Translation missing: en.FINAL CALL - WINE FAIR Saturday 21st 1pm-5pm + Caparzo + Sailor Seeks Horse: FINAL CALL - WINE FAIR Saturday 21st 1pm-5pm + Caparzo + Sailor Seeks Horse
Wine Fair
Saturday March 21st
1pm - 5pm
It's that time of year again!
WINE FAIR TIME!
For this wine fair, we’re slowing things down and going deeper. Each exhibitor will be pouring wines from a single producer, offering a chance to properly explore their range, philosophy, and style. Expect thoughtful tastings, great chats, and plenty of exciting bottles, all guided by the people who know these wines inside out.
We've added 2 new producers to this list! We will be featuring wines from:
Commune Of Buttons
Commune of Buttons is the natural wine project of Jasper Button, based on the family’s Fernglen farm in Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills. Working with small plots of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo planted in the 1990s, Jasper farms organically and biodynamically, focusing on healthy soils and expressive fruit. In the cellar the approach is minimal and thoughtful, with gentle handling and low intervention to let the site shine through. The wines are known for their freshness, texture and clear sense of place.
Cantina Orsogna
Founded in 1964, Cantina Orsogna is a co-operative winery located in the Majella hills of Abruzzo, just 15 km from the Adriatic. Known for its organic and biodynamic wines, it is the largest producer of such wines in southern Italy, with over 1,100 hectares of vines—80% organic and 30% biodynamic certified by Demeter. Named ‘Italian Winery of the Year’ in 2012, the winery has been biodynamic since 2005 and has a skilled winemaking team led by Camillo Zulli. The Lunaria wines are also Demeter-certified biodynamic.
Les Fruits
Les Fruits is the winemaking project of Tim Stock, using organically and biodynamically farmed grapes sourced from the Adelaide Hills and Barossa Valley. Produced in a shed in the Basket Range, the winemaking is simple and minimal.
Somos
Somos is the project of Mauricio Ruiz Cantú, a Mexican-born winemaker who settled in Australia after studying viticulture and winemaking. The focus is on Mediterranean varieties suited to Australia’s warm climate, sourced mainly from organic and biodynamic vineyards. Using native fermentations and minimal intervention in the cellar, the wines are vibrant, fresh and expressive, built around drinkability and a strong sense of place.
Pyramid Valley
Pyramid Valley is one of New Zealand’s most respected estates, known for its site-driven Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from carefully farmed vineyards. Founded in North Canterbury and now working with exceptional sites across the country, the winery follows organic and biodynamic principles to capture the character of each vineyard. The wines are thoughtful, textured and precise, balancing purity of fruit with a strong sense of place.
Vinea Marson
Vinea Marson is a small family-run winery in central Victoria founded by Mario Marson, one of the early champions of Italian grape varieties in Australia. Since the 1990s the Marson family has focused on grapes such as Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Arneis, grown in the warm, mineral-rich soils around Heathcote. The winemaking approach is traditional and hands-off, aiming to let the varieties speak clearly. The wines are savoury, structured and food-friendly, offering a distinctly Italian feel with an Australian sense of place.
Luca Bevilacqua
Luca Bevilacqua makes tiny production wines in the Val di Sangro in Abruzzo, working just a couple of hectares of 35 year old vines on clay soils between the mountains and the sea. After a decade travelling Europe as a sommelier, he returned home to revive his family vineyard and began making wine in 2006. The vineyards are farmed without chemicals and the wines are made zero zero with native fermentations and no additions, resulting in pure, honest wines produced in very small quantities.
Tenuta Mazzolino
Mazzolino is a leading estate in Lombardy’s Oltrepò Pavese, founded in the early 1980s by the Braggiotti family. Working from south-facing vineyards on clay limestone soils, the winery focuses on producing refined, terroir driven wines, with Pinot Nero as its flagship variety. Careful vineyard work and thoughtful winemaking result in wines that balance freshness, structure and polish.
Gentle Folk
Gentle Folk is the Adelaide Hills project of Gareth and Rainbo Belton, former marine scientists who swapped the world of algae research for winemaking in Basket Range. Since 2013 they have focused on sustainably farmed vineyards and minimal-intervention winemaking, producing vibrant, site-driven wines that highlight the character of the hills. Their highly regarded Single wines showcase fruit from carefully tended sites and has become a standout part of the modern Adelaide Hills wine scene.
Della Staffa
Conestabile della Staffa is a historic Umbrian estate whose winemaking roots date back to the 1700s. After decades without production, the vineyards were revived by Danilo Marcucci, who released the estate’s first wines in over 60 years in 2015. Today the wines are made naturally with spontaneous fermentations, no additions and minimal intervention, reflecting both the estate’s long history and Marcucci’s influential role in Italy’s natural wine movement.
Alla Costiera
Alla Costiera is the project of Filippo Gamba in the Euganean Hills of Veneto, where he has farmed organically for more than twenty years. Working with local varieties across limestone and volcanic soils, Filippo makes wines with spontaneous fermentations and minimal cellar work, often ageing them in cement and bottling without filtration. The result is a small but diverse range of vibrant, mineral-driven wines that reflect the character of the Euganean Hills.
Rivulet Wines
Rivulet Wines is a small Tasmanian project focused on crafting expressive, small-batch wines from carefully selected vineyards across the island. Founded by Kiera O'Brien who has spent years working with leading Tasmanian growers, the label allows for a more playful and hands-on approach in the cellar. With a light touch and a focus on texture, purity and balance, the wines aim to capture the distinctive character of Tasmania’s cool-climate sites.
