Heartland Vermentino
$22.99
The Heartland story began in the late 1990s when winemaker Ben Glaetzer became excited about the outstanding quality of fruit being grown in some of South Australia’s lesser-known regions, in particular Langhorne Creek.
Together with industry veterans Scott Collett, Grant Tilbroo, and more recently Nick Keukenmeester, they grew Heartland into an award-winning winery. Ben Glaetzer makes Heartland Wines at Barossa Vintners in Tanunda, South Australia, some 100 kilometres from Langhorne Creek. The winery was conceived as a state-of-the-art winemaking facility with the capacity to make wines for a core group of top-end producers whose fame and demand had grown beyond their winemaking capacities. Completed in 1995, Barossa Vintners was developed to make wines in the most natural possible way. The natural slope of the land allows the winery to be gravity fed and avoid a harsh pumping of the grapes juice (Ben also makes his range of Glaetzer wines at this facility, most famously his Amon-ra Shiraz). The growing conditions in Langhorne Creek are predominantly shaped by the onshore southerly winds blowing directly from the Southern Ocean across Lake Alexandrina. The prevailing southerlies reduce daytime temperature fluctuations, making it one of the cooler growing regions in South Australia
Haritz Blanco Viura
$24.99
Benetakoa Winery was founded in 1985 by Carlos Martínez de Cañas in Villabuena de Álava. Viticulture has been a centuries-old tradition in their family, and for several generations, they have dedicated themselves to pampering and learning from the land and the vine. In 1997, they expanded their facilities and moved to a new winery built in the upper part of Villabuena. They preserved the tradition and the artisan concept that was incorporated into the first winery, and continued with innovation as the basis of their wines. Since 2001, Gorka Martínez de Cañas, son of the winery’s founder, has taken charge of the family project.
Carlisle Alicante Bouschet
$74.99
In the last 20 years, Carlsisle has bottled Alicante Bouschet only four times – 2004, 2013, 2016, and now, with this vintage, 2021. While the variety is one of their favourites for blending, providing ample colour and adding a bit of complexity, it can fall short as a complete wine but in these particular vintages, every component is in place, a beautiful nose, delicious flavours, and a long finish. Aged in all neutral oak and bottled unfined and unfiltered.
Tasting Note: Black as a moonless night deep in a bamboo forest (trust us, that’s black!) Blackberries and boysenberries abound in the deep, concentrated aromas. A touch of dark earth as well. Medium-full to full-bodied with plenty of fresh blackberry, ample acidity and suave tannins. While there is plenty of fruit to this wine, it is by no means jammy thanks to its low pH and high TA. This will age well.
Carlisle Rossi Ranch Grenache
$72.99
From owner/winemaker Mike Officer: Booyah! We’ve produced some mighty tasty Grenaches in the past (2018, 2016, and 2013 come to mind) but for my palate, none holds a candle to this lip-smackin’ bad boy! It actually transports me back to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, reminding me of some of my favorite 100% (or nearly so) Grenache cuvées grown in safres. Picked October 18th, 20% of the fruit was not destemmed to add a bit of peppery spice to the nose and palate. After an indigenous fermentation and nearly a month on the skins, the wine was pressed to all neutral French oak. It remained unracked and on its lees until bottling. Unfined and unfiltered.
The Rossi Vineyard was originally planted in 1910 by the Rossi family which it takes its name from. The Vineyard lies in the Sonoma Valley and is planted with Zinfandel, Grenache, and other varietals.
Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
$76.99
A Kensington Wine Market exclusive and a favourite producer of wine critics everywhere!
Domaine Raymond Usseglio finds in 1963. The family's wine history dates back to 1931, when Raymond's grandfather, Francis, left his native region of Piedmont to settle in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. After more than fifteen years of working in the fields, in 1948, he succeeded in operating a sharecropping farm with his vines and produced his first wine in 1949. The year 1962 marked a significant turning point with the planting of the first vines on the Terres Blanches terroir, now one of the most emblematic of the Domaine. Near these plots, in 1963, Raymond, accompanied by his wife Danielle, took up the torch from his father and founded the Domaine Raymond Usseglio. Their son Stephane now runs the estate, one the most highly regarded in Chateauneuf. The white is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Clairette, Bourbelenc and Piqpoul. It reveals a balanced, round, rich, and complex character. Citrus notes like grapefruit and lemon blend harmoniously with aromas of white-fleshed fruits such as pear and peach, as well as exotic fruits like lychee and mango. A pleasant and balanced acidity is present on the palate, with a long, saline finish. A great option with turkey, goose or salmon.
