Wine whimsy in abundance this weekend, with lineups that represent four of the world's most southern wine-growing areas in picture-perfect fashion.
Derwent Estate continue to harness their unique terroir and microclimate just 20 minutes north of Hobart, in combination with limestone soils spread across north-facing vineyard slopes, bringing forth wines that remain as well-priced as they are vibrant, energetic and amply-layered. Their Calcaire releases, with the 98-point Chardonnay undoubtedly the show-stealer come tomorrow's tasting (Friday 10th), are as focused, complex and fruit generous you'll find, while the joyful entry-points like the Lime Kiln Pinot Noir and Méthode Traditionelle sparkling are absolutely perfect accompaniments alongside that weekend charcuterie board. Join us as we pour between 4 and 7pm!
As for Saturday (12-2pm), followers of New Zealand's vast pool of talents rejoice, as we're set to explore ten beauties from across Otago, Martinborough and the Waitaki Valley! It's one we've been wanting to tick off for a good while; a proper panoramic journey across these regions that showcase the individual charms and viticultural decisions, while at the same time, the potential for any similarities or shared styles, whether that's through climate or creative choice.
Ata Rangi is our Martinborough representative, with both their unique take on Chenin Blanc and stunningly-poised Pinot Noir. From Otago will be Burn Cottage (with a crispy Riesling/Gruner Veltliner blend, and the beloved Estate Pinot Noir), Terra Sancta (two single vineyard Pinots of the same price, but entirely different personalities), Felton Road's iconic Bannockburn Pinot, and the complex mineral-led Pinots from Prophet's Rock. Finally, further north-east in Waitaki Valley lies Clos Ostler, whose Caroline's Pinot Noir impressed immensely last year - a red with the power and tannic shape of a great Burgundy. They have now released the 2022 vintage of this label, fresh off a Platinum Award from the Decanter World Wine Awards. Come by at midday, and join in on the fun. All choices on special for the coming week!
Lime Kiln Pinot Noir 2023 -
$28 on special this week ($32 RRP)
"Raspberry, strawberry, some nutty nougat oak and spice. It’s a lively and juicy wine, red fruit, a slightly minty and sappy edge, strawberry and milk chocolate, a dusty feel to tannin, some dried herb, with a fresh finish of good length. Easy-going and good drinking all up." - 91 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Méthode Traditionelle Sparkling 2023 -
$37 on special this week ($42 RRP)
// 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay
"Fruit sourced from a 30-year-old vineyard sitting at 200m of elevation; the fruit here is often picked at the same time as the rest of the valley is picking grapes destined for table wine. This extra hang time on the vine allows the fruit to develop with good intensity of flavour and high acid levels at the desired ripeness. This elegant and crisp sparkling wine is made in the traditional French style – Méthode Traditionnelle and has a great intensity of flavour, with added complexity." - Winemaker Notes
Estate Chardonnay 2024 -
$40 on special this week ($46 RRP)
"Grown on a north -facing bank of the Derwent River this 28-year-old cool-climate vineyard is widely recognised for producing some of the best chardonnay fruit in Australia including supplying the famous Penfolds Yattarna 13 years in a row. The soils are permeable loams over limestone imparting intensity and aromatic delicacy to the fruit. Delicate fruit notes enhanced by a hint of oak. Balanced acidity creates a smooth, creamy texture. This traditional Chardonnay shines when enjoyed with food." - Winemaker Notes
Estate Pinot Noir 2022 -
$40 on special this week ($46 RRP)
"Grown on a north-facing-bank of the Derwent River, pinot noir from this 28-year-old cool-climate-vineyard is regarded among the most consistent and reliable in Tasmania. Six different clones are all grown on VSP trellising. The soils are permeable loams over limestone, each block with different depths of topsoil. Intensely defined fruits with a rich texture and weight, accompanied by prominent yet refined tannins that seamlessly carry the flavor to the back of the palate." - Winemaker Notes
Also on pour & available to order
(either on the night or via email here)
Calcaire Chardonnay 2024 -
$75 on special this week ($85 RRP)
// Ranked #1 out of 44 for 2024 Chardonnays from Tasmania - The Real Review
"Light yellow colour, light for its age, with an immediately gorgeous bouquet of complexity and finesse. It's youthful, understated yet super-intense and focused. A wine of great fruit purity, with outstanding line and length. An outstanding chardonnay that will be long lived." - 98 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Ata Rangi Chenin Blanc 2025
