Crushed cherries, raspberries and dried cranberries here, together with savory herbs, dried flowers and wet stones. Medium-bodied, chalky and polished with delicious cherries and hints of red spices. Crunchy and vibrant finish. Drink now.

Ripe and fruit-driven, with a big wave of warmed cassis and plum coulis flavors dotted with violet, anise and tobacco notes. Shows good underlying juicy energy, too. Drink now through 2030. 558 cases made.

Appealing for the restraint and complexity, with fresh apple, pear and citrus flavors that mingle with hints of toasted herbs, wild fennel, honeycomb and wet stone minerality on a fresh, juicy frame. Drink now. 395 cases made.

The 2021 Chardonnay Viñedo Maricerro was produced trying to keep the minerality of the quartz-rich soils from Itata, where the grapes grow. It fermented and matured in barrel for 10 months. It has lots of apples and flowers, with a round palate, and it's nicely textured, with 14.5% alcohol and very good freshness and acidity. 1,600 bottles.

The surprisingly dark 2021 Pinot Noir Viñedo Maricerro has a ripe nose. It was produced with grapes grown at only six kilometers from the sea on granite soils with lots of quartz. It's ripe at 14.5% alcohol, round and lush, with chalky tannins and a soft mouthfeel, where the spicy oak makes a shy appearance. 1,600 bottled were filled in February 2022 after 10 months in barrel.

A combination of dark cherries, racy strawberries and red berries with some roasted black spices and some undergrowth notes. Shows good depth of fruit on the nose with a generous splash of oak spices. Medium- to full-bodied on the palate with juicy, flavorful berries in the spicy finish. Ripe and pretty vertical for a pinot. Still pretty ethereal. Drink now.

Currant and blackberry succulence runs through this Cab, grown in a comparatively cool McLaren Vale subregion. Soft violets, graphite and savory, earthy spice are tucked underneath, framed by toasty, vanillin oak that floats further to the fore with time in glass. The palate is powerful with tightly wound, chalky tannins. Drink now with protein or hold for up to 10 to 15 years. Majestic Imports

Toasty aromas of roasted almond, baked pine nut and sandalwood warm up the seared citrus elements on the nose of this bottling. A bright, zesty acidity fires up the palate, where orange flesh and wood-spice flavors are enhanced by a crushed stone minerality

This friendly, ripe and smooth-textured wine bursts with black cherry and candied cherry flavors on a full body, braced by light tannins and decent acidity. Oak spices of cinnamon and cedar are layered in for extra interest.

Big and bold, this fullbodied and rather tannic wine boasts a dark color and deep black-cherry and dark plum flavors. A mouth-filling presence and rich, almost thick texture give it significant heft on the palate

Complex and minty, an unusual medley of flavors gives this full-bodied wine a distinctive expression. Look for cedar, tamarind and menthol accents on good black-cherry flavors bolstered by moderate tannins

Pretty nose of dried roses, strawberries, orange zest, bergamot and nutmeg. Bright and crunchy, with a medium body, fine tannins and a vibrant finish. Drink or hold

A myriad of fermentation vessels makes for a classically bright Sauvignon Blanc with ample body and richness. Blended with a small percentage of Sémillon, it's a wine with fresh florals, bright acidity, and some depth and viscosity—aromas of ripe peach, beeswax, pollen, and lanolin open into a palate marked by rich texture. Flavours of honeyed pear, chamomile, hazelnut skin and ripe nectarine show a wine that has real ageing potential.

12.1% alcohol. Own rooted vineyard planted in 1982 at 1000 ft. Lemony and bright with a touch of marmalade and some nice stony characters. There’s a tapering lemony finish with nice weight and a lovely fruity character. Some lime oil hints too. It has some fruit sweetness, but it’s dry.

Offers grilled pineapple, white peach and lemon blossom notes that are robust and effortless on a sleek, juicy frame, with fresh-cut green apple, tarragon and sea spray emerging on the mouthwatering finish. Drink now. 17,000 cases made.

Wild fermented with 16 days on skins; 15 months in French barriques (60% new) before a couple of months in old foudre, post blending. Mocha, coffee bean, damson plum and a slither of herb-crusted tannins, beautifully managed. A full-weighted wine, with a lilt of herbal freshness. As good as merlot gets on these shores.

There’s a lemony high note to this wine’s acidity, lifting the floral scents over flavors of green apple. White flowers and a hint of oak frame the fruit for a balanced, elegant white.

Tasted off the Earl's wine list in early March. Winemaker Peter Fraser is behind this single vineyard McLaren Vale shiraz grown biodynamically at 180m on the estimated 54 million-year-old North Maslin Sands, a mix of sand and ironstone that covers a dozen unique blocks. It has an unusual aromatic dark fruit aroma with bright spice that lifts the wine out of the glass with style. The tannins are supple and speak to an impeccably balanced wine. The long and entertaining finish pitches more blueberry, blackberry, and black licorice. The texture, as always, is amazing. Technically, 10% of the fruit remained as whole bunches, with the remaining fruit destemmed and mechanically sorted. 50% remained as whole berries, while the other 50% was lightly broken. It was native fermented in open fermenters, and finally kept for 12 months in 25 percent new French oak.

An elegant shade of reddish purple in the glass, this bottling offers asphalt, game and aged berry aromas on the nose. The palate is lightly bodied by extremely expressive and layered, moving from purple flower and fruit flavors to savory pork fat, wood spice and sagebrush.

Hints of almonds and savory herbs in the aroma accompany Bosc pears and vanilla on the palate as this handsome, toasty wine balances fruitiness and an oak-aged spiciness for a complex and complete expression. Best through 2028. Editors’ Choice.

I last opened a bottle of this two years ago and I have to admit that those tasting notes are still pretty spot on. Like I said in the previous note (“golden in the glass, but no signs of oxidation on the nose, just tons of honeyed, even candied lemon curd, laden with heavy doses of vanilla and oak. Yeah, this is a big’un, certainly in the style of those late 90s California Chards“), on the continuum of fruity and fresh to oaky and buttery, this definitely trends toward the latter, way towards the latter. That does not scare me in the slightest (although I prefer my Chardonnay with a defter hand), but this is not a Chard for the Anything But Chardonnay crowd. At. All. Excellent.

Mint sauce and tobacco and white pepper underlay plump plum and cherry fruit on this Cab Franc, which vibes more Bordeaux than Loire. There's a lick of polished vanillin oak present, too. Tannins are distinctively textured, raspy and spicy, weaving through the plush red fruit. Well structured, this could be drunk now with a roast leg of lamb or cellared through to 2030.

I can't think of a better term than "exquisite" to describe the 2019 La Crema Russian River Valley Chardonnay! It romances your palate with the abundant flavors of apple, pear, lemon zest, and a crisp finish with a mineral note, and a hint of mellow oak.

Coming from both Coombsville and Carneros, the 2020 Chardonnay spent 10 months in 36% new French oak. It’s a classy, outstanding effort offering lots of apple blossom, white flowers, and orange zest nuances in a medium-bodied, bright, juicy style. It’s perfect for enjoying over the coming couple of years.

Dark strawberry, raspberry jam and light herb aromas make for a familiar and complex nose on his bottling. The palate is edgy in texture and brisk in flavor, showing red plum, pomegranate and rounded red-flower flavors, with pepper spice on the finish.
Editors’ Choice.