda, with less oak and less reduction; however it has great power and presence, and I believe great value! Sure you can drink it now, but it will be amazing with a few years age.
2025 Domenica Estate Gamay
$50 | $44 | $39 in 3-Packs
Cherries, dried flowers, spice and cracked pepper, slight new leather and nori. It’s medium-bodied, saline and savoury, cherries, lovely stony/graphite tannin makes itself known but sits neatly inside the wine, and there’s a rose and violet mouth-perfume, which is quite the thing, then fresh on a finish of excellent length. Super! 94 Pts. - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
2025 Domenica Estate Shiraz
$50 | $44 | $39 in 3-Packs
This comes from 30-year-old cane pruned vines, growing on steep granitic soils at 450m elevation. The south-facing slope encourages fruit with structure, tension, tannin, and complexity. The result of all this is a medium to full bodied wine, with powerful fruit underpinned by violets, earth and white pepper. A wine to enjoy now or to tuck away for a cellar sleep!
2025 Stonier Chardonnay
$40 | $37 | $34 in 3-Packs
There’s volume, there’s flavour, there’s definition, there’s delight with every sip. Wonderful aromas of florals, autumn leaves, wood spices and warm earth filter through to the mid-weighted palate. In wait, dark cherries, pips, blood orange zest, chinotto and spicy oak, with textural tannins and lively acidity. There's much more detail coming through this vintage. Nice one.
95 Pts. - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
2025 Stonier Pinot Noir
$45 | $41 | $38 in 3-Packs
The influence of winemaker Julian Grounds is obvious this vintage, although it goes hand-in-hand with the hard work in the vineyard. This is excellent, a wine of clarity. Expect white peach with lemon and lime juice plus zest, bolstered by a smidge of cedary oak and ginger spice. A sensation of crushed quartz and perfectly poised phenolics adds shape to the palate. There’s a latent power within yet it's curtailed by the lemon saline-like acidity. A cracking wine today, tomorrow and well into the future. 95 Pts. - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
2024 Yangarra Ovitelli Grenache
$45 | $41 | $38 in 3-Packs
'...Together, the wine looks both supple and tightly coiled, and it bears all the hallmarks of aging impressively well over the week it has been open, and decades into the future too. This is a super wine.'
97 Pts. - Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
