Tardieu-Laurent Condrieu
Famille Tardieu has become one of the best micro-negociants in the Rhone Valley. Nowadays, Bastien and Michel explore the vineyards to find grapes from very old vines, often located in the historical heart of each appellation. Then the link is made with the wine-grower, from the vine to the harvest.For a wine to carry the Condrieu AOC name it must be made from 100% viognier. This is the home of viognier, where it is produced most famously, in the northern Rhone Valley. The 2018 vintage Condrieu from producers, Tardieu-Laurent, has been warmly received by critics. The wine is rich and round, having spent 10 months in new and 1 year old French oak. Floral aromas come first, followed by creamy, plush peach, honeysuckle, melon and tropical notes, treading a line between the very rich, and leaner styles of Condrieu.
Pierro Chardonnay
Margaret River is a world renowned Chardonnay producing region and Pierro can rightfully stake a claim as to why. Incredibly complex, it is a tangle of fine-boned acid, lees complexity, pristine fruit and the most detailed use of good quality oak. Extremely enjoyable now, but will benefit from short to medium term cellaring.
Shaw & Smith M3 Chardonnay
Sourced and grown in the Adelaide Hills, this is a fine example of how good Chardonnay from this region can be. This is a blend of 3 different cultivars of the Chardonnay grape. Bunch pressed and in part wild fermented. Partial malolactic fermentation imparts further complexity. A beautifully textured and complex wine.
Yering Station Reserve Chardonnay
Yering Station Reserve wines are produced only in years of outstanding quality. The chardonnay is prodominetly sourced from D block on wineries estate.
Xanadu Reserve Chardonnay
Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1
One of Victoria's true heritage wines, Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1 is primarily a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Malbec and a touch of Petit Verdot. Planted on a historic Yarra Valley site by the late Dr Bailey Carrodus, this wine is full of complex aromas of plum and berry which is followed by rich fruits with an oak and cedar slant. A wine drinking well now and value for the true wine lover.
Penfolds Bin A Chardonnay
One of the rare Penfolds wines that is 100% single-regional, the Reserve Bin A Chardonnay is sourced from super premium sites in the Adelaide Hills resulting in a fresh, mineral style that lies at the forefront of the modern Chardonnay style. A wine that will always be linked with 'White Grange', Penfolds Yattarna: This 2014 vintage shows a palate of Granny Smith apples, lemon curd with a pure chalky texture and a lengthy finish.
Henschke Julius Riesling
Henschke Julius is a classic expression of Eden Valley Riesling. An almost perfect vintage has provided the citrus blossom and lime aromas and an intense minerally structure which will develop for a decade at least.
Domaine Pierre Gaillard Condrieu ( )
Gaillard’s Condrieu is drawn from four parcels grown on the terraced slopes of Côte Bellay, Les Patasses (Malleval), Boissey (Chavanay) and La Caille (Condrieu). Each of these sites has soils of fine, decomposing granite. In 2020, the vines here yielded 30 hl/ha of vibrant Viognier fruit, and the wine spent seven months in oak, of which 10% was new. One of our favourite aspects of Gaillard’s whites is their ability to combine intense aromatics and ripe, hedonistic textures with bright mineral refreshment, and this is a textbook example of that paradox. It’s a classically alluring, richly textured Condrieu with scents and flavours of honeysuckle and juicy, macerated peach and spice. It combines the year’s flesh and generosity with juicy buoyancy, great length and a very long, stony finish.