$49 on special this week ($26 RRP)
"An immediate varietal bouquet with scents of fresh and baked apple, some pear and fine lees complexities suggesting a finesse of baked goods then a fine clay earth quality. As the wine relaxes in glass and becomes more ambient the bouquet expands into flowers and blossoms. A dry wine with a satin touch and acid line that embraces the complexities of winemaking, vintage and variety. Delicious and complex, a wine that will deliver through the next 3-8 years. Best drinking from late 2027 through 2035+." - 95 Points, Cam Douglas MS
Burn Cottage Riesling Gruner Veltliner 2023
$64 on special this week ($72 RRP)
// 68% Riesling and 32% Gruner Veltliner (Biodynamic)
"Delicate and savoury, this refined cool-climate white is now showing a hint of bottle development. The flavours are restrained yet concentrated and long, built upon a core of trenchant acidity. Floral nuances add a sense of lightness to the deep-set flavours of dried herb, citrus, heritage apple and earthy minerality. A hint of white pepper and mushroom lingers on the long, dry finish. This sophisticted wine will continue its slow evolution in bottle for years to come" - 95 Points, Stephen Wong, The Real Review (for the 2022 Vintage)
Terra Sancta Jackson's Block Pinot Noir 2024
$57 on special this week ($65 RRP)
(Limited availability)
"From old vines planted between 1991 and 1995 on Terra Sancta Estate, Jackson’s Block expresses the classic structure and depth of Bannockburn. Wild fermented and handled with restraint, this is a dark-fruited, finely structured Pinot Noir — layered black cherry and plum with subtle spice, firm yet polished tannins, and impressive length. Precise and poised, with the concentration and balance to reward cellaring." - Winemaker Notes
"A linear and structured pinot noir with firm and racy tannins and aromas of spices, flint, iodine and oysters. The palate shows crushed berries and cherry blossoms. Needs time to open, but it’s superb already. From own-rooted 777 clone with a touch of Pommard planted in the 1990s and farmed organically. Better in a few years. Drink or hold." - 99 Points, James Suckling
Terra Sancta Shingle Beach Pinot Noir 2024
$57 on special this week ($65 RRP)
(Limited availability)
"One of Terra Sancta's three unique single block Pinot Noirs; Shingle Beach is created to reflect the singular characteristics of its magnificent site. Located on the edge of the Kawarau River, ‘Shingle Beach’, is a close planted block of Pinot Noir vines on soils of limestone and schist. Minimal winemaking using wild fermentation in large oak barrels showcases the characteristics of site and vintage, resulting in this ethereal expression of Pinot Noir." - Winemaker Notes
"An incredible wine with aromas of dried strawberries, dried flowers, cloves, white pepper and limestone. It’s medium- to full-bodied with superb presence and intensity. The strawberry and mineral undertones go on for minutes. Great texture and energy. From Dijon clone planted in 2001. Organically grown grapes." - 99 Points, James Suckling
Prophet's Rock Home Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
$75 on special this week ($85 RRP)
"Starts slow but is worth the wait. Complex aromatics, with dark plums, black cherry, waxy notes, dried rose petal, wild thyme, peaty earth; not the easiest to tease out the wine's individual components. A mouthfilling, compact and very textural palate with abundant, ripe tannins. Pretty tightly wound now but the fruit concentration and super-length speak of good things to come." - 97 Points, Emma Jenkins MW, Decanter
"It's a beautiful vineyard, this one. It's high, some 320–390m on a glacial terrace above Bendigo, on some of the oldest soils in the region, composed of clay and pedogenic limestone. Mid-ruby in the glass. Exotically spiced wild strawberry and raspberry fruits with a blast of cherry and hints of meadow herbs, sous bois, lightly smoked meats, earth, citrus blossom and dried rinds, poached rhubarb, lavender and crushed stone. Some biscuity oak and nutmeg on the palate, which shows a pleasing fruit weight and spicy vapour trail carried by a vivid mineral line onwards into the distance. Such great drinking." - 96 Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
Felton Road Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2025
$80 on special this week ($89 RRP)
"A distinct dried rose perfume here along with rosemary and dried herbs, cherry and raspberry, baking spices and aniseed. It’s medium-bodied, a juicy and sweet attack of fruit, tempered by some more earthy and autumnal things, a fine-grained powdery grip to tannin, a sappy feel too, with some blood orange on a spicy finish of excellent length. A lovely and energetic wine. It drinks well now, though no hurry, and that perfume is quite something. Again, the best Felton Road Bannockburn I’ve tasted, or so I think." - 95 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Burn Cottage Pinot Noir 2023
