Translation missing: en.Burgundy Tasting Sat 3pm-6pm + Beechworth Bitters + Giaconda: Burgundy Tasting Sat 3pm-6pm + Beechworth Bitters + Giaconda
Burgundy Tasting
29th June 3-6PM
*All purchases on the day go in the draw to win a magnum of Domaine William Fevre Chablis 2019*
Join us in store this Saturday for an exciting lineup of wines from all corners of the Burgundy region: Chablis, Cote d'Or and Macon. This is an excellent chance to try some fantastic wines from the greatest area on earth to grow grapes and to see the range of styles as defined by terroir - from the leaner, crisper Chablis, through to the riper, creamier Chards on Macon. This is the line up that we'll be pouring for you all on Saturday:
Domaine William Fevre Chablis 2020
Heritiers du Comte Lafon Macon Village 2022
Xavier Monnot Bourgogne Blanc 2021
Jean-Marc Bouley Bourgogne Cote d'Or Rouge 2021
Armand Heitz Bourgogne Rouge 2021
Joseph Faiveley Bourgogne Rouge 2021
Like I usually do, I'll be coming into the store just to taste these wines despite the fact that I'm not working. You would have to have some seriously important plans to not turn up to taste some Burgundy for free. See you there! - Aaron C.Beechworth Bitters
Beechworth Bitters are the exciting new range of the the Beechworth Bitters Company that saw the lockdowns as an opportunity to pursue this project that they had kept putting off; and the result is spectacular. One of the lockdowns was spent making alcoholic extractions of over 120 botanicals- citrus, fruit, herbs, leaves, bark, roots, spices- with many of the fruits used being from local producers. Then followed multiple artful blending sessions which lead to the creation of five different bottlings of amaro. It seems everyone wants to try something from the beautiful Beechworth region these days, with the success of producers such as Giaconda (more on them below) bringing some well-deserved attention to the region.
We have all 5 of their amari in stock. I have selected 3 to highlight here but we have the others available on our site, including some of the cute 50ml little bottles. Many customers have asked me: "are these to be used in cocktails or to drink by itself?" The answer to the question is: "yes." - Aaron C.Giaconda
Rick Kinzbrunner established the Giaconda vineyard back in the early 70s while working as a mechanical engineer and then spent the next 10 years working in the industry and studied and worked all over, which included study in California after working some vintages in New Zealand, followed by working for some of the best producers in Napa and Sonoma and then for the Moueix Group in Europe (known as the owners of Petrus, among others). Upon returning to Australia in the '80s, Rick got to business planting vines in the best sites on the estate in Beechworth and now has 4 hectares under vine. Now Rick's son, Nathan Kinzbrunner works fulltime as the Assistant Winemaker and General Business Manager at the estate and has done since the 2007 vintage. Together, this dynamic father-son duo are making some of the best wines in the country.
The estate vineyard is managed sustainably and has been certified organic since 2018 by the Bio Dynamic Research Institute (BDRI). The vineyard sits at 400m above sea level with a climate that is heavily influenced by the surrounding alpine valleys. The Chardonnay is planted on a slightly cooler south-facing vineyard that is protected from the sun that helps to prolong the growing season to increase complexity while still retaining natural acidity levels. The Estate Shiraz is grown on the warmer north-facing amphitheater parcel of the estate to ensure optimal ripening conditions. The soil is 450 million year old granitic loam over decomposed gravel and clay.
"Wine making should be subtle and always seek balance - this should never seek to dominate the Terroir or characteristics of any given vintage."
Giaconda's winemaking follows an terroir-driven minimal intervention approach which means indigenous yeasts during fermentation, natural bacteria for malolactic fermentation, ageing in French oak, minimal sulphur additions only when necessary and no filtration before bottling. The entire winery, barrel maturation cave and bottling facility are all set up for gravity flow which means that the wines are not pumped or treated mechanically, and instead are moved gracefully by gravity as they are intended to so as not to overwork the delicate juice. The Chardonnay is hand-picked, light crushed and then basket-pressed and then transferred to roughly 30% new French oak for fermentation and ageing. The reds are made of a combination of de-stemmed and whole bunch clusters and ferment in large concrete tanks and eventually are transferred to French oak as well for ageing. The wines are aged for two years in the granite maturation cave with optimal temperature and humidity conditions.
We've recently got some of the stock from the '22 vintage from Giaconda and we still have some '21s leftover, too,. We have some of the '22 'Nantua Les Deux' Chardonnay which is the perfect option for anyone lusting for the elusive Estate Chardonnay. This has many of the same characteristics, albeit, slightly toned down and at less than half the price of the Estate. This will also age gracefully over the next decade. We also have some of the Estate Roussanne from the 2022 vintage which is an extremely exciting wine with intense exotic fruit flavours, a mineral streak and acid backbone. We have some of the 'Nantua Les Deux' Pinot as well from the 2022 vintage, which is surprisingly affordable for a high-quality Pinot from an respected producer. Finally, we have some of the '22 Estate Shiraz as well from the famous amphitheater block which has enormous cellaring potential but would make an excellent wine for these freezing winter months. We don't have much do get in quick to buy these wines! - Aaron C.