Ortega Rioja Young White
$22.99
Their story began with Quintín Ortega in 1986. A humble figure with some good ideas and the determination to carry them out, he decides to plant vines and start what is now the winery, led by his great-grandson, Carmelo Ortega. In the 90s, Carmelo established the winery headquarters in an old house that served as a winery for many years, now a site where an enotourism project is being developed to encourage tourism in the region. Their property covers approximately 700 hectares of scrubland, almond fields and vineyards, all of which are sheltered by the nearby mountains, which create climatic conditions that include a reduced risk of frost and a controlled level of humidity in the summer. This set of features and factors, together with the characteristics of the soil (pebbles, low organic matter), creates a unique grape-growing microcosm, which has allowed them to develop the “village wine” style they are looking for to define the wines of Tudelilla (the village where they are situated in the heart of the Rioja Baja region). This wine is a blend of 90% Viura, 5% Malvasía, 5% Garnacha Blanca. It's balanced and intriguing, with beautiful fruit and floral characteristics and an underlying acidity that brightens up the palate. Serve as an aperitif, or with light seafood.
Usseglio Rose
$29.99
Domaine Raymond Usseglio is a family business, created in 1948 by Françis Usseglio, who originally hailed from Italy. They traditionally develop their range of wines, with many of their vines being more than 65 years of age. Usseglio always performs manual harvesting with selective sorting, and all of their wines are certified biodynamic by Demeter. This rosé, with a dominant blend of Cinsault, captivates with its freshness and aromatic profile of luscious fruit and lovely minerality.
Bindi Dixon Pinot
$89.99
"The Bindi Dixon Pinot Noir is based upon declassified grapes from the Original Vineyard planted in 1988 and grapes from the new Block K, planted in 2001. The ideal of this wine is to produce a delicious, perfumed, spicy harmonious, textured wine that is not as intense, complex nor ageworthy as our individual vineyard wines. Even when the outstanding Block K vines are older we will continue to declassify sections or barrels from each vineyard and produce this wine.
The wine is fermented the same way as our other Pinot Noirs in that it is ostensibly 100% de-stemmed and gently worked in small open vats. The wine spends 11 months in French barrels, of which about 10-15% is new.
Production varies from 500-700 dozen per vintage.
This wine was formerly called Bindi Composition Pinot Noir." - Bindi
Greenock Creek Apricot Block
$86.99
Thrust into the international wine spotlight thanks to an unmatched eight perfect 100-point scores from the world’s leading wine publication, The Wine Advocate, Greenock Creek remains the proud standard-bearer for long-lived Barossa Valley red wines of deep colour, abundant flavour and great structure.
Their vineyards are situated in the sub-regions of Seppeltsfield, Marananga and Moppa located along the Barossa Valley’s western edge and are some of the oldest vines in the world. Thin, sandy loam topsoil's lie sparsely scattered over ancient deposits of bluestone, marble stone, limestone, quartz and ironstone. Rainfall is limited, often to less than 400 millimetres a year falling through winter and early spring. Subsurface clay retains valuable moisture, sustaining the vines through the long, warm and dry summers and autumns. The perfect, low-disease-pressure conditions in which to grow small, healthy bunches of compact, flavour-packed berries.
93 points from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate! The review: "Deep garnet-purple coloured, the Apricot Block Shiraz opens with aromas of crushed wild blueberries and mulberries with underlying touches of roses, black olives, cigar boxes and anise. Medium to full-bodied and generously fruited in the mouth, it gives a great concentration of blue and black fruit flavors with a crisp acid line, medium levels of rounded tannins and a long finish with a little pepper coming through. It is still just a little tightly wound.