Translation missing: en.Top 25 Wines of 2025 + French Wine Tasting Saturday 20th 3pm-6pm: Top 25 Wines of 2025 + French Wine Tasting Saturday 20th 3pm-6pm
Top 25 of 2025
2025 is coming to an end with the fun times of Christmas and NYE just around the corner. This was an eventful and fun-filled year for the store with many wines tasted, customers served, lots of weekend tastings and multiple exciting Wine Fairs. We thought it would be fitting to provide you all with a list of 25 wines that excited us in 2025 across a range of styles and prices. There is something in here for everyone. With no further ado, these are our top 25 wines of 2025, in no particular order...
Pierre Girardin Eclat de Calcaire Blanc 2023
This is an insane de-classified Bourgogne for the money. Layers of ripe stone fruits intertwine with citrus, sleek French oak and tasteful reduction to create an intoxicating bouquet that follows through on the palate. - Aaron C.
Tentenublo Custero Rioja Tinto 2023
Another example of the new wave out of Rioja that eschews the oak and the extraction to produce a more vibrant and fresh style of wine from the full range of allowed varieties... We are talking Tempranillo, Garnacha, Viura, Jaen, Graciano, Garnacha Gris and even some Monastrell! They are all co-fermented in concrete before spending 10 months in old 500Lt barrels to help out the bright red and purple fruited flavours. An old school approach with a new school feel. - Pete L
Ossa Chardonnay 2022
This wine carries a lively sense of energy, with bright acidity shaping flavours of apricot, melon and gentle spice. Time in large, seasoned oak and extended lees ageing bring richness and depth, adding subtle nutty and savoury notes without overpowering the fruit. Sourced from select sites across Tasmania, including Swansea and the Coal River Valley, it shows a generous yet controlled style, balancing concentration with freshness and poise. - Aaron C
Chateau Mauvesin-Barton Moulis en Medoc Rouge 2019
This is excellent Bordeaux without the ridiculous price tag. It's from the Left Bank but is Merlot dominant (64% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Cabernet Franc) from an old estate that was taken over by the Barton Sartorius family (Langoa Barton) in 2011. It's a deep and smooth wine, layered with purple and red fruits combined with vanilla and oak spice. It has the structure for cellaring and will definitely reward further ageing but is also great drinking now. - Pete L
For lover’s of quality savoury reds at a good price - here’s one! The dark red fruits immediately jump-out at your senses. With small additions of cabernet and merlot aiding to the body. Followed by classic dusty/chalky Sangio tannins. 13.5% alc. Good stuff! - Michael L
Cantina Orsogna Lunaria Charisma Trebbiano d'Abruzzo 2024
Bright straw in the glass, this Trebbiano d’Abruzzo opens with notes of white flowers, pear, and crisp apple. The palate is vibrant and mouth-watering, layered with citrus, stone fruit and a subtle saline edge. A clean, refreshing finish leaves a lasting impression. - Pete L
Avani Amrit Skin Contact Pinot Gris 2024 (Orange)
This skin-contact Pinot Gris shows a striking blush orange hue and rewards being served a little warmer than usual. Time on skins brings aromatic lift, with floral tones of violet and rose layered alongside white pepper and subtle native herbal notes. The palate is fresh yet textured, with gentle grip from phenolics and softly shaped tannins adding depth without heaviness. Expressive, savoury and quietly complex, it’s a wine that unfolds beautifully in the glass. - Aaron C
Agricola Flaxman Valley Shiraz 2024
This release shows a step up in depth and presence for Agricola’s Flaxman Valley wines, yet it never loses its sense of lift or control. What stands out most is the tannin profile: finely etched, supple and quietly persistent, giving shape and freshness rather than weight. Dark berry and cherry fruit sit at the core, joined by blue fruited tones, savoury bush notes, hints of alpine herbs and earthy, mineral nuances that recall graphite and stone. Despite the intensity, the wine carries itself lightly across the palate, low key yet deeply expressive, with a subtlety that feels almost unexpected for the Barossa. Grown high in the cool, rain-fed Flaxman Valley on granite and quartz soils, the site brings a natural elegance and structural clarity that Callum likens to northern Rhône influences, resulting in a wine that is poised, characterful and quietly compelling. - Aaron C