Yohan Lardy
Yohan Lardy is one of the rising stars of Beaujolais, farming old Gamay vines across Fleurie, Moulin à Vent and Chénas. Working organically with a strong focus on biodiversity, he produces small micro cuvées with minimal intervention in the cellar. The wines are fermented naturally with very little sulphur, resulting in vibrant, expressive Gamay with depth and energy.
Tickets are $50 and include a Plumm tasting glass to take home. On the day, enjoy 20% off any six bottles from the event (usually 15%), plus a free Annandale Cellars tote bag with any purchase of 6 bottles or more. A great excuse to stock up on your favourites.
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Caparzo
Caparzo’s story begins in the late 1960s, when a group of friends passionate about Tuscany and wine purchased an old ruin with vineyards in Montalcino and set out to restore it. The estate was established as one of the early producers during the rise of Brunello di Montalcino, releasing its first wines around 1970 and quickly becoming part of the region’s foundational group of wineries. The estate currently comprises of 90 hectares of vineyards, 4 hectares of olive groves, 87 hectares of woodland, and 19 hectares currently used for arable land and gardens.
The 90 hectares of Tenuta Caparzo vineyards are spread over various locations. Thanks to some fortunate circumstances, Elisabetta was able to acquire 28 hectares in the best Brunello sites and 18 hectares in the best Rosso sites. The estate's vineyards are partly located in the top areas of Montosoli in the north and Castelgiocondo in the west of Montalcino. The winery is decked out with state of the art equipment that enables them to select only the best grapes (after already sorting in the vineyard) and to control the various phases of fermentation and ageing with ease, producing wines that are remarkably consistent without losing its beautiful sense of place.
We've previously stocked the entry-level wine from Caparzo but after recently tasting the wines up to the Brunello, we had to get some of those in too. The '24 'Sangiovese' punches above its weight showing clear origins of Tuscan Sangiovese in a style that is fruitier, softer and the perfect accompaniment to pizza. The '22 'Rosso di Montalcino' bridges the gap between the entry-level offering and the Brunello - a wine with a bit more complexity and structure to hold up to red meat. Finally, the '20 'Brunello di Montalcino' is a big step up in complexity and structure but surprisingly still drinkable in its youth. This wine is great value within the region and I can't see any fans of Brunello, or fuller-bodied reds for that matter, not liking this wine. We've seen a recent interest in Tuscan wines again recently in the store, pick up some of these excellent wines from Caparzo and see why for yourself!
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Sailor Seeks Horse
Sailor Seeks Horse is the ambitious project of Paul and Gilli who met in London and decided to start start their own winery and vineyard after being explicitly advised against it by one of U.K.'s most respected wine writers. They chose a career in wine after ruling out Spanish dancing and cricket as they wanted to work for themselves and do something that was both physically and intellectually challenging but most importantly, fulfilling. After a few years of experience in France, NZ and U.S.A. as well as degrees in winemaking and viticulture, they settled on a dilapidated vineyard in Tasmania's Huon Valley and after much hard work, have been able to produce Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that has arrested the attention of the Australian wine industry.
"Located in the Huon Valley, Australia’s southernmost municipality and coolest wine region, our vineyard sits right on the edge of viticultural possibility. Our belief is that great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are made on that edge, where the risks are high but the rewards even higher."
Having tasted these wines today and last year attending a masterclass hosted by Paul and Gilli which shed some great insight into the work they do in the vineyard, their approach to winemaking and most importantly, drinking over 20 wines across multiple vintages, provided extremely valuable context to these wines. After initially liking Tasmanian Chardonnay and Pinot, to then finding them overrated and simple - these wines have reignited interest in what is possible in the region. One thing that stood out the most tasting vintages as far back as 2015 for the Chardonnay and 2012 for the Pinot was how much more harmonious the recent vintages are. Paul and Gilli prefer not to put the Chardonnay through malolactic fermentation as a region such as theirs produces wines with such high acid and malic acid that to put them through the fermentation would convert it all and the wines would end up flabby; not allowing the pristine fruit and minerality to shine through.
As for the details of the site itself, the vineyard has an ideal NE slope to catch the morning sun rays with well drained sandy-loam soil over clay. The 700mm of average yearly rainfall is the perfect amount for the roots to be self-sufficient and to encourage them to dig deep into the clay without the need for irrigation. Not irrigating plus the organic viticulture allows the site to truthfully express itself, even if it means accepting lower yields in some vintages. Grapes are usually picked in the latter half of April which is late even by Tassie standards but the long mild Autumn days and cool nights allow the grapes to achieve flavour ripeness at lower alcohol levels with ideal natural acidity.
The newest release of these amazing wines has just landed, including some new, more affordable options. There are 2 new wines from the organic "Small Wonder" Vineyard in Tamar Valley: the '24 'Small Wonder Chardonnay' and '24 'Small Wonder Pinot Noir'. With Tamar Valley being in the north of Tasmania, these wines offer a riper, plush and more ready-to-go drinking experience than their estate wines in Huon Valley. The estate '24 'Chardonnay' and '24 'Pinot Noir' return as well looking great as always - these are closer to the general Huon Valley style that we all know and love. The '24 'Dijon Clone Pinot Noir' is a few steps further in the Burgundian direction, loaded with delicate spice and fragrance. Finally, the pinnacle of the range are the '24 'Huldufolk Chardonnay' (which wasn't made at all last year) and the '24 'Huldufolk Pinot Noir' of which we only have a single bottle and if taste blind, I don't think anyone would call as Tasmania except those that have had this exact wine a few times. Sailor Seeks Horse have proven once again why they are the rising stars in Tasmania with this release - pick some of these up before they all go!