Rose and geranium rise from the nose of this aromatic wine, which presents as light and airy in texture despite a full-bodied frame. Rhubarb, pomegranate and cacao nib combine around hints of slate and white pepper.

There’s a very approachable feel to this pinot, with aromas of blueberries, blackcurrants and sweet hard spices, such as star anise. The palate has a polished feel, with a plush texture and a plump blueberry and black-cherry core. Drink over the next six years. Screw cap.

From winemaker emeritus Ted Edwards (with 90% Cabernet Sauvignon), this opens with enticing aromas of blackcurrant, spicy tobacco and fresh loamy earth. Effusive palate of dark fruit flavours, elongated satiny tannins, crisp blood-orange-like acidity and nuanced wild herbs, with a sanguine mineral finish. At a decade of age, it still has plenty of life ahead of it.

The Bosché vineyard sits on a gravel bench, with a high water table, and requires a bit more attention to control vigour. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are planted here, and each year roughly 5%-10% of Merlot will make it into the final blend (7% in 2018). Bright black fruit nose with pretty red florals and classic Rutherford dust. Beguiling blueberry and black cherry flavours abound, while angular tannins segue to a confected finish. A wine to really contemplate.

Produced by winemaker emeritus Ted Edwards, with 84% Cabernet Sauvignon. Fresh black fruit and high-toned black olive perfume with wood spices. Weighty flavours of black fruit, spice cake and forest-floor notes run up against powerful burly tannins, which become chalky on the mid-palate, while a fresh, spicy finish unspools with intriguing red apple skin and rose petal florals.

In the glass this displays a dark and glossy hue, which leads to a complex nose filled with toasted blackberry, liquorice, black olive and vanilla pod, along with some floral elements reminiscent of dried violets, as well as a suggestion of cool crushed chalk. Beautifully poised on the palate, this is very finely textured, bordering on silky, the texture supporting layers of dark fruits, blackberry, olive and currant. It is packed out with ripe and tightly grained tannins which come to prominence in the middle and especially at the end. It is spicy too, certainly energetic, with a thread of pepper, long and charged. This is an exciting wine now, but I think the real joy lies a few years away yet. Give it five more, maybe a few more, to see it at its best The declared alcohol is 14.5%.

Succulent, packed with black cherry and blackberry flavors allied to a dense foundation of tannins. Offers leather, licorice, earth and oak spice details, and finishes long and balanced. Sophisticated and complex. Cabernet Franc. Best from 2024 through 2037.

The 2021 vintage for south-eastern Australia has been the rose between two thorny vintages. The swell of excellent releases solidifies its greatness.
This chardonnay is a blend of their single sites; Sexton, Tarraford, Applejack, Primavera and Wombat Creek vineyards. Earthy aromas of moss and seashell sit alongside white florals and orange zest. It’s finely boned and holds a good line; with air it gains breadth. This is a very fine Aussie chardonnay, it’s complex and delicious with great staying power that speaks of classy fruit sourcing.
With a change of guard at Giant Steps and Mel Chester taking over, we look forward to seeing upcoming releases from this exemplary producer.

The 2020 Chardonnay Viñedo Maricerro from Portezuelo, Itata, was fermented in 20% new French barrels. Yellow with a greenish sheen. The nose offers apple, pear, hazelnut and gentle buttery notes plus hints of melon, creamed corn and praline. In the mouth, it’s broad and buttery, with good fat and sharp freshness that stretches out the oaky finish. A well-balanced, California-style white.

The 2021 Clay Ferment Chardonnay is a wine that's made in small quantities—and perhaps difficult to get outside of Australia—however, it's an interesting proposition and one that goes some way toward revealing the importance of "subregional" DNA. There is one clay egg of each of the single vineyards, where the wine was vinified separately and then blended together prior to bottling. The eggs behave like oak barrels in terms of their micro-porosity and fermentation kinetics, however they leave no flavor artifact, making it a perfect vessel to understand the individual vineyard sites. This is slightly cloudy in the glass, with low sulfur at bottling, and via the unfined nature, it retains all the good phenolic texture and grip that can make Chardonnay so excellent. This has really good persistence of flavor in the mouth: power from Sexton, green olive and caper brine from Tarraford, savory white miso/from Applejack and pork crackling from Wombat Creek. This all alongside the white orchard fruit, of course. This is a fascinating wine that will titillate the purists to no end. An interesting side note: The clay eggs are handmade in coastal New South Wales. They're very delicate, so much so that the team brings them to temperature with filtered water prior to filling, so that when they're "loaded up" they don't go into thermal shock and crack. They really are handled like eggs.

The 1998 Verite is a blend of 90% Merlot and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Medium to deep garnet-brick colored, it opens with mature cigar box, smoked meats, and fruitcake notes, leading to suggestions of dried roses and crushed rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has evocative exotic spices and dried plums flavors with soft, powdery tannins and a minerally finish. 1998 was the first vintage release of Vérité. At this time, the only labels made were La Joie and this Merlot-based blend simply called "Vérité," later to become "La Muse."

