Translation missing: en.FULL PRODUCER LIST - Wine Fair + Timo Mayer + Farr Rising + Cisteller Tasting Sat 14th 3pm - 6pm: FULL PRODUCER LIST - Wine Fair + Timo Mayer + Farr Rising + Cisteller Tasting Sat 14th 3pm - 6pm
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 Plum 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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Timo Mayer
Timo Mayer grew up in Germany, where his family have been making wine for over 400 years. He moved to Australia and studied winemaking at Wagga Wagga before working at De Bortoli and Gembrook in the Yarra Valley and establishing Mayer Wines in 2000. Timo has made a name for himself in the Yarra with his small-batch, single vineyard wines of elegance and charm.
Ideally located in the center of the Yarra Valley, Timo and his wife Rhonda planted a 2.4 hectare vineyard on a slope, which they named Bloody Hill because it was bloody steep!
"We believe that wines are made in the vineyard and therefore try to interfere as little as possible in the natural winemaking process"
All of their wines are unfiltered and unfined so as to capture as much of the soul of the vineyard as possible in the bottle. Their aim is to make wines with a point of difference which the minimal-intervention approach helps to accomplish. Timo's experimentation with 100% whole bunches also sets him apart from his peers as this helps to achieve wines of almost impossible lightness and perfume.
We've stocked up on Timo's wines after tasting with him the other week which includes a return of fan favourites as well as some brand new wines! The '25 'Chardonnay' is amazing as always - unoaked and taut but still interesting as ever. The '25 'Pinot Syrah' harks back to the classic "Hunter Burgundies", albeit with more freshness and spice. The '23 'Cabernet' is a nice option for those wanting to steer away from the overripe and overoaked renditions of Cabernet without losing its varietal character. The '25 'Grenache' is a new one and absolutely worth checking out for anyone that loves either Grenache or other lighter bodied grapes and the '25 'Syrah' could also be a considered a Shiraz for Pinot drinkers. We also have the '25 'Doktor Mayer Pinot Noir' and the '25 'Close Planted Pinot Noir' - the former employing 100% whole bunches in fermentation for a more savoury profile and structure whereas the latter only uses about half whole bunches and is a touch more concentrated. Finally, we have 3 bottles of the '25 'Merlot' which, in cheeky Timo fashion, you will notice features a Petrus knockoff label. This is a hard wine to get your hands on. Timo's wines are always in high demand, try some of these and you will see why for yourself!
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Farr Rising
Most of you will know of the cult Geelong producer By Farr, known for making some of the best Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the country. Perhaps not as many of you will be privy to the "Farr Rising" label under which they are making some fantastic wine at more accessible prices than their main line wines. The Farr Rising label is the line that was launched by Gary Farr's son - Nick, after his first year out of uni. The Farr Rising label was essentially meant to represent Nick's intent - to rise up to and beyond the legacy set by his father. Over 20 years on since this label's inception and it is clear that he has accomplished this long ago as he makes these wines alongside the By Farr mainline as well.
“The wines we make are not mainstream—they are expressions of our vineyard, our land and what we like to drink. That is what we promise to deliver.”
Nick has had some of the most impressive experience of any winemaker in the country. Growing up on his father's vineyards in Moorabool Valley that become so instrumental for championing the classic Burgundian varieties in the region; Nick has been surrounded by vineyards and winemaking his whole life. Just as instrumental in Nick's development as a winemaker was his experience working for classic Pinot and Chardonnay producers around the world - most notably at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy (which he still visits with his father practically every year), Cristom Vineyards in Oregon and Au Bon Climat in California. Although Nick owes a lot of his thinking to his father, he is not one to merely follow in his footsteps without forging his own path. The vineyards are managed organically (although not certified yet). In the past the source of the grapes for the Farr Rising label were sourced more broadly, now they are exclusively sourced from the family vineyards with more emphasis on highlighting different soil structures to the main label.
The 2025 release of these wines including a brand new cuvee has just landed! The '25 'Farr Rising Garganega' was made as a response to the Farr's love of Soave and comes from vines planted on a north facing slope atop grey sandy loam, with underlying limestone and an ironstone base. With a natural fermentation and aging half in tank and half in 1 year old barrels for 10 months, this produces a wine that retains acid while still being complex. The '25 'Farr Rising Saignee Rose' made from the bleeding free-run juice of their Pinot and ages in older barrels for 10 months. One of the country's best roses. The '25 'Farr Rising Pinot Noir' comes from a north-facing slope consisting of grey sandy loam mixed with an ironstone pebble (buckshot) at the top. This leads into black volcanic soil over limestone at the bottom of the vineyard. 60-70% of it is destemmed and is aged in barrels (20-30% new) to produce a Pinot made by the a Farr with immediate drinking pleasure. Finally, the '25 'Farr Rising Gamay' has come to be known as one of the best in the country and is made using the traditional techniques of Beaujolais. These wines always deliver, especially considering the fact they are less than half the price of the By Farr Wines. Pick up these sensational Aussie classics before we run out!
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Cisteller Tasting
Saturday 14th
3pm - 6pm
Join us this Saturday as we taste through the idiosyncratic wines of Cisteller from Penedes, Spain!
Cisteller is the project of young couple Jessica Madigan and Sergi Canals working on land that has been in the family for roughly 100 years. Armed with degrees in agriculture, enology and chemistry from U.C. Davis in California where Sergi and Jessica had met, the newlywed couple returned to take over the family farm in 2019. Since graduating they’d travelled the globe completing vintages in both hemispheres, but the return meant a deeper commitment to agriculture and farming, not just wine making. It meant a return to organics and converting the estate to biodynamics in such a way that required more than just a monocrop of vines to be grown on the property. These are the wines that we'll be pouring on the day:
Cisteller 'Lucidity' Corpinnat Sparkling 2022
Cisteller 'Gris' Xarel.lo Vermell 2023
Cisteller 'Verbena' Manzoni Bianco 2023
Cisteller Malvasia di Sitges 2023
It's always exciting to see well-farmed indigenous grapes like this that rarely bottled as a single varietal, let alone as still wines - don't miss out on this tasting!