The 2022 Chardonnay Hapgood is gorgeous. Coming from a site on the northern side of the appellation, it has a clean, classy nose of white flowers, green almond, stone fruits, and crushed stone, with some classic Sta. Rita Hills salinity and iodine-like nuances. Balanced, medium to full-bodied, and elegant, with a lively spine of acidity and a fabulous finish, it's up with my favorites from this estate in 2022. 190 cases.

A more savory, meaty effort, the 2022 Pinot Noir Perilune has a darker ruby/plum hue to go with complex notes of mulled darker cherries, leafy herbs, shrimp broth, and Asian spices. Hitting the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, it brings a beautiful density and depth and has ripe tannins, lively yet integrated acidity, and one heck of a great finish. This is a quintessential, savory, marine-influenced Sta. Rita Hills beauty that can be drunk any time over the coming 15 years. I think it’s a step up over the 2021. Bravo.

Juicy dark cherries, mulberries, forest floor, rose, and loamy, earthy notes all emerge from the 2022 Pinot Noir Hapgood, another complex, medium to full-bodied, incredibly compelling Pinot Noir from Brewer. It's not massive but brings ripe tannins, a soft, supple mouthfeel, and a great finish. Its balance is spot on, and this beauty will have 15 years or more of overall longevity. 289 cases.

The 2022 Pinot Noir 459 is more fruit-driven, with both cherry and framboise notes interwoven with beautiful floral, rose petal, and sappy herb-like aromas and flavors. These carry to a medium to full-bodied, pure, seamless 2022 that has polished tannins, a lively, elegant mouthfeel, integrated acidity, and a great finish. It picks up a kiss of classic Sta. Rita Hills salinity and marine-like nuances with time in the glass, but this is one for those who just love that pure, floral, clean Pinot Noir fruit. It will keep for 15 years. 296 cases.

Bright, red candied fruit proliferates on the nose, and candied red fruit persists on the palate, too. It's full-bodied
and playful while being both serious and irreverent. The vines grow on rugged terrain and in very windy conditions
at the Sealift vineyard just south of the Mendocino County border at 4oom above sea level. The acidity is impressive,
standing tall and strong to retain a fresh profile that will last the wine for years

From the estate’s 1946-planted bush vines. Half whole berries, half crushed, with gentle pump overs and extended maceration on some parcels up to seven months; matured in older French puncheons, foudre, ceramic eggs and amphorae. This is quite a different wine to the 2022. That’s a tale of two seasons. Both cool, but the buttress of natural tannin in the 2022 is commanding and it is more compressed, needing time. This is prettily lifted, with cherry, cranberry, rosehip, dried orange peel, wild raspberry and red florals. It’s a gloriously fine and elegant expression of this cuvée, but it has tannic drive, line and length, savouriness, flavour depth and detail. Excellent.

From the original contour planted 1971 vines; 20% whole bunches, 30% destemmed and berry sorted and 50% crushed; matured for seven months in 30% new French puncheons, the rest in one- to two-year-old oak, then racked to older French and Austrian 2500L foudre for 12 months. This is amply generous, with blackberry tart, raspberry compote, tapenade and black plum, but picked at the right time and made with a typically deft touch by Peter Fraser. It’s a wine of intensity, verve and impressive harmony, with an elegant sheen of oak tastefully applied.

From the original 1971 contour-planted vines and a 2002 block; crushed to open fermenters; a minimum of 21 days on skins; matured in French barriques (60% new) for a total of 18 months. It’s a cabernet of deep and brooding properties but not girth or heft. Indeed, there is considerable refinement here. Cedar and currant, ripe mulberry, cassis, plum and olive, the pitch of leafiness keenly judged, with proper ripeness achieved at modest alcohol. An equally refined but effective line of tannins draws effortlessly long, with oak a key player but stylish about it. An excellent release.

Deep-ish, bright red with a good tint of purple; smoky reduction and earthy/woodsy aromas, milled peppercorns, terracotta/baked earth and dried-flower nuances. The palate is on the medium side of full bodied and has plenty of firm but fine tannins. A solid but elegant grenache of high quality. Impressive structure and ageworthiness.

Very deep, concentrated purple-red colour with a sweet blackberry pastille aroma betraying very sweet, superripe fruit which is there in abundance on palate, swaddled in layers of powdery, drying tannins. Very rich, opulent and sweet fruited, loaded with ageing potential. A decadent shiraz!

A pyrazine green pepper note blasts through the glass like a firecracker upon the first whiff, yet it’s absent on the palate. Instead, dark fruit leather proliferates with fine-rained tannins that permeate through the wine. It has a medium finish and one that intrigues as it evolves in the glass.

