Translation missing: en.WINE FAIR: 16th of November 1-5PM! + Eleni & Edouard Vocoret + Didier Dagueneau + Chantereves + Latta/Eastern Peake Tasting Saturday 26th 3pm-6pm: WINE FAIR: 16th of November 1-5PM! + Eleni & Edouard Vocoret + Didier Dagueneau + Chantereves + Latta/Eastern Peake Tasting Saturday 26th 3pm-6pm
It's that time of year again!
WINE FAIR TIME!
The festival of all things vinous is back and like always it's not to be missed!
We've handpicked a whole bunch of our favourite producers and selected a range of wines that show off the very best of this seasons drinking. We've got some of our favourite winemakers and importers here to show off a huge selection of wines. There will be something here for everyone.
We will be feauturing wines from:
Eleven Sons
Bubb + Pooley
Pooley
Ravensworth
Scintilla
Laherte Freres
Champagne Jacquart
Poppelvej
Frederick Stevenson
Nadeson Collis
and many more to be announced...Rain, hail or shine, it won't stop us from putting on a good time.
Tickets are just $40 and include a Riedel tasting glass, yours to take home.
Eleni & Edouard Vocoret
Established in 1870, Domaine Vocoret is one of the oldest Domaines of Chablis and is now being run by its fourth generation of family. Fast-forward to 2013 - Edouard Vocoret and his wife Eleni wanted to start their own adventure and purchased 5 hectares from his father and grandfather. These were plots of land that Edouard had scouted while working for his father and wanted to snag for himself. Eleni has also been working with the legendary Vincent Dauvissat, who then mentored them in the early years of the Domaine.
In the same vein as Chablisienne legends Dauvissat and Raveneau, these wines are aged in larger format old oak to slightly soften the wines while retaining stoniness, saltiness and acidity. Some other things that the Vocoret’s are doing that have been influenced by Dauvissat as well as Daniel Barraud in the Maconnais are fermentations with natural yeasts as well as plowing the soils between the vines. The 2022 vintage was an almost perfect one for them for the type of wines they are making. The growing season was dry and hot with no disease pressure. All of the grapes were picked between the 3rd and 8th of September and were all practically spotless and free of blemishes. As such, Eleni and Edouard were able to craft wines that were ripe and expressive without losing too much natural acidity and are perfectly balanced.
The 2022 release is shaping up to be their best yet. We have a single bottle of the ‘21 ‘Le Boucheron’ left and half a dozen of the 2022. This is a northwest-facing site with an average of 40 year old vines on Kimmeridgian limestone with lots of white clay. This is fermented in steel then aged in barrels for 12 months in a mix of 6-30 year old barrels. The ‘22 ‘Le Bas de Chapelot’ is one of the best village level sites in all of Chablis, nestled between such top sites as Le Clos Grand Cru and Mont de Tonnerre 1er. The soils here are also clay, limestone and Kimmeridgian and the wine receives the same fermentation/elevage as the previously mentioned one. I drank the 2021 vintage of this (a cool year, mind you) a few months ago and it was easily the fullest-bodied Chablis I’ve had. Finally, we have half a dozen of ‘22 ‘Les Butteaux 1er’ which shares the same hill as the other Premier Cru sites ‘Montmains’ and ‘La Foret’. This comes from 60 year old vines producing an extremely distinct and concentrated flavour profile. Eleni and Edouard are some of the most exciting winemakers in Chablis - anyone who loves Dauvissat/Raveneau or who doesn’t want to drop the pretty penny on those should definitely check these out!Didier Dagueneau
Dagueneau is one of those cult producers whose reputation precedes them. Didier was the avant-garde winemaker who sought to make the best Sauvignon Blanc possible and in doing so, completely reimagined the potential of the grape and the region of Pouilly-Fumé. Didier unfortunately passed away in a plane crash in 2008 but his son Benjamin has taken over the wheel and continued to drive his legacy. Benjamin grew up surrounded by his father’s vineyards and tasting the greatest wines of the world. Benjamin studied Oenology and worked vintages for François Chidaine and Mas Jullien before returning to work at the Domaine in 2004. He intended to start his own Domaine; however, the unexpected passing of his father brought him back to his home estate and the rest is history.
Didier Dagueneau was inspired by the legends Edmond Vatan in Sancerre and Henri Jayer in Burgundy and was one of the first to experiment with single parcel wines in Loire, starting with En Chailloux in 1982 and later with the cuvée Pur Sang in 1988. Like any great winegrower, Didier knew that the path to excellence began with careful and meticulous work in the vineyards. The vineyards are farmed using biodynamic methods and yields are kept extremely low. On average, one worker per hectare is employed to care for the vines throughout the year. The soils are tilled, sometimes using horses, to encourage roots to grow deep in their underlying terroirs. When vines need to be replanted, there is extreme care to select only low-vigor rootstock and the best massal selection cuttings to graft. Didier was also a fan of ageing his wines in oak and experimented deeply with new and old oak, different sizes, time in barrel and even barrel shape to achieve his desired outcome. The resulting wines are much more textural and round than what one would usually expect from a Sauvignon Blanc.
