The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge Vineyard matured for 32 months in 78% new French oak and was bottled without fining or filtration. Opaque ruby-purple in color, its perfume is singular and pure: crushed blueberries and violets are complemented by mint leaves, sage, thyme and loamy earth. The full-bodied palate is powerful yet graceful, with loads of grainy tannins, seamless freshness, tempered ripeness and a long, floral finish. 210 cases were made.
The 2019 Chardonnay Estate Cuvée boasts alluring scents of whitepeaches, quince, acacia and coriander with undertones of roastedalmonds and beeswax. The medium-bodied palate is dynamic, withits concentrated, savory fruit enlivened by energetic acidity, and itfinishes long and layered. It drinks beautifully now, but its depth offlavor and energy suggest it will develop well in the cellar over thenext decade.
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Medium ruby-purple, the 2019 Block 6 Pinot Noir features wafts of burnt orange, pipe tobacco, flint and bay leaves complementing acore of red and black cherries. The medium-bodied palate hasalluringly powdery tannins and restrained, savory fruit balanced by energetic acidity that calls you in for another sip on the long, spicy finish. This offers power and concentration without extra weight.
The 1995 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale has a medium garnet color and the alluring desiccation of a fully mature wine,with scents of mushroom powder, struck flint, dried violets, old leather and bouquet garni. The palate offers a supple core of driedblack fruit and a flourish of graphite and tobacco, its powdery,softened structure enveloping the palate and calling you back for another sip. 1,700 cases were made.
The 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve Speciale matured for 23 months in French and American oak barrels and was bottled without fining or filtration. It has a deep garnet color and expressive aromas of dried lavender, cast iron, charcuterie and spice, maintaining a core of dark berry fruit. The palate is powderyand seamless, its gently desiccated fruits balanced by tertiary, iron-like character, and it finishes with ethereal perfume. It's holding onwell but won't improve past this point, so drink up! 1,610 caseswere made.
Pale ruby, the 2018 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley is deeply scented of cranberry sauce, aniseed, potpourri, orange peel and woodsmoke. The medium-bodied palate is seamless, silky and refreshing with slowly unfurling spicy accents defining the longfinish. It's a very classy appellation-wide bottling
Medium garnet, the 1989 Cabernet Sauvignon Réserve Spéciale is enveloping in its softened, mature expression and dried fruits accented with tones of old cigars, dried thyme, mushroom powder and dusty earth. The palate offers a delicate core of sweet, graphite-laced fruits, a fully softened texture and an ethereal finish with savory accents. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered, and about 240 cases were made.
Medium ruby, the 2019 Pinot Noir Conifer opens very meaty and savory, taking time to reveal aniseed, tobacco and a core of dark cherries. Soft and refreshing, the medium-bodied palate features restrained, earth-laced fruit and a long, spicy finish.
The 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon Knights Valley, blended with 2% Merlot, was aged 24 months in 40% new French oak. It has a deep ruby color and aromas of cassis with accents of graphite, sage,tobacco leaves and thyme. The full-bodied texture is grainy and fresh with a seamless feel and balanced ripeness, finishing long and detailed. 3,265 cases were made
The 2019 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley has a medium ruby color and scents of cranberries and orange peel with accents of potpourri,dried tobacco, shiitake mushroom and earth. The medium-bodied palate has an alluring, dusty texture, energetic bursts of acidity highlighting citrus and tea leaf character, and it closes with a very long finish. This vintage, most of the fruit was sourced from Willakenzie's estate vineyards in Yamhill-Carlton, with just 30% coming from the Dundee Hills.
The 2019 Chardonnay Willamette Valley is scented of goldenapples, hay and beeswax with wafts of chamomile and hazelnuts.The medium-bodied palate is satiny in texture and expansive,offering gently honeyed fruits and a burst of freshness that carriesthe finish. It offers the pairing of intensity and weightlessness that seems to characterize many of the 2019 Chardonnays in WillametteValley.
Winemaker Chris Carpenter turns out one hit after another for this property, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary. Not many winemakers can produce a cabernet franc that can stand on its own without massive support from other grape varieties. But from the cabernet franc grown in mountain vineyards, he gets concentration, complexity and depth. Violet and dried herbal aromas give way to blackberry and black cherry flavors with a touch of kirsch.
