Complex from the very first moment. Aromas of blueberries, red and dark cherries, sappy and herbal notes, as well as hard brown spices, blackcurrants and violets. The palate has such succulent and energetic style, with red and dark cherries and blueberries sitting in a very complete and layered, fine brand of tannin. The depth and plushness are both impressive. Drink over the next eight years. Screw cap.

Brashly spicy and complex, this has aromas of espresso, blueberries, toasted spices and grilled bread, as well as forest wood and violets. The palate delivers alluring depth and a round, fleshy build. Acidity explodes on the finish, releasing fresh red-cherry and blueberry fruit flavors. Wonderfully layered and complete. Drink over the next eight years. Screw cap.

I met with Steve Flamsteed and new Giant Steps winemaker Mel Chester last week to taste through the 2021 Single Vineyard releases and wow, what a range of wines. Everything was excellent but this Tarraford was really up and about on the day. I’ll post my chardonnay reviews in order of altitude or ‘meters above sea level’. Tarraford is the lowest of them, and each from there is about 500 metres higher.
Sweet oak into white stonefruit, citrus and apple, grapefruit. Powerful from the outset. Hand picked, whole bunch pressed, full solids for all of the single vineyard releases. A bit of mlf for all of them too. This is in impeccable – not to mention incredible – shape. Controlled. Powerful. Tarraford should be the most rich, for site and aspect, but it’s so taut, almost salty in its savouriness. Cracking wine. The ‘loudest’ of the single vineyards in that it brings the flavour but simultaneously so very, very good.

This is made with fruit from the Sexton Vineyard, at 200 meters in altitude (80 meters higher than Tarraford). Within the vineyard, the clones are dominated by Gingin (brought over to Victoria by Phil Sexton), followed by Dijon clones, planted in the 1990s. The 2021 Sexton Vineyard Chardonnay is composed of 60% Gingin. Twenty percent of the parcels went through malolactic fermentation—clone 277 and some of the 96. This is salty as anything—a very good thing in my book—and the sheer intensity of flavor in the mouth is mouthwatering. Preserved lemon and grapefruit pith lace the edges of the mid-palate. Very smart—it has the Yarra precision of acid and streamlined phenolics, but it brings concentration of flavor and thrilling phenolics. Super smart wine.

The 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon Diamond Mountain is a blend of two parcels: Wallis and Rhyolite Ridge, with mainly volcanic soils. Scents of crushed stone, pencil shavings, cassis and cherries lead the way, while the palate is full-bodied but not overly ripe or broad, just finely honed, polished, silky and long, with a dusting of fine-grained tannins on the finish.

Part of this year's library release, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Sycamore Vineyards shows ample cedary, cigar box notes on the nose, but it still offers plenty of cassis on the palate. It's a rich, full-bodied, velvety wine, probably drinking at its peak, with a long, mouthwatering, finish. It can hold a number of years still, but will it get any better?

The 2019 Cardinale is a blend of 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Merlot, with the Merlot from a particular block on Howell Mountain. Overall, it's about 80% mountain fruit and 20% valley-floor fruit, according to winemaker Chris Carpenter. Cherries and cassis dominate the nose, while the full-bodied palate is rich and velvety, with a long, mouthwatering finish that adds barrel-derived notes of vanilla, powdered sugar and cedar.

This puts down some roots. It offers a monumental spread of rich, ripe, deep-hearted fruit flavour, plums cascading over boysenberries, though there’s also enough going on around the edges to make complexity a given. The spread of tannin here, the mouth-filling volume, the way it sets flight through the finish; everything is top grade. It’s a commanding wine of emphatic quality, a blockbuster with an elegant turn.

Lemony in rock candy and salty stone, this is a lively, fresh and full-bodied white from an estate vineyard. It is also flinty and fleshy, with complex layers of texture. Fresh hints of tangerine and grapefruit contribute a lively brightness that persists through a long, beautiful finish.

With a delicate opening of vibrant acidity, this wine offers an all-around ethereal quality of sea air and salty stone. Earthy, herbal and fruity in lime and blood orange, it packs a powerful punch of complex oak and structure that finds its way to a place of balance.

This bright, effusive wine is juicy in citrus and mango. It’s also flinty and bursting in sea spray, offering a lush, voluptuous midpalate of complex concentration. The contrast leads to a viscous, lengthy finish of floral beauty.