After selling through our initial allocation of Dagueneau so quickly that we couldn’t put an offer out, we’ve been able to stock up again and can finally offer these wines to the eager public. We have a couple bottles of the ‘20 ‘Fume Blanc Etc…’ which is the so-called “entry-level” offering by the Domaine and is the only bottle they produce that is a blend of different parcels with vines averaging 10-25 years old. We also have a couple bottles of the 2020 ‘Pur Sang’ which is produced from a vineyard north of Saint-Andelain called "La Folie". The soil here is deep clay with some limestone. The vineyard is gently sloped and has perfect south/southeast exposure. We have a couple bottles too of the 2020 ‘Buisson Renard’ which is made exclusively of Sauvignon Blanc from a clay-rich parcel at the lower end of Saint-Andelain. It is often the richest of the range. There is also some of the ‘21 ‘XXI Blanc’ which is the only wine produced by Dagueneau from the 2021 harvest and brings together parcels usually destined for Pur Sang, Buisson-Renard, Les Monts-Damnés, and Silex, with a touch from the legendary Clos du Calvaire. We have some of the legendary 2020 ‘Silex’ which comes from a single parcel of vines located on the flinty soils on top of Saint-Andelain hill. Vines here are between 60 and 90 years old. Finally, we have some of the extremely rare and unique ‘19 ‘Jurançon Les Jardins de Babylone Moelleux’ which is one of the world’s great sweet wines from extremely low yields of Petit Manseng without botrytis. This drinks much more like a Spätlese Riesling than a regular botrytised sweet wines of Sauternes, for example. There is a reason why Dagueneau has the reputation he does and why the wines are so hard to get. Do not miss out on one of the most revolutionary Domaines of all time.Chantereves
Chantereves are a fairly young Domaine in the grand scheme of Burgundy being established in 2010, although they have already laid the blueprint for all these new wave micro-negociants. Chantereves consists of Tomoko Kuriyama and Guillaume Bott - a Japanese lady and Burgundian man who fell in love while working a vintage together. Tomoko studied at a famous wine university in Germany but moved to Burgundy to work for Simon Bize and Chandon de Briailles. Guillaume is a born and bred Burgundian who studied at Lycée Viticole of Beaune before working for Sauzet and eventually Simon Bize where he met Tomoko.
Tomoko cares for the vines like they are her children, with unconditional love and care. Of course, there are no chemicals or machines used at all in the vineyards. Imagine Japanese fastidiousness and attention to detail in the vineyard and cellar mixed with Guillaume's extensive understanding of the local terroirs and techniques learnt from the Burgundian greats. The style of the wines produced are site-expressive, pure and detailed with little to no winemaking influence in the end product. The grapes are wild-fermented, and the reds take in a high proportion of whole-bunches to contribute fragrance and lithe structure. Chantereves have very thought-out contracts with growers primarily based in Beaune, and are also actively making choice purchases of plots that will eventually be released together as estate-grown Domaine Chantereves.
We've recently received the recent allocation of the Chantereves wines after having the privilege of tasting through the lineup. The 3 Aligotes were the highlight and had great tension and purity to them. Unfortunately most of them have already been sniped from our site so we only have a few cuvees left to offer. The '22 'Bourgogne Blanc' is the most accessible in the range and a fabulous wine in its own right. We also have the '22 'Hautes-Cotes de Beaune Mainbey Blanc' which was one of my favourites and the only Aligote remaining is the '22 'Les Monts de Fussey' so if you've heard about their Aligote do not hesitate to snap this one up because it will go just like the other 2. From their reds, we have the '22 'Bourgogne Rouge', '22 'Hautes-Cotes de Beaune Rouge', '22 'Savigny-Les-Beaune Dessus de Montschenevoy' and the '22 'Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Tuyaux'. These reds were all light, fresh and a joy to drink with no oak influence at all. We only have a couple bottles of each of these so get in quick!Latta/Eastern Peake
In-Store Tasting
Saturday 26th 3pm-6pm
Join us this Saturday for a tasting of some of Victoria's most exciting wines. Owen Latta is based in the small town of Coghills Creek just 25km NW of Ballarat. The Latta range represents the fun and experimental line of Owen's work with interesting blends, varietals and sulphur-free wines. These are the wines we'll be pouring on the day:
Latta Granite Riesling
Latta Rattlesnake Blanc
Eastern Peake Coghills Pinot Noir
Latta Headwaters Nebbiolo
Latta Presence Grenache
These are some seriously fun and expressive wines at a reasonable price. There's something in this lineup for everyone. See you there!