Oakridge Vineyard Series Henk Chardonnay
Louis Bouillot Perle d’Aurore Rose de Presse
With a crisp pink color, this wine offers a gentle balance between acidulated aromas with notes of white blossom and small red fruit like raspberry and redcurrant. Its fine bubbles promise a delightful roundness in the mouth, which reveals all the subtlety of Pinot Noir. Underscored by a pleasant vivacity and sustained fruit, Perle d'Aurore is a delicate Crémant de Bourgogne that can be drunk in any circumstances.
Toolangi Pauls Lane Chardonnay
Spicy, faintly floral aromas of stone fruit, grapefruit, lime juice and coriander are backed by matchstick-like oak and a hint of mineral. It's round and creamy, smooth and voluptuous, with a gentle, mouthfilling core of flavour and nougat-like complexity finishing with a hint of butter, gentle lemony acids and a faint smokiness. Crushed and pressed with full solids straight to oak (20% new), both primary fermentation and malolactic were natural. Elevage: 8 months on lees in oak before being racked and filtered in preparation for bottling. Hand-picked on 12th March 2018 First established in 1995, Toolangi Vineyards is located in the Yarra Valley adjoining the Toolangi State Forest. This Chardonnay is grown on fine clay loam and produces grapes which represent the unique site. Low cropped and hand harvested from 23 year old vines of I1OV3 clone grapes on D Block rows 35 55. The 2018 harvest will be remembered fondly by winemakers in the Yarra Valley. It was a rare season that gave above average yields and excellent quality fruit. Dry sunny conditions with cool overnight temperatures provided good natural acidity and concentrated wines at lower alcohol levels.
Jamsheed Seville Yarra Valley Syrah
Sourced from a vineyard nestled in the foothills of the cool southern vales of the Yarra Valley where the grey loam soils show seams of deep red volcanic clay, the 2015 Seville syrah is handpicked, fermented with a high proportion of whole bunches and receives no additions other than a small amount of sulphur dioxide at picking and bottling. It is then aged in older French barrels before being bottled unfiltered and unfined.
Louis Bouillot Perle d'Ivoire Blanc de Blancs Non-Vintage
Its yellow in colour with hints of green and gold show its fine bubbles in a lovely light. The nose opens on white blossom then citrus, before developing pleasant buttery and brioche notes. Full and rounded in the mouth, with a certain vivacity, and complex secondary aromas that evolve over time, delighting the taste buds. The harmony and elegance of Perle d'Ivoire makes a match for a wide variety of dishes, from the simplest to the most exotic. The grapes come mainly from the north of Burgundy (Yonne, Chatillonnais) and the south (Mâconnais). Gentle pneumatic pressing respects the fruit, and separate handling of the juice produces musts of great quality. Cold settling followed by fermentation in temperature-controlled vats preserves the personality of the wine, in particular its aromas. Once the bubbles have formed in the bottles, Perle d'Ivoire ages on laths for more than 18 months, enhancing the wine and bringing great elegance. Crémant de Bourgogne has been an Appellation dOrigine Contrôlée since 1975. It covers a particularly large territory that stretches from the north of Burgundy to the south, covering the Chablis region, the Châtillonnais, the Côte de Nuits and the Côte de Beaune, the Côte Chalonnaise, the Côte Mâconnaise, and into the Beaujolais. Such diversity means that a wide range of different base wines can be created that reflect their terroir. This allows for the creation of subtle blends to achieve the perfect balance for each cuvée and to bring out the qualities of each varietal: Pinot Noir for fruit, structure and vinosity; Chardonnay for freshness and elegance; Gamay for tastiness; and Aligoté for vivacity. Empowered by more than 130 years of history and expertise, creativity and respect for the terroir are the fundamentals of the Louis Bouillot philosophy.
