Translation missing: en.WINE FAIR: 16th of November 1-5PM! + Paul Pillot + Pyramid Valley + Yvon Clerget + Ross Hill Tasting Saturday 19th 3pm-6pm: WINE FAIR: 16th of November 1-5PM! + Paul Pillot + Pyramid Valley + Yvon Clerget + Ross Hill Tasting Saturday 19th 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 selection of 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.
Paul Pillot
Domaine Paul Pillot are one of Beaune's finest estates, with a history dating back to the start of the 20th century when barrel-maker Jean-Baptiste Pillot decided to focus on his vines. After a few generations, Thierry Pillot has succeeded his father - Paul, after working there since 1999 and taking over in 2004 as the fourth generation of the Pillot dynasty. The estate owns a total of 13 hectares with holdings in prestigious vineyards across Chassagne-Montrachet and Saint-Aubin.
Thierry, like all the best vignerons in Burgundy, understands that the wine is made in the vineyard and invests the majority of his time in money into elevating the vineyard rather than the cellar. Thierry likes to pick early, and with his use of tressage and high canopies means that he retains freshness in the wines. He also uses little to no new oak at all so that the wines maintain their racy, terroir-driven edge. Most of the wines are aged in 300L-500L barrels. Conversely to what most Burgundian vignerons would do, Thierry uses the new oak for the Bourgogne, preferring 1 year old oak for his higher level wines. The resulting wines are detailed, fresh and incredibly complex.
We have a nice selection of Thierry's whites and reds from the stellar 2022 vintage. At the regional level, we have the '22 'Bourgogne Aligote', '22 'Bourgogne Blanc' and '22 'Bourgogne Rouge'. These are excellent for the price and a good introduction to the Domaine. We also have the '22 'Santenay VV Rouge' which comes from 50 year old vines and made with 20% whole bunches in large old oak. This is the first time this wine has landed in the country. The '22 'Chassagne-Montrachet Les Mazures' comes from one of the best village parcels in Chassagne located just below the 1er 'Les Champs-Gains'. This is probably one of the best village Chassagnes you can get. The Premier Cru whites we have are the '22 'Saint-Aubin Les Pintangerets 1er' and '22 'Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean'. This is the first time the Saint-Aubin 1er has entered Australia and the Chassagne 1er is perhaps the most emblematic of the Domaine, with the estate situated right next to this parcel. The Premier Cru reds are the '21 and '22 of the 'Chassagne-Montrachet Clos Saint-Jean Rouge 1er' from the same flagship vineyard. These are some sensational wines from one of the best vignerons in the Cote de Beaune - don't hesitate to pick these up!Pyramid Valley
The story of Pyramid Valley started with Mike and Claudia Elze Weersing travelling the world to find the best place to make wine. They settled on this plot near Waikiri in Canterbury, NZ in 2000. Claudia was committed to biodynamics and was instrumental in the estate's early years, while Mike had studied oenology and viticulture in Burgundy and worked around cellars in Europe. After a change in ownership in 2017, Huw Kinch has been making the wines since the 2018 vintage after working for 10 years in Martinborough and they are looking better than ever.
The site in Waikari is unique, the estate owning 80 hectares with only the best sites planted under vine. The vines are planted on high-altitude north and east-facing slopes with rich, rocky limestone and clay soils. Pyramid Valley farm everything biodynamically, believing this allows the vineyards to express themselves, giving a voice to their soils, season, place and time.
"We consider wine’s capacity for evoking a specific site an obligation, as much as a gift."
The use of biodynamic composts and preparations has drastically improved the quality of the soils over the years, with difficult weeds disappearing and being replaced by new, soft beneficial weeds. They also follow the biodynamic calendar which instructs their decisions in the vineyard and cellar, nurturing them towards balance and harmony.