The 1998 La Joie, a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot, is deep garnet-brick colored. Notions of ginger cake, Chinese five spice, dried figs, black currant jelly, and Morello cherries burst from the glass, followed by hints of iron ore and dried herbs. The medium to full-bodied palate is plush and opulent, with loads of exotic spice layers and a refreshingly vibrant lift on the finish. 1998 was the first vintage release for Vérité. At this time, the only labels made were La Joie and a Merlot-based blend simply called "Vérité," later to become "La Muse."

This has lift and drive, with a racy-edged set of pomegranate, blood orange and red currant coulis flavors that are well-defined and course through, while red tea, mineral and savory accents add mouthwatering range through the finish. Shows nice coiled-up energy for cellaring, too. Drink now through 2032.

Packed with bramble-laced blackberry and mulberry fruit, this has excellent energy from start to finish, with mouthwatering anise and apple wood notes in the background. Shows a subtle singed sandalwood edge that provides a touch of perfume. Distinctive and delicious. Drink now through 2030.

This is an interesting blend of 50% Grenache Blanc, 25% Roussanne, 12% Clairette, 9% Piquepoul and 4% Bourboulenc. Portions of the first two varieties are skin fermented and macerated for 90-126 days, with a result that 59% of the blend was skin macerated. Aged in large ceramic eggs. Soils are weathered sands mixed with ironstone gravels. It’s a fresh, refined and beautifully balanced white wine with some well integrated structure supporting fresh pear and citrus fruit. There’s a hint of white peach, mint and mandarin, but the main thrust on the palate is delicate citrus fruit, with a sense of finesse, and finishing compact and slightly structured. This is a rarity: a wine with a significant skin ferment portion, but also lovely balance and delicacy, and it should age in interesting ways. Still very pure and primary, and not at all blowsy or rich, as some expressions of Rhône whites can be.

The only one of the Mt Brave wines that isn't 100% varietal, the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Mt. Veeder includes 4% Merlot, 3% Cabernet Franc, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Malbec. Offering hints of sage and lavender entwined among waves of cassis, this full-bodied wine may not be as broad or expansive in the mouth as the La Jota, but it also might be a touch juicier and longer on the finish.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Howell Mountain is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, with small proportions of Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Merlot and Petit Verdot. It's ripe and rich, with plenty of cassis, hints of cinnamon and cedar and nuances of bay leaf on the nose. Full-bodied and velvety, it's remarkably easy to drink, finishing mouthwatering and long.

Blended from portions of Sycamore, Bosché and another vineyard, Freemark Abbey's 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford features scents of cassis, plum and hints of dark chocolate on the nose. A blend of 83% Cabernet Sauvignon, 13% Petit Verdot and 4% Cabernet Franc, matured in 55% new French oak, it's full-bodied, dusty and firmly built. There's even more structure here than in the Oakville bottling, yet the wine remains elegant on the lengthy finish.

Stunning, with terrific focus and intensity to the core of Earl Grey tea, firm, juicy cherry, raspberry and white pepper flavors. Notes of clove and green cardamom linger on the finish, with a touch of salted caramel. Drink now through 2034. From Australia.

March 2022: Red currants, raspberry scents, quite ripe and forward in fruity perfume with a more tightly wound, fresh feeling palate and a building, quality tug of fine tannin in the mix. Gingery spice, a bit of alpine herb too. Tension, vitality and drive. Serious feeling, understated expression.

Bright ruby. A highly expressive bouquet evokes fresh red fruits, cola and Asian spices, along with a bright mineral overtone. Juicy, lithe and precise on the palate, offering mineral-laced raspberry, cherry, rose pastille and spicecake flavors that deepen steadily with air. Delivers a suave blend of power and finesse and finishes with outstanding clarity, slowly building tannins and strong persistence.

Vivid ruby-red. Expressive scents of ripe red/blue fruits, candied rose and exotic spices, along with a smoky mineral element that emerges with aeration. Silky, sweet and fleshy on the palate, presenting juicy, spice-laced black raspberry, cherry-cola, boysenberry and floral pastille flavors that are complemented by a hint of mocha. Made in a seamless, plush style, showing impressive clarity and smooth, rounded tannins on the strikingly long, floral-driven finish.

Rich in ripe pear and a lovely note of vanilla bean, this white offers a crisp, mineral-like backbone of acidity and structure that shows its coastal beginnings. White flower, dried herb and sea spray contribute a beguiling character amidst the full-bodied weight of the wine.

Focused and deep black-cherry flavors ride soft tannins and a touch of brisk acidity for good balance in this compelling, fruit-driven wine from an immaculate small vineyard above Anderson Valley. Nuances of black tea and rhubarb emerge with more sipping, driving good complexity through the finish.

Introducing 20% whole bunch into the ferment lifts the perfume and brightness of the clean, lean palate, but the real interest here is the svelte tannin profile. It transforms the expected traditional burly Australian Shiraz structure into a something more surprising, supple and elegant. The slender palate weight ensures that the fresh red fruits remain lively and especially vibrant.