Translation missing: en.Dr. Loosen + Schmölzer & Brown + Place of Changing Winds + Syrahmi Tasting Saturday 12th 3pm-6pm: Dr. Loosen + Schmölzer & Brown + Place of Changing Winds + Syrahmi Tasting Saturday 12th 3pm-6pm
Dr. Loosen
Dr Loosen is one of the greatest and most loved producers of German Riesling - a family-owned winery for over 200 years, now run by Ernst F. Loosen since 1988. Ernst found what he needed to produce complex, world class wines in the Grand Cru sites of the Middle Mosel, with old vines and the heritage of his ancestors. Dr Loosen has been a member of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP) since 1993 which is an association of German quality wineries.
"The aromatic and textural sensations in a bottle of wine capture a whole cosmos, from the change of seasons to the distinctive terroir of a vineyard, the passion of the winemaker, and the distinctive stamp of the vintage."
Ernst is of the belief that all great winemakers already know what they want their wines to express before they are picked; terroir triumphs over technology and quality over quantity which can only be achieved with uncompromising dedication and passion. The quality of Dr Loosen's wines come down to 3 distinct factors: cool regional climate, distinctive slate soil and old, ungrafted vines. The Mosel is a cool climate with steep, south-facing slopes looking over the river that runs through the valleys. The river helps to retain and reflect heat onto the steep slopes and helps create a long growing season so that grapes can achieve optimal ripeness without losing acidity. The stony slate soil, which can be seen on the surface of the vineyard, reflects sunlight to the grapes during the day while retaining heat throughout the cool nights. Thin, rocky topsoil forces the vines to dig deep for water, producing vibrant wines that capture the lively and distinctive mineral character of the soil. Dr Loosen also have vines up to 130 years old as some parts of the Mosel were unaffected by phylloxera. These vines are on their original root stocks and helps to produce wines that are more concentrated and expressive in their terroir.
We have some stock of 3 of Loosen's great Grosses Gewächs (GG) Rieslings as well as his killer entry Riesling. The GG label on these Rieslings is a term defined by the VDP mentioned earlier used to denote dry, single-variety wines from Germany’s leading vineyards, known as Grosse Lage (equivalent to grand cru vineyards in France’s Burgundy region). The '23 'Dr L Riesling' has to be the best value German Riesling on the market. This wine is so expressive and delicious for a wine that falls under $30 on the shelf. From the GGs, we have the '23 'Wehlener Sonnenuhr' Riesling which is an incredibly steep vineyard with stony, shallow blue slate soil that gives the wine a delicate, fresh acidity as well as a unique finesse. Then we have the '23 'Erdener Treppchen' Riesling which is also from an extremely steep site with iron-rich, red slate soil that produces wines that are full-flavoured, racy and complex, with an intense mineral aftertaste. If the wines from the Wehlener Sonnenuhr seem like a graceful "ballerina," those from the Treppchen resemble muscular free-style climbers. Finally, we have the '23 'Urziger Wurzgarten' Riesling whose vineyard forms an amphitheater of red, volcanic sandstone producing wines with great depth, tantalizing exotic fruits and spicy aromas. These are some spectacular expressions of Riesling at surprisingly great prices for GG Rieslings. These wines can be enjoyed young but like all great Riesling, have the potential to age for decades.
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Schmölzer & Brown
Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown came to fruition from the partnership of Tessa Brown, winemaker and viticulturist & Jeremy Schmölzer, architect. They planted their Thorley vineyard in the highest part of the Beechworth G.I. at 700m above sea level in 2014 and 2015 and they are currently working on building a winery and home which is off-grid solar panel powered.
Tessa and Jeremy farm their vines with organic methods in all but the most difficult years - they even make their own compost to spread under the vines. They make wines from Beechworth as well as King Valley. Everything labelled as "Thorley" is from their home vineyard. The Brunnen vineyard is a tiny parcel of vines owned by their neighbours, which they've been working with since 2014. The Obstgarten wines are from a mature, unirrigated Riesling vineyard toward the southern end of the King Valley and their Prêt-à-Blanc and Prêt-à-Rouge wines are blends assembled with an eye to easy drinking. All of their wines are made with hand-picked fruit and fermented with native yeasts with spontaneous malolactic fermentation. They don't fine their wines and only the whites are filtered with some sulphur used as needed.