We just received our allocation of the 2022 vintage (with some back vintages remaining) of their iconic botanicals collection. Each wine is named after the dominant botanical in its respective site and display the importance of site-expression - setting a benchmark for fine NZ wine. In whites, we have both the '20 and '22 vintages of the 'Field of Fire' and 'Lion's Tooth' Chardonnays. The 'Field of Fire' is planted at a density of 11,111/hectare on a southeast facing slope with diverse soils but primarily shallow (10-15cm) glauconitic clays over well drained limestone. The 'Lion's Tooth' is planted at the same density on a steep east-facing slope. Both of these spend 12 months in French oak on their lees before being aged for 5 months on light lees in stainless steel and then being bottled without fining or filtration. We have both the '21 and '22 vintages of the 'Snake's Tongue Pinot Noir' which is from their vineyard in Lowburn, Central Otago consisting of soils that are predominantly loess over deep silts that have developed pedogenic lime deposits. This is aged in French oak (30% new) for 12 months then transferred to larger oak for 6 months. We also have the 2022 vintage of both the 'Earth Smoke' and 'Angel Flower' Pinots. The former is planted at that same density of 11,111/hectare on an east-facing slope of clay and limestone, the latter is planted at the same density on a very steep, north-facing block with coarse, shallow soils that enhance aromatics. These are some seriously expressive wines and some of the best coming out of New Zealand so don't pass up on these!Yvon Clerget
The Clerget family are one of the most iconic in Volnay, able to trace their roots in the region as far back as 1268, in the midst of The Crusades. The family made some key purchases in the 20th century, picking up some spectacular Premier Cru sites and isolating them from the others. Yvon Clerget studied at the Beaune Wine University and worked around the world before taking over the Domaine in 1986. Yvon’s son - Thibaud followed in his foot steps, also studying at Beaune Wine University and working vintages for Domaine Hudelot-Noellat, followed by Giesen in NZ and Domaine Drouhin in Oregon before taking over in 2015.
Thibaud has the privilege of working with old vines, with an average age of about 40 years and some sites far older than that. These older vines produce smaller grapes at lower yields with higher flavour concentration. Thibaud is growing the vineyards in “lutte raisonnée”, a process whereby chemicals may be used where necessary to stimulate the biodiversity of the vines and soil. Consequently, he is able to produce complex wines without as much risk of losing large portions or his crop as has been happening to many producers in Burgundy in the past few years.
In the cellar, the grapes are carefully sorted and undergo a cold maceration to extract that iconic Volnay perfume. Then follows natural fermentation with gentle treading and extraction. The use of oak is purposeful and restrained so as to highlight and frame the terroir rather than to overpower it with overbearing new oak.
We’ve already sold through some of Clerget’s top wines, but still have some great stuff left. We have the ‘22 ‘Bourgogne Rouge’ as a great introduction to the house style of the Domaine. At the village level, we have some of the ‘22 ‘Volnay’ and ‘22 ‘Pommard’. These wines would be a bit more representative of Thibaud’s work, especially the Volnay. Finally, we have the ‘22 ‘Volnay Les Mitans 1er’ which is another jump up in quality and from one of the best sites that they work with. These are some poised and delicate wines that should be on any Burgundy lover’s wishlist. - Aaron C.Ross Hill
In-Store Tasting
Saturday 19th 3pm-6pm
This week we’ll be pouring the wonderful wines of Ross Hill from Orange, NSW. The story started in 1994 when Peter and Terri Robson purchased the property when there were hardly any vineyards in Orange and was joined 12 years later by their son James and his wife Chrissy who now handle the day-to-day operations of the business. These are the wines that we’ll be pouring on the day:
Ross Hill Lily Sauvignon Blanc 2023
Ross Hill Max Pinot Gris 2023
Ross Hill Maya Chardonnay 2024
Ross Hill Jessica Rose 2023
Ross Hill Harry Pinot Noir 2023
Ross Hill Jack Shiraz 2022
Ross Hill Isabelle Cabernet Franc/Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot 2022
Ross Hill Tom Cabernet Sauvignon 2022