James Halliday – Wild yeast-fermented in French barriques and aged on lees for 12 months. It offers a rare combination of elegance and complexity, the latter achieved without any funky/reductive characters, the former with a combination of citrus, white flower and tropical flavours. Still cruising.
World Wine – “The 2015 Bernadotte shoots above my expectation. It has a clean and fresh bouquet with plenty of appealing graphite notes. The palate is medium-bodied with dusky black fruit sprinkled with black pepper, good length and nicely focused. Tasted blind at the Southwold 2015 Bordeaux tasting.” Neal Martin
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – “The 2015 Bernadotte has a lovely, lilting redcurrant and cranberry-scented bouquet, the oak nicely integrated, fresh and lively with tobacco coming through with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with grainy tannin, quite light for this vintage, but balanced, with a "breezy" brambly red berry finish. Easy-going Haut-Médoc.”
Wine Enthusiast – Made with the involvement of Hubert de Bouärd of Château Angélus as consultant, this wine is superrich and packed with dark fruit. Despite its high alcohol for a Bordeaux, it is balanced and fruity with tannins the are comfortably cushioned by the fruit and freshened by acidity. Drink from 2021.
The Wine Front – Necessity is the mother of invention. In 1993 Tim Adams was desperately short of shiraz and cabernet so his neighbour, Fergus Mahon, sold him some grenache to keep him ticking over. Hence The Fergus blend was born, and has been made ever since. This release includes tempranillo and malbec, all of which is dry-grown.
Its usual reliable self. There was a time when I wasn’t a great fan of The Fergus but we’ve moved on from there in recent years. It’s well-balanced, fleshy, not too light and not too heavy. It’s red berried with star anise, cola and gum leaf highlights. It’s a well tailored red, perfect for casual drinking.
World Wine – Langton’s Classification VI: Excellent. The intensely-perfumed and muscular Aberfeldy Shiraz reflects the character of vineyard site as much as the personality of winemaker Tim Adams. The 1.6 hectare Aberfeldy Vineyard includes a large proportion of dry-grown, colonial vine stock planted by Wendouree’s Alfred Percy Birks in 1904. This ancient genetic material produces large berries and very high seed content. Vinification takes place in closed fermenters and is followed by 24 months maturation in new American oak. The rich, buoyant and spicy Aberfeldy Shiraz is a deeply-concentrated, opulent style with blackberry aromas, malty/cedary oak and a firm tannin kick. The underlying muscularity of structure is reminiscent of the Wendouree style.
Wine Enthusiast – This wine is dark and earthy at first, but opens with airing to reveal bold notes of blueberry, mocha and peppery spice. This 50-50 blend of Grenache and Syrah is full bodied, richly textured and finishes long.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – It offers fabulous black cherry, licorice, wet gravel and ample crushed rock like minerality. Medium to full-bodied, nicely textured, elegant and polished.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – A smoking Lirac that vies for the top wine of the appellation, the 2014 Lirac La Reine des Bois has gorgeous crème de cassis, licorice, pan drippings, wood spice and hints of graphite. Offering knockout purity, full-bodied richness and ultra-fine tannin, it tastes like a top flight Châteauneuf and will drink nicely for over a decade.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – La Spinetta's 2017 Barbaresco Gallina Vürsù draws
its fruit from a site in Neive with old vines. Intensity and richness are two qualities
often associated with the wine made at this historic estate. A rotofermenter is used
during winemaking to increase color concentration and richness, although its use is
carefully measured and calculated says Giorgio Rivetti. The house style embraces
barrique aging, and you get some soft spice and spent ember as a result. The 2017
vintage is distinguished by extra tightness, and you sense that in this wine.”
James Halliday – Has the same felicitous oak handling as its
Shiraz sibling, even staring down the challenge
of cabernet sauvignon. Mind you, it is a
powerful cabernet, with a depth and range of
cassis/blackcurrant/mulberry flavours tied to
its bedrock of tannin, and does need patience.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – Almost opaque in color, a very deep red and bluish reflections. Intense, full aroma of ripe fruit which brings out the flavors of grape and fig, combined with a delicious chocolate and hints of anise.
Huon Hooke – 'Weighty, flavoursome riesling with citrus, lime, white rose, hints of tropical fruits, mango, passionfruit and oyster shell mineral flavours. Just a hint of sweetness is balanced by gentle acidity to give a drying finish. An impressively intense wine with good cellaring potential.' The Real Review
James Suckling – This has an air of authority with pristine red fruits, cassis and leafy aromas that lead to a palate with a powerful core of fine, long and fresh tannins. Plenty of ageing potential here. Try from 2025.
James Suckling – Some very ripe dark-plum aromas with a wealth of sweet spices and earthy notes. The palate has an impressively rich, suave and smooth core of black fruit with a powerful palate that delivers concentrated and intense structure. This is superb Margaux. Try from 2022.
All wines over $25 per bottle will be vintage specific. In the case the listed vintage is out of stock, we will inform you via email for approval to go ahead.
Delivery Times
To be able to supply such a unique & extensive range of boutique wines, we don't hold much of the inventory. So with us, there is the added step of receiving the wine from our local suppliers before it is dispatched to you. Most orders are dispatched within 5-10 working days.
Quality Guarantee
Replacement or refund offered if bottles are faulty or damaged. All our deliveries are insured against loss, however you must notify us in a reasonable amount of time.
Sending a Gift
If you would like to include a gift message with your order, please enter that in the order instructions section. We'll print your message in a lovely font on A5 paper. We also won't include the invoice. Tracking will be sent to the email on file.
All wines over $25 per bottle will be vintage specific. In the case the listed vintage is out of stock, we will inform you via email for approval to go ahead.
To be able to supply such a unique & extensive range of boutique wines, we don't hold much of the inventory. So with us, there is the added step of receiving the wine from our local suppliers before it is dispatched to you. Most orders are dispatched within 5-10 working days.
Replacement or refund offered if bottles are faulty or damaged. All our deliveries are insured against loss, however you must notify us in a reasonable amount of time.
If you would like to include a gift message with your order, please enter that in the order instructions section. We'll print your message in a lovely font on A5 paper. We also won't include the invoice. Tracking will be sent to the email on file.
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