Indulgent and rich, this deep garnet coloured wine completely fills the mouth with notes of dark chocolate, sweet oak, black fruits, mocha and a touch of earthiness. Velvety smooth, delightfully complex and with a satisfying drying finish, get this lots of air and have it with food. Sublime.
This Pinot Noir has a plush, rosy nose with wild strawberries, cherry and a combination of lofty floral notes and a slight earthiness. Easy-drinking and supple, the berry flavours really stand out in the most moreish way.
The single vineyard Pinot Noir is her brainchild and more than justifies its punchy price tag. A lauded Aussie Pinot, this wine boasts complex notes of sour cherry and cranberry on the nose, moving to softer, spicy plum and cherry, with a hint of coffee bean on the finish. Glorious.
The hit of fresh fruit is instant and carries over into the palate. Think white peach, zesty lemon, Granny Smith apples and pear. The oak is soft and the acidity is poised in this masterful, Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay.
Dark ruby in the glass, this wine smells of roasted figs, cocoa powder, and dried cherries. In the mouth, minty flavors of smoked meat, roasted figs, dried cherries, and cocoa powder have a faint salinity to them as powdery, mouth-coating tannins add structure to the wine. Hints of raisins and prunes linger in the finish, but the acidity keeps things quite fresh.
Very dark ruby in color, this wine smells of black cherry and prunes. In the mouth, prunes, raisins, and dried black cherry flavors are enveloped by a plush, powdery cloud of tannins. Good acidity. Slightly tired at this point, but still pleasurable.
The 2021 Chardonnay Viñedo Maricerro from Itata was aged for 10 months in French barrels. Green with a yellowish sheen in the glass. The green apple-dominated nose presents hints of acacia and ginger over a layer of oak. Creamy and oily with tart acidity in the mouth, the vibrant, fatty palate ends with a long, fruity finish.
Dense, succulent and powerful, with Dutch cocoa powder, sarsaparilla, toffee and fresh rosemary accents to the core of lush black cherry, blackberry and blueberry flavors. Presents plush and velvety tannins, which provide a supple frame for this red's complexity and power. Drink now through 2039.
From the highest-altitude vineyard in the Yarra on volcanic loam soils, Wombat Creek really walks to its own beat. The lemony vibrancy typical to Chardonnay in this region is present, but here it's more like the whole lemon (flesh, rind, juice)—round, fleshy and pithy. There are white orchard blossoms, nashi pear and minerally, saline characters. The palate is tightly structured, yet beautifully balanced, walking a tightrope of power and delicacy. It's chalky, even a bit yeasty, with a round shape, mineral acidity, and a long lemon-flower-chalk finish. A complex, fine Chardonnay for drinking now and likely through this decade.
From one of the Yarra's most renowned vineyards, on steep loam and clay slopes in the Warramate Ranges, this vintage of Sexton again proves a sublimely classy bottling. Layered and bright aromas of preserved lemon, melon and fresh cream, strewn with flower petals and softly framed by toasty oak open. The mouth-watering, citrusy acidity and silky texture work seamlessly together, supported by the fine-grained oak, with a long lemon-curd finish. Harmonious and elegant without shying away from structure and age-worthiness.
The 2021 Pinot Noir Viñedo Maricerro hails from the Itata Valley and was aged for 10 months in 27% new French oak barrels. Ruby-red in hue. The raspberry and blueberry aromas are accompanied by sweet cherry and garrigue over a bed of cedar and sandalwood. Lean and silky in the mouth, the chalky texture and refreshing palate precede a long-lasting finish.
A newly released premium blend of the Rhône varieties about which winemaker Pete Fraser is so passionate, this is a complex and utterly delicious bottling that changes over days and open in bottle. Subtle peach, waxy lemon and white-flower blossom ride a wave of raw, saline minerality. The texture is like concrete and skins, the flavor delicate but persistent to the salt-flecked finish. There's potential here for outstanding bottle age over the next five to seven years, but this is also a highly food-friendly drop now.
This vintage of King's Wood is densely packed with layers of savory herbs and spices, licorice root, succulent black cherry and blackberries, with ground pepper an a floral nuance. The palate, while still young, is juicy, fresh and linear, with a silky line of fruit and muscular, granular textured tannins. With poise alongside the power, this should cellar gracefully for another 10–15 years.