$92 on special this week ($105 RRP)
"The 2023 Burn Cottage Vineyard Pinot Noir is so detailed and pretty. The fruit here is silky and bright, with nuances of sweet tobacco and raspberry seed, and there are creamy tannins and layers of tissue-paper texture and acidity. What a beautiful wine this is, showing the poise, detail and energy of the 2023 vintage. The 2023 wines seem to be a magnificent cellaring vintage, although I will understand if they are all consumed upon release, such is the beauty and poise of them as young wines. If they were people, we'd say that they were "old souls" or "mature before their time" or even "young prodigies." I love the 2023s en masse and have great respect and hope for their potential futures." - 97 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Clos Ostler Caroline's Pinot Noir 2022
$99 on special this week ($115 RRP)
// Platinum Award - Decanter World Wine Awards 2026
"A cool climate spectacular, with wonderful soaring herbs, green olives, bay leaves, cherries and raspberries welcoming the palate. Decisive structure, shapely tannins and crisp acidity tie everything together, bringing the flavours to life. Long and savoury." - 97 Points, Decanter Wine Awards 2026
"Ripe and varietal, fruity and very new. Aroma of raspberry and cherry, plum and strawberry. A fine seam of limestone and clay soil woven through scents of barrel add complexity and intrigue. Taut, dry, fruity, and complex, a wine with an abundance of fine needle-point tannins and a backbone of acidity. Core fruit flavours mirror the bouquet. Plush, ripe, fruity, and vibrant with a lengthy and youthful finish. Best drinking from 2028 through 2034+." - 94 Points, Cameron Douglas MS
Ata Rangi Pinot Noir 2024
$115 on special this week ($129 RRP)
(Limited availability)
// Organic, Martinborough Terrace old vines
"Our first release of the Ata Rangi Pinot Noir was in 1985. A blend of our oldest vines across 6 of our vineyards on the alluvial gravels, this is our signature wine. Classic Ata Rangi aromas of sweet, dried hay and sage meld with bright fruit, notes of cranberry and ripe strawberry. The palate is supple with finely textured tannins that give the sensation of velvet. The acid interplays with the tannins to give a fresh vibrant finish. Complex but whimsical." - Winemaker Notes
"Cherry, raspberry, earthy and spicy, an kind of exotic perfume here, mandarin peel and rose oil in particular, some amaro bitters. It’s medium-bodied, again has an earthy almost smoky character to it, but also bright cherry and red fruits, quite some mouth-perfume, a firm chamois-like grip to tannin, closing with excellent length and a twist of orange peel. A firmly structured vintage this one, needing a fair amount of bottle age to reveal itself." - 95+ Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Prophet's Rock Cuvée aux Antipodes Pinot Noir 2021
$225 on special this week ($250 RRP)
(Limited availability)
"This wine is a collaboration between Prophet’s Rock winemaker Paul Pujol and esteemed French winemaker François Millet from Chambolle-Musigny, Burgundy. Former winemaker at Comte George de Vogüé for 35 vintages, François continues to make wine in Burgundy with his family under ‘François Millet et Fils’ and with us in New Zealand. Since the first release in 2015, this wine has been sourced exclusively from the same parcel on our small Home Vineyard site up in the hills of Bendigo sub- region, Central Otago." - Winemaker Notes
"On the nose, the wine is fresh and so detailed, with spiced cherry, tapenade, dried herbs, hints of alpine mint, red apple skins and black tea. In the mouth, the wine is balanced and exciting, herbal and fresh, with layers of texture and flavor that are difficult to separate. This is first rate, a thrilling wine, powerful and long but nuanced." - 96 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"Smoky oak and earthy spice complexity are just starting to show on this muscular and brooding black-fruited wine. The deep flavours are concentrated but still primary, with firm, sleek tannins which remain tight and unyielding. Powerful and dense, this will slowly unfurl in the coming years, but with a cooler-vintage austerity which will result in a more elegant wine in the long term." - 95 Points, Stephen Wong, The Real Review
If you wish to purchase any of these wines, please use the links above
Otherwise, if you have any questions, please contact us on (07)32521117 or email sales@thewineemporium.com.au
// Special prices valid until Thursday 17th of September