2002 is a staggeringly, breathtakingly sublime Dom. At once ultra-honed, chiselled, tense and linear and simultaneously expansive, powerful and fine-tuned, culminating in a cascade of minerality. Find the love of your dreams and propose to her (or him) with this bottle. $189 at Dan Murphy’s, $200 at 1st Choice.
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I am often asked about truly – truly – great Burgundy at prices that are vaguely conceivable. Here we go! From a legendary domaine and Burgundy’s largest monopole (vineyard under single ownership), this is a wine of outstanding fruit profile, firm but silky tannins and vibrant, crunchy acidity.
readWelcome to the new Chablis. The first vintage from young maker Patrick Piuze sets the pace for a more detailed take on Chablis terroir, and Fourchaume is his most compelling expression. From a tiny pocket of 48 year old vines, it’s brilliantly chalky, beautifully textural and unerringly persistent.
readA medium sweet wine of a kind never before seen from riesling legend Crawford River. Fruit left on the vines until after Easter developed glorious flavours of starfruit, orange, apple, nutmeg and clove. Like all great sweet wines, refreshingly zesty acidity leads ahead of honeyed sweetness.
readWayne Dutschke captures fruit expression as exactingly as anyone in the Barossa right now and 2008 is the greatest vintage to ever emerge from his infamous shed at Lyndoch. St Jakobi is powerful, ripe and profoundly concentrated, a concoction of preserved plums, stewed rhubarb and lifted violets.
readIs 2008 Margaret River’s finest season ever? Never has a season produce cabernet of such precision. Only 2009 may challenge the throne. Xanadu is a wine for the long-haul, with a sensational core of blackcurrant and tobacco, overlaid with Bordeaux-lookalike seaspray and enticing savoury complexity.
readTam is a longstanding player in the A team of cab shiraz quaffers, the best entry reds in the comp. Season pass holders will note an extra layer of cherry berry fruit vibrancy in this brand new vintage. If you’re new to the game, make your acquaintance right away or put it down for a […]
readIt was during a tasting following a hairy trek up 45o vineyard slopes in Erni Loosen’s Porsche Cayenne last year that it became apparent that Dr Loosen is at the top of the hill of clarity and precision in the Mosel. Dr L is not estate fruit, but the formula is the same and 09 […]
readA year is a long time in wine. The sassy 09 is still strutting its stuff and the 10 has sauntered in to add to the frivolity. Mineral, zesty and kaffir limey, there’s a red apple and mandarin richness to its core. This is a hallmark of this earlier drinking vintage, so get the party […]
readThe recipe is as unlikely as it is compelling. Take a late pick port variety on old vines, harvest it early and do everything possible to highlight brightness, freshness, aromatics and spice while downplaying tannin and oak. Toby Barlow’s creative genius brings perfumed elegance to traditional Barossa varieties.
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