We've just stocked up on more of these fantastic wines from Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown. The '24 'Pret-a-Blanc' and '22 'Pret-a-Rouge' are both incredible field blends with character that offer great bang for you buck. The '24 'Grauburgunder Pinot Gris' is a nicely textured Gris with some skin contact. Really delicious stuff that would compliment lots of dishes. The '24 'High Altitude Whitlands Chardonnay' is a new addition to our store with great freshness and weight. The '24 'Obstgarten K Riesling' and '24 'Obstgarten Selection Riesling' are tasty off-dry Rieslings - any Mosel Riesling fans should check these out. The '24 'Brunnen Pinot Noir' is spicy and elegant - perfect for winter and the '22 'Thorley Syrah' is an excellent expression of the grape from their coveted home block. Try some of these store favourites!
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Place of Changing Winds
Place of Changing Winds has already crept their way into the upper echelon of Australian producers after having been around for only a few years. Based in the majestic Macedon Ranges, they have already earned the right to be talked about alongside the likes of Bindi as not only the best producers of Pinot and Chardonnay from the region, but in the whole country.
Place of Changing Winds grow Pinot Noir and Chardonnay on the estate in a high-density vineyard at the foothills of the Macedon Ranges at an altitude of 500m surrounded by thousands of hectares or native forest. This is a genuinely cool site, with good rain, cold nights and a wide diurnal range - the perfect conditions for Burgundian style Pinot and Chardonnay. The average planting density is about 12,000-14,000 vines per hectare, but there are portions of the vineyards that are planted at a density of 20,000, 25,000 and 33,000 vines per hectare, forcing competition amongst the roots to create wines of finesse and complexity.
A system of agronomic practice has been developed that is adapted specifically to the site and involves no synthetic sprays of any kind and a large deal of manual labour. Everything is managed on site from the growing through to bottling, and the cellar is right next to the vineyard meaning that grapes go directly into the fermenters within a few minutes.
Place of Changing Winds also produces Syrah and Marsanne from two vineyards further north: one vineyard is located in the Heathcote region, on the famed red ‘Cambrian’ soils of the Mt Camel Ranges which is a considerably warmer site than the estate vineyard and lies about 130km north of the cellars, the second vineyard is in Harcourt, 85km to the north which is cooler than Heathcote, yet still warmer than the Estate, and the soils here are pure, granitic sands. The goal has always been to produce wines of great finesse, perfume, and drinkability from both places.
We have a whole range of wines from P.O.C.W from the entry level up to their most sought-after wines. Of the Syrah, we have the '22 'No. 2 Syrah', '21 'Heathcote Syrah' and '22 'Harcourt Syrah'. All of these are dark and savoury yet fresh and elegant - worth try for those of you that are moving away from the bigger South Australian Shiraz style. The '22 'Tradition Red' is a 60/40 blend of Syrah/Pinot and is an excellent homage to the old Hunter Valley "Red Burgundy" wines. Spicy and smoky and also available in magnum. We also have a couple bottles left of the '22 'Mari Magno Pinot Noir' which is a new release from the échalas (staked, bush-vine, co-planted) block, topped with fruit from the neighbouring young-vine block. The '23 'Harcourt Marsanne Roussanne' is a lush and full white from Rhone varieties that is perfect for richer dishes and the '22 'Tradition White' blends Marsanne with Chardonnay to produce a creamy-textured and opulent white wine. Finally, the '23 'Larderdark Chardonnay' is one of the best in the country with a layered creamy texture and perfectly balanced citrus and stone fruits with some more savoury elements. These are some of the best wines coming from some of the most exciting regions in Australia - pick up some of these amazing wines before it's too late!
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Syrahmi Tasting
Saturday 12th
3pm-6pm
Join us this Saturday as we taste the fantastic wines of Syrahmi from Heathcote!
The name Syrahmi is a made up from “Syrah” the French word for Shiraz and “Ami” meaning friend. The idea being a “friendly Shiraz” or “A friend of Shiraz”.
Syrahmi began in 2004 when Adam Foster gave up his day job as a Chef to pursue his dream of becoming a wine maker. He purchased his first tonne and a half of grapes from Heathcote winery and the dream was born.
The Garden of Earthly Delights label represents the wines he makes from non-Rhone varieties and these are equally captivating. Adam has been racking up award after award in recent years for his hard work and stunning wines. These are the wines we'll be pouring on the day:
2023 Garden of Earthly Delights Chardonnay
2022 Garden of Earthly Delights Pinot Noir
2020 Syrahmi Introspect Shiraz
Come down to the store this Saturday and check out some of the most compelling wines coming out of the Heathcote area!
Wishing you a great week from the team: Chris, Pete and Aaron.