Forjas del Salnes Goliardo Tintos del Mar Tinto 2021
This wine speaks clearly of Rías Baixas through a red wine lens, drawing on old vines and native varieties to show freshness rather than power. Aromatically it leans savoury, with ripe red fruit framed by herbal notes and a gentle touch of wood. On the palate, bright acidity keeps the wine lively, while careful ageing adds quiet depth and texture without masking the fruit. - Aaron C
Von Winning Drache Trocken Riesling 2023
Riesling made with an interesting difference - it’s a natural oxidative style. In addition to the classic pure citrus, add a touch of pear lightly poached with a touch of ginger spice. Clear. Add a textured chalky fruit mouthfeel with acid drive keeping it fresh and tight. 12%alc. Will mix well with harder cheese or fresh grilled fish and salad. - Michael L
Olivier Horiot Champagne Metisse Extra Brut NV
A powerful and striking Champagne from Olivier Horiot, blending Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc incorporating wine from a solera, adding an extra layer of oxidative character. This has everything I like about Grower Champagne... These wines are so interesting and complex and really deserve more attention. - Pete L
Bannockburn Serre Pinot Noir 2024
This is a ridiculously complex Geelong Pinot that reminds us why Bannockburn are one of the best. Layers of strawberry, raspberry, cranberry swirl on the nose with lifted rosey aromatics, spices, earth and even a touch of jerky that I usually associate with this region. Light but with pleasantly firm tannin - this is a delight to drink now but will undoubtedly improve with age. - Aaron C.
Elanto Vineyards Chardonnay 2024
Fermented and matured with care, it layers citrus and stone fruit with subtle savoury tones, nutty complexity and a gentle flinty edge. The palate has real presence without weight, combining creamy texture with a bright, precise line that keeps everything fresh and focused. Oak is neatly absorbed into the fruit, adding depth rather than dominance, and the finish carries on with energy and detail. A serious yet inviting Chardonnay that feels complete, balanced and quietly impressive. - Aaron C
Bubb + Pooley Pinot Noir 2023
Coal River Pinot Noir from famed winemakers Justin Bubb and Anna Pooley. 20% whole bunch clusters, fermented and matured in concrete and French oak puncheons. A serious, yet delicate expression of Tassie Pinot Noir, which is what I adore about this wine. It's all in the subtlety, the nuance. A finely textured palate that lingers too. - Chris L
Crawford River Museum Release Riesling 2018
Rich and round, this opens with a nose of petrol, white and yellow peaches, nectarine, apricot, chamomile and daisies. The palate has great phenolic weight with enough acidity to keep it all together. With a bit more air the petrol becomes more seamlessly integrated with the fruit and the acidity actually becomes more present. Long length with an almost basil leaf like note on the finish. Clearly deserves the status as one of, if not the best Aussie Riesling. - Aaron C.
Bande Apart Aligote 2023
I am loving Australian Aligote lately. We are making examples of the variety that I think challenge some of my favourite Burgundy producer's renditions. This is fresh, driven and precise with green apple flesh, citrus zest, flint and a hint of crushed white flowers. Sashimi, crudo, oysters and this wine would be epic. - Pete L
Catlow & Company Nebbiolo 2024
I'm rarely impressed with Aussie Neb but this one is a bargain at this price. Really pristine red fruits, roses and a touch of tar on the nose with crisp acid and just a tiny tannic backbone for some energy. I can't see any cheaper Nebbiolo beating this. - Aaron C.