Pouring a ruby/magenta hue, the 2021 Pinot Noir Slope is almost all from the 667 clone of Pinot Noir and was entirely destemmed and raised for 17 months in nearly 70% new French oak. It reveals beautiful aromas of kirsch, floral and fruit notes of mixed berries, crushed flowers, sweet mossy earth, and a hint of anise. Medium-bodied, it expands through the palate, with a weightless feel, ripe tannins, the texture of river stones, and a clean finish. It’s a fantastic wine with a cuddly feel, but it’s never heavy and it has a great finish. Drink 2025-2040.

A barrel selection, but mostly from a single block in the Gran Moraine Vineyard, the 2021 Chardonnay Dropstone is a yellow/silver color and has a nose boasting notes of almond, lemon curd, yellow apple, delicate spice, and wet stones. Medium to full-bodied, it’s long on the palate, with a decadent but mouthwatering feel, vibrant, fresh acidity, and an appealing, long finish. It takes things up a gear and is going to show well over the coming 10-12 years.

From Lou Primavera's 2001-planted vineyard at Woori Yallock; 15% whole bunches and matured in French barriques (25% new). A light, bright crimson. Aromas of strawberry compote, tamarillo, sage and rose petals. A little reduction and graphite too. The palate is succulent and plush with silky tannins, making this the yummo, drink-now, single-vineyard wine from Giant Steps in '23.

A 50/50% mix of upper and lower Yarra fruit; 35% whole bunches and matured in French oak (10% new). A bright crimson red. After a few good few swirls, aromas of ripe raspberries, black cherries, wild herbs and some crushed violets soon emerge. The palate, though, doesn't need much coaxing, and this silken, sappy wine has excellent depth and persistence. Will be even better six to 12 months from now.

Applejack vineyard was planted at Gladysdale by Ray Guerin in 1997, and only 2ha of its 11ha is planted to chardonnay. It is named for the Applejack eucalypts that surround it. Whole-bunch pressed straight to barrel with full solids and matured in mainly second use puncheons. A very bright green gold. A pure and gently reticent bouquet of stone fruits, lemon verbena and crushed rocks. The palate is tightly coiled, steely, saline and focused. A wine with excellent potential.

The 2021 Pinot Noir La Crête has a complex perfume of pomegranate, blueberry, licorice, orange peel and sagebrush. The medium-bodied palate is characterized by powerful, generously perfumed fruit. It has a finely chalky frame, vibrant acidity and a very long, dynamic finish laced with flowers, herbs and citrus. It's a great candidate for the cellar. Only 100 cases were made.

There's an intense but evenly distributed stemminess to the nose of this bottling, which is equally redolent with cherry compote and sorbet notes to balance the bay and tea leaf touches. The palate's herbaceousness is more delicate, as cherry and cola flavors push into the finish.

Minty sagebrush and baking spice aromas give plenty of nuance to the nose of this wine, which centers on raspberry preserve and fresh cherry flavors. The palate's flavors range from bay leaf and mint to wild raspberry.

Snappy, exuberant aromas of black raspberry and cherry draw the nose into this bottling, and then lines of cinnamon and lemon peel add elegance to the lush core. The palate is zesty, candied and refreshing, carrying cherry, strawberry, red spice and white pepper into a long-lasting finish.

Gold metal in 2024 Royal Queensland Wine Awards

So fresh, vibrant and balanced, while almost bursting with delicious red and black fruit, spearmint and savory accents. A full-bodied wine that delivers power with elegance from one of the Willamette Valley’s most celebrated sites. Layers of sour cherries, red currants, subtle oak spices and vivid acidity add up to a wine that’s gorgeous now and will improve through at least 2028. 

The 2021 Trueman Cabernet Sauvignon hails from the Hickinbotham vineyard in Clarendon, in McLaren Vale. It is truly one of the lovely vineyard areas in Australia, with rolling hills, dramatic valleys and a proximity to the ocean. From memory, this vineyard was planted to Houghton clone, or includes some of the Houghton clone selection in it (from Western Australia), and the wine feels structural and velvety at once. You get cassis, raspberry compote, dark chocolate, tobacco, licorice (salted black cats!), cardamom and mulberry off the bush in summer. It's a wonderful wine, pleasurable, complex, poised and rounding out with a delicious delivery of ductile Cabernet tannin. Ripper. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

The 2021 W.S. Keyes Merlot is a blend of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Sauvignon, with the Merlot coming from a block planted in 1986 (a partner block goes into Cardinale). Scents of cedar, mint and black cherries dominate the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, rich, round and even opulent but with a strong spine of acid and tannin that prolongs the finish and should see it age well. Concentrated, long, dusty and firm but fully ripe, this is the rare Napa Valley Merlot than can age for up to two decades.

All Cabernet Franc, with the core of the bottling coming from vines planted in 1976, La Jota's 2021 Cabernet Franc Howell Mountain harkens back to the terrific Cab Franc bottlings this estate bottled in the early 1990s. Complex and gently leafy, with notes of pine and red raspberries, the nose is enchanting, while the palate is supple and almost creamy in feel, medium to full-bodied, then moves into a long, elegant finish, capped by gently dusty tannins. Terrific stuff.