Translation missing: en.WINE FAIR 16th of November 1-5PM! + Yann Durieux + Domaine de Villaine + Red Mill Rum + Siemàn Tasting Saturday 9th 3pm-6pm: WINE FAIR 16th of November 1-5PM! + Yann Durieux + Domaine de Villaine + Red Mill Rum + Siemàn Tasting Saturday 9th 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 we've just confirmed we will have Will Gilbert from Gilbert Family Wines joining us plus we will be showing the new releases from Somos, Lucy M and a selection of imports from Melbourne based importer Foreign Fruits!
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.
Yann Durieux
Yann Durieux is one of Burgundy's most exciting young winemakers based in the underappreciated appellation of Hautes-Côtes de Nuits. The Domaine itself is called Recrue de Sens (literally "sense recruit") and started with a tiny plot of 2.5 hectares. Yann spent 10 years working at the legendary Domaine Prieur Roch in Nuits-Saints-Georges where he learnt how to bring out the best of the classic Burgundian grape varieties with minimal input and respect for terroirs.
Yann's approach to viticulture and winemaking is simple but difficult to pull off well like he does, to produce expressive and faithful interpretations of terroir by way of respectful farming and minimal intervention in the cellar. All of his wines are "zéro-zéro", that is, no sulphites added, no fining and no filtration. Despite the hands-off approach, Yann is still meticulous with all the choices that he makes in the vineyard and the cellar and has an incredible eye for details. The laissez-faire approach to winemaking does not mean a sloppy work ethic or anything of the like, rather, the opposite as he would not be able to produce sensational wines without it. These wines are already on the radar of Burgundy fanatics and natural wine-lovers alike and should be on yours too.
We have 2 whites and 3 of Yann's reds to share, but only tiny quantities of each. We have the 2020 'Love and Pif Aligoté' which comes from 45 year-old vines on clay and limestone soils just outside the town of Beaune. This is aged in stainless steel to keep it fresh and dynamic. We also have '19 'PV Blanc' which is a Chardonnay from Pernand Vergelesses that sees a short time of skin contact and then aged in barrel for 24 months. Of Yann's reds, we have the 2020 'La Gouzotte', a name that doesn’t arise from a vineyard or area where the grapes come from but rather from the fact that Yann thinks that the wine is as fine and sharp as a “gouzotte”, a sharp hooked knife commonly used in the vineyard for pruning. This wine sees quite a bit of maceration but is aged in vats to maintain vibrancy and freshness. We also have the '19 'CDN Rouge' - a Cotes de Nuits Village that is aged in barrel for 24 months. Finally we have the '19 'CR Rouge' which is sourced from Chorey-lès-Beaune and also undergoes a long maceration but is aged in tanks for a year to produce a wine that Yann describes as "powerful and aromatic". These are some stunning wines from one of Burgundy's most influential minimal-intervention winemakers - don't hesitate because we only have a couple bottles at most of each of these!Domaine de Villaine
When Aubert de Villaine came to Burgundy to take charge of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in 1971, he set up home in the village of Bouzeron and began to put together a private domaine independent of DRC. The Domaine began converting to organic farming in 1986 with certification arriving in 1997. In 2000, Aubert de Villaine handed over the reins to his nephew - Pierre de Benoist who is extremely passionate about rediscovering the identity of the Côte Chalonnaise as a whole and of Bouzeron in particular – as well as the Aligoté grape in all its glory and has even developed a nursery from his oldest vineyard.
Domaine de Villaine have been practicing organic viticulture since 1986 (certified by Qualicé-France) to express every facet of their exceptional terroir in order to produce healthy, high-quality grapes. No pesticides or herbicides are used in order to respect the interaction of the vines and soil and the only fertiliser used is organic vegetal compost. To express the upmost potential of both the terroir and respective grapes, Domaine de Villaine controls its yields through selective planting and a regimen of sevre pruning and occasional pre-harvest thinning. The domain's harvests average about 20% lower than the yields authorised by the already-stringent AC regulations.
When it comes to the winemaking itself, the Domaine follows the classic Burgundian methods with manual harvesting, strict sorting, natural vinification and when it comes to élevage, maturation in tuns, oak casks or tanks with the aim of producing fresh wines with finesse. Only a moderate amount of new oak is used so as not to mask the site-specific characteristics with vanilla and oak flavours.