This site provides fruit of exquisite purity, but it’s the winemaking that deserves praise for exercising poise and bringing every component into ideal balance. A waft of wild herbs frames fresh plum and raspberry, but it’s the lean muscle of a complex mid-palate that marries beauty and power, with extraordinary persistence of pure flavours.

It is paradoxical to think that in the New World order of the right grapes planted in the right places, the Vale now produces among Australia's most exciting white wines. This, destined for legendary status. A synchronicity of 50/25/12/9/4% grenache blanc/roussanne/clairette/piquepoul/bourboulenc, all innately of the southern Rhône and well at home here. Partly macerated on skins (59%) for 90–126 days, the remainder whole-bunch pressed to ceramic eggs for wild fermentation. Taut, salty and nascent of feel. Then, an explosion with air. Loads in store. Lanolin, sea salt, skinsy quince notes, nashi pear, baked apple and preserved Moroccan lemon. Yet it is the texture that compels, from the first rail of chew, to the last lattice of saliva-sucking bite and pithy mealiness. Stay tuned. This is only the beginning of the ascension.

The fruit comes through wonderfully on the nose, from raspberries to light, ripe strawberries. Earth and black mushrooms, too. Full-bodied with a very attractive texture and focused sensibility. Silky tannins blend in nicely. Drink or hold.

Very deep red/purple colour, with a very rich, deep aroma of dark plum and blackberry, with latent spices emerging the more the glass was worked. Some subtle bunchy traces as well—'forest floor' and leaf litter. A profound and already quite complex shiraz with full body, richness and drive, the finish reverberating on for some minutes. A trace of licorice. The tannins are very abundant and so soft that the wine drinks well already. A ripping shiraz with a big future.

Deep, youthful red colour in the glass. Pretty, lifted, perfumed aromas of musk, geranium, dark cherry, dried herbs, dark chocolate and spice. Full-flavoured, mulberry, blackberry, blood plum, mocha, spice and a menthol edge. The tannins have a fabulous minerally texture and mouth-feel and there's a lightness and brightness to the palate—nothing heavy or clunky here.

Eucalyptus and peony, the merest hint of liquorice and redcurrant make for a layered and complex nose. The palate is light but profound, tracing a clear and pristine outline of finest tannin, contouring the fruit with exactitude. This is vivid, bright, intense but oh so translucent. Bravo.

Loads of ink and tar on the nose with incense and spices. Inky. Full-bodied and firm with velvety tannins that spread across the palate, thanks to the Napa mountain vineyards. Unique malbec. Big wine, but agile. Drink or hold.

Blackberries and black currants with grape skin, lead pencil and pine cone. Full-bodied with round tannins and juicy fruit. Tamed tannins. Bright finish. Classy and authentic. Beautiful now, but will age beautifully.

The purple fruit is prevailing, together with conifer, lead-pencil and ink-pot aromas, following through to a full body with layered, ripe tannins and lightly toasted oak at the finish. Give it three to four years to come around. Try after 2025.

This is a big wine with solid tannins that are layered and powerful, yet there’s underlying, layered fruit between the phenolics. Suppleness and good length. Tight at the end. Needs three to four years to open.

This is so fine and refined with currant, crushed stone, lime stone and fresh mushroom. It’s medium-bodied with fine tannins that run the length of the wine. Minerally finish. Tight and racy. Drink after 2025, but already beautiful.

Bright ruby colour. A composed nose of raspberries, rosehip, fennel and sweet spice leads into a velvety core. Its harmonious flow is a standout feature of the wine, alongside its elegant composition of flavours. The palate features vibrant red fruits—raspberries and redcurrant and some savoury tones of fresh earth and bitter chocolate. It glides across with fine yet pliant tannins. Its presence could almost be called ethereal.

Dried rose and classic Malbec perfume, so purple tasting, sweet spices and earth, violet. Medium-bodied, suede textured tannin, ironstone, spreads with tannin and perfume, plum and black fruit, so long with lush and opulent tannin and again all that fragrance. Superb. Benchmark Malbec. I love this wine.

The 2019 Chardonnay Machado has a soft honeyed character, with brighter tones of saline, Meyer lemon and chamomile. The medium-bodied palate has great textural presence, its satiny, expansive flavors foiled by bright acidity that brings an energetic quality to the long finish.