Max Ferdinand Richter Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett Riesling 2021
Max Ferdinand Richter's Brauneberger Juffer Kabinett Riesling is a classic expression of fine Mosel Riesling, renowned for its delicate elegance and pronounced minerality. This wine comes from the esteemed Juffer vineyard, a steep, south-facing slope with a high proportion of stony, blue-gray Devonian slate soils rich in iron minerals, which gives the hill a brownish color (hence the name Brauneberg) and imparts a distinct spicy and mineral quality to the wine. The grapes are sourced from old vines, often 40-50 years old, which naturally concentrate the flavors. - Chris L
Werkstatt Riesling Pet Nat 2025
Clean, bright and delicious. This Pet Nat shows how good the style can be when done with care and using good fruit. It took me back to the first Pet Nats I drank years ago which was pretty cool! There's lots of underripe tropical fruits like green papaya, green mango with a good squeeze of citrus in there too. A real thirst quencher. - Pete L
Radikon Jakot Bianco 2019 500ml (Orange) (Preservative Free)
This Radikon is the most fruity, floral and smooth in the range with a nose that starts with apricot, nectarine, cheese rind, marmalade, chamomile and golden flowers. This evolves dramatically with each glass moving on to mandarin and chalk, then to grapefruit skin and crushed daisies, then to honey and sunflowers and finally blood orange and cherry. This has mouth-tingling acidity and tannins that add grippy texture as opposed to the chalkier, drying tannins of the other Radikon wines. Sensational. - Aaron C.
Mada Wines Nebbiolo Rose 2024
Made from Nebbiolo grown on ancient red sands, shale and granite in the Hilltops, this pale, flavour packed rosé is all about freshness and texture. Bright red fruits sit at the forefront, with watermelon, stone fruit and citrus peel giving it a playful, summery feel. There’s a creamy glide through the palate, balanced by a gentle herbal note and a light, tea-like grip that adds interest without weight. Lively, crunchy and easy to enjoy, it’s a relaxed yet characterful take on rosé that drinks beautifully now. - Aaron C
Ravensworth Estate Shiraz Viognier 2023
This cool-climate Shiraz delivers depth and comfort in equal measure, opening with ripe dark fruit layered with spice and a subtle savoury edge. The palate moves smoothly, starting bright and juicy before shifting into richer, more savoury tones that add shape and interest. Spices build gently toward the finish, which lingers with warmth and balance. Consistently reliable and deeply satisfying, it’s a strong expression of the style year after year. - Pete L
Pyramid Valley Angel Flower Pinot Noir 2023
Easily one of NZ's best Pinots - this is light and intoxicating with a bouquet of layered red fruits, spice, roses, earth and minerality. The palate is extremely smooth and silky with enough fine-grained tannin for structure and intrigue. Perhaps the most Chambolle-esque of the Botanical range. - Aaron C.
Tenuta Orsumella Chianti Classico 2022
This has everything you could ask for from a Chianti Classico - juicy red fruits comprised of red cherry, cranberry, red plum as well as roses and rosemary too. Very fresh on the palate and light on its feet with infinite food pairing possibilities. - Aaron C.
Mas de Libian Bout dZan Rouge 2023
A warming Rhone red - this opens with a nose of red and black plums, violets with a rustic edge. The rusticity blows off quickly and the wine sharpens up with a more pronounced nose of bright red cherries, strawberries, raspberries and roses. It's full-bodied on the palate with nice mouth-coating tannins. Delicious. - Aaron C.
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French Wine Tasting
Saturday 20th
3pm - 6pm
Join us this Saturday for the last tasting event in the store for 2025!
We will be pouring a range of French wines from some of the best wine regions in France such as Champagne, Chablis, Loire Valley and the Rhone! These are the wines that we'll be pouring on the day:
J Lassalle Champagne Brut Rose NV
Domaine Roland Lavantereux Chablis
Thierry Laffay Chablis Vieilles Vignes
Domaine du Closel Jalousie
Domaine Saint Clair Etincelle Crozes-Hermitage
Domaine de la Mordoree Cotes-du-Rhone Rouge
These are some excellent wines that would make the perfect accompaniment to Christmas lunch. Don't miss out!
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Christmas Shipping
Christmas is only 1 week away now! We have already passed the date that AusPost can guarantee arrival before Christmas; however, for Express Post to metro areas, the recommended final post date is Monday the 22nd.
Our team will be out and about doing deliveries within a 10km radius of the store, right up until Christmas Eve so there's no need to miss out on gifting your favourite wines to your colleagues, friends and loved ones for Christmas!