Chandon Vintage Blanc de Blancs
The Chardonnay grapes used to create Vintage Blanc de Blancs were picked, pressed and then fermented to retain intense fruit flavours. The resulting wine shows a bright straw colour with light green highlights and a beautiful bead. The fragrant bouquet is perfumed with lovely aromas of cream and peaches, with light suggestions of citrus and honeysuckle. The elegant palate is filled with peachy flavours and zesty lemon acidity, offering a silky mouthfeel and a clean finish. This lighter bodied Blanc de Blancs tastes excellent with sashimi, sushi, and foie gras terrine.
Hickinbotham of Drom Strawberry Kiss Non-Vintage
A lovely sparkling wine made from fresh ripe strawberries with a fragrant bouquet of exactly that fresh ripe strawberries!Balance in sweetness and acidity, a great celebratory bubbles.
Oakridge Wines Local Vineyard Series Henk's Vineyard Pinot Noir
Rob Dolan White Label Pinot Gris
A savoury crisp pinot gris from master wine-maker Rob Dolan out of the Yarra Valley. Classic rose petals, melon, guava pear aromas overflowing from the glass. The finish is savoury and long, making this a wonderful food style wine.
Toolangi Estate Pauls Lane Pinot Noir
Expect layers of fleshy Pinot fruit, suggesting rose petal, plum and earth, balanced by fine, powdery tannins and a long complex finish that perfumes the mouth with sour cherries and sappy freshness. The Pauls Lane Pinot was hand harvested from Toolangi's 2001 plantings (MV6 clone grapes in E Block rows 46-66), partially de-stemmed (50% whole bunches retained) and naturally fermented in open top wooden fermenters. In total, the wine spent 23 days on skins before being pressed to French oak (20% new) for eight months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. "A producer that demonstrates a deep commitment to terroir in producing Australias finest and most distinctive wines." Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide In case you hadnt heard the good news, Helmut Konecsny, the owner of Rochford Wines, has purchased Toolangi Vineyards and has immediately started ringing in the changes. Of course, its early days, but from what we have seen so far, the future for Toolangi now looks very, very bright. Apart from the new packaging, Konecsny and his team seem very serious about rejuvenating and upgrading the work in the vines. This was, after all, one of the few Yarra producers to engage the services of renowned soil scientist Claude Bourguignon on his recent visit to Australia, and the Toolangi vineyard was one of the sites he analysed. In terms of winemaking, Toolangi will now control its own destiny with the talented duo of Kaspar Hermann and Kelly Healey working closely with seasoned Yarra viticulturist John Evans. Hermans CV includes stints at Seville Estate, Viticoltori De Concillis in Campania, Coldstream Hills, Punch (formally Diamond Valley) and Mount Mary where he worked as assistant winemaker for 8 years before joining Toolangi. Kelly Healey started his wine career in Otago in his homeland of New Zealand before donning the Blundsones at Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Moet & Chandon in India, followed by a spell at Kilchurn in Macedon until he accepted the role working alongside Kaspar. Crucial to the Toolangi team is experienced viticulturist, John Evans. Johns previous experience includes Chief Viticulturist at Yering Station for 14 years, Vineyard Manager at Yarra Ridge and worked at De Bortoli, as well as various Vineyard Consulting roles including the setup and redevelopment of Toolangi Vineyard in 2001, which he has continued to this day. Safe to say, John knows the Yarra like the back of his hand and exactly how to get the best from the Toolangi vineyard. Another positive is that there are currently only two tiers of winethe Toolangi and Pauls Lane labels. The first set of wines under the new team hail from 2018. Under the new regime, there is no inoculation for any of the wines, the Pinots take in a large portion of whole bunch ferments, and the reds are neither fined nor filtered. The winemakers also take a balanced approach to new oak, so even the top label is capped at 20% new barrels. Its very early days, yet the first set of wines makes a statementan excellent statement. Going forward it will be fascinating to see the consequences of Konecsnys and the new teams intention to apply the time honoured vigneron model on the Toolangi wines. The future is bright.