We’ve bought in 2 different wines - 1 white and 1 red from this iconic estate. We have the ‘22 ‘Bouzeron Aligoté’ which comes from the best slopes of the appellation. This comes from the golden Aligoté doré grape, which gives lower yields and more aromatic wines than its cousin, the Aligoté vert. This wine is aged in a combination of oak tuns and tank and can be enjoyed young to enjoy its freshness and fruit or aged for up to a decade for a fuller rendition. We also have the ‘22 ‘La Digoine’ from the Côte Chalonnaise at the foot of a slope with deep soils and necessary conditions to produce great Pinot. This is a wine that has immediate appeal just like the white but would definitely reward cellaring too. These are some exceptional wines that are reasonably priced for a Domaine bearing the name of DRC’s Villaine. These will go fast so get in quick!Red Mill Rum
Red Mill rum are an iconic Sydney distiller with history tracing back to 1933 when they were based in Pyrmont. Bill Fesq returned from the war in 1946 to find that the family business was struggling. Red Mill then went on to sell 300,000 bottles of rum annually in Sydney during the 50s and the “Your Shout” campaign covered buses and trains for the next decade or so. Red Mill were eventually sold in 1979 but have been recently revamped and reimagined in 2020 by David Fesq, now based around the corner from us in White Bay and their first bottlings coming out this year.
“At Red Mill we embody the new and old of Sydney. The classic working waterfront and the bold ideas it produced. The history of the City of Rum combined with a vision for something totally new.”
New recipes for rum were developed in 2020 with the aim of producing the best, most complex rum possible without compromise. A commercial facility allowed them to use their space and equipment while they got started and experimented with a range of different barrels which at first included ex-Cognac, White & Red Bordeaux, Australian Pinot Noir and Oloroso Sherry barrels. This is barely scratching the surface of their barrel regime. Their barrel hall boasts roughly 300 unique barrels from all around the world, many of which held Sauternes, Cognac, various Whiskies, Madeira, Sherries, red & white wines from around the world. There are sizes ranging from 125L to 1600L in size.
We recently had the privilege of tasting these fantastic rums and loved the story, loved the rum and loved the ability to support a local distiller. We bought in everything we tasted which was the “Classic”, “Coconut” and “Spiced” rums. The “Classic” is aged in roughly 50% ex-whiskey casks (Bourbon, Scotch and mixed Quarter Casks), and 50% ex-wine casks (Australian Pinot Noir and Red Bordeaux). This settles in a custom 1000L Foudre cask for six weeks before bottling by hand at 40%ABV for a beautiful sipping, versatile style. The “Coconut”, after months of experimentation, settled on a recipe involving their base rum then infused with a combination of coconut, flakes and fresh pulp all done by hand. This tastes exactly as it sounds but is not too overbearing and still has many layers to it. The “Spiced” involved various rums as the based and is aged in a mix of ex-wine and ex-whiskey casks, then blended with their Coconut Rum at a 4:1 ratio. This end product then undergoes a gentle maceration with Cinnamon, All Spice, Pineapple, Cacao, Vanilla and Hibiscus. These are some incredible rums that we would recommend to any rum drinker, whiskey drinker looking to try something new and anyone that loves to support local. Snap these up!Siemàn
In-Store Tasting
Saturday 9th 3pm-6pm
Join us this Saturday for a taste through he exciting and unique wines AND beers of Siemàn (meaning "six hands" in the local dialect) based in the village of Villaga, on the Berici Hills, surrounded by woods in Veneto.
These vineyards are farmed organically to respect the local terroir, then fermented spontaneously without any additives, filtration or treatments of any kind.
The brewery is located close to the cellar and is dedicated exclusively to spontaneous and mixed fermentation with the microbial flora of their vineyards and grapes. These beers are eccentric, soulful and I would highly recommend them to any fans of the Wildflower beers that we also stock. These are the wines/beers that you'll be tasting:
Occhio Al Bianco 2022
Prato Alto 2022
Occhio Al Rosso 2022
Hop & Stave (Hoppy Wild Sour Ale)
Istà (Farmhouse Ale)
On the Peach (Wild Sour Ale with native peaches)
These are some interesting and fresh wines and beers that are so tasty and easy to drink. See you there!
Wishing you a great week from the team: Chris, Pete and Aaron.