It's swung around to that time again for us to spread the word on all the notable arrivals that have found a home on our shelves in recent weeks (including a number of very limited releases), as well as some final top-ups and last available bottles of beloved favourites!
Terra Sancta have long sat within Central Otago's long list of great names (with their entry Pinot Noir option Mysterious Diggings always one of the year's best pieces of value), and they've just released a very limited allocation of their two single vineyard Pinots - the energetic 'Shingle Beach' and the brooding 'Slapjack Block', just awarded 100 points by James Suckling! Both are sure to disappear very soon...
Also now in the country from our Kiwi neighbours (and also with a very small dose of bottles) is the Nous Chardonnay, made by the same great team as Dog Point! Only 700 bottles were produced in total of this fantastic expression of power and enveloping creaminess, hailing from intensely high-density vineyards (11,000 vines per hectare over a tiny 0.29 hectare plot) - this one has the potential to evolve beautifully over the next decade or two!
Elsewhere, you'll find a final available bottles of Josh Cooper's stunning Macedon creations, topping up on his full-bodied 'Dash Farms' Chardonnay, and the 'Redbank Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon; easily one of the country's very finest examples of the grape! Josh was recently affected by the devastating Victoria bushfires, losing a large volume of wines in storage/museum bottles stretching back to 2012; our team will certainly be sipping on these in the coming weeks as a small tribute to a top winemaker and a great man!
Scroll further through, and you'll find a limited cult rosé release from the Southern Rhône's Domaine Gramenon, the latest 'Frère Cadet' Chardonnay from Beechworth's Savaterre, some of the best value McLaren Vale Fiano and Shiraz out there from Hugh Hamilton (the first producer to have planted vines in South Australia back in 1838), the new Cooinda Vale Chardonnay expression from Tasmanian legends Pooley, and last available stock of the 2023 Pierro Chardonnay, before the 2024 arrives in the near future!
'Shingle Beach' Pinot Noir 2024 -
Available for $65
(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
'Slapjack Block' Pinot Noir 2024 -
Available for $120
(Very limited availability)
"Terra Sancta's pinnacle of Pinot Noir, from the first block planted in Bannockburn. One of our three single block Pinot Noirs, Slapjack Block, is located in the heart of the Terra Sancta Estate. On gentle sloping clay soils, old vines on their own roots produce fruit of outstanding character and complexity. Minimal winemaking using wild fermentation is designed for maximum expression of site and vintage. A 'complete' wine, showing lovely power and poise, it is fragrant and complex." - Winemaker Notes
"This is perhaps greatest pinot noir I have ever tasted in New Zealand. Aromas of blackberries, dried strawberries, orange peel, spices and graphite are subtle and refined. Full-bodied but not heavy, with perfectly formed tannins that go on for minutes. The tannins are powerful but totally integrated, with polish and poise. It’s rather endless in the finish. Own-rooted Dijon clone planted in 1991. From organically grown grapes. Give this three to four years in the bottle. Best after 2028." - 100 Points, James Suckling
Also Available
Terra Sancta Extra Virgin Olive Oil -
$22 on special this week ($25 RRP)
"Simply scrumptious" - The Wine Emporium team
Chardonnay 2023 -
Available for $160
(Very limited availability)
// From the same team as Dog Point - only 700 bottles produced!
"The 2023 Chardonnay is the third vintage produced from this tiny little organic plot (0