Seville Estate is one of the mainstays of Upper Yarra viticulture, and the outstanding 2010 vintage has elevated its Estate Chardonnay to new heights of textural minerality, seamless precision, pristine fruit clarity and expertly crafted styling. Pure, focused and fresh grapefruit and white peach are beautifully integrated with cashew nut French oak, finishing with outstanding […]

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Shiraz master Wayne Dutschke proved his skill with varietal cabernet under his ‘Sami’ label in recent times, but for years this has been his secret weapon in subtly tweaking shiraz. We have awaited his first cabernet shiraz in trembling, child-like anticipation. It has landed at last, and, boy oh boy, does it meet expectation. The […]

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St Jak is Dutschke’s most important wine, and 2010 is as exactingly crafted and wonderfully generous as ever. It’s packed with opulent layers of black cherries and plums of warm, supple concentration yet precise definition. The finish carries seamless and exact, with supportive dark chocolate oak meshing with fine, supple tannins, warming alcohol and lingering […]

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Last week Domaine Wine Shippers lined up the big guns of Domaine Raveneau and Domaine Laroche with the new guy, Patrick Piuze, from precocious Petit Chablis to profound Grand Cru Les Clos. After an hour of intensive interrogation, Raveneau claimed three of my top five wines and Piuze snared two. Terroir de Courgis is a […]

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I’ve been tracking a container of Dumangin destined for our shores for months, having seen a sneak preview of its contents last July. I spent the second half of last year pleading with Coles to treat us to the most refined sub-$60 champagne rosé around. The wait is finally over because the call came on […]

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2010 is an Oscar of lush concentration yet consummate precision, a flagship for all that is wonderful about Barossa shiraz. In depth of colour and palate concentration, it is nothing less than immense, ricocheting with powerful blackberries, blueberries, plums and liquorice that seem to coast just under the surface. The crucial secret that elevates Oscar […]

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If ever we needed proof that cabernet of unbridled Barossa power is capable of flattering beyond words, it’s no surprise that this might emerge from the masterful genius of Wayne Dutschke. More than this, this Single Barrel is one of the finest wines to ever hail from the hallowed vines of St Jakobi. How such […]

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Benchmark 707, exact in every way, from the first waft of pristine violet fragrance to a finish that lingers into tomorrow. Such is the sheer determination of pure blackcurrant brilliance that flashes of eucalypt, mint and even 100% new American oak pale into the background. Sensational definition and intensity powers through a finish of epic […]

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On paper, Bin 169 is to 707 what RWT is to Grange: single region in 100% new French oak rather than a multi-region blend in American oak. But the comparison strictly ends here because the style and aspiration of this wine hark to a more lofty place altogether. Bin 169 is baby Bin 620 – […]

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Not released with the Penfolds so-called ‘Icon and Prestige’ brigade, Great Grandfather seems to elude all launch events and fanfare, yet the sheer grandeur of this wine deserves equal reverence. For a wine to capture such dizzying complexity of maturity after some thirty years in the cellar and yet such fresh, lively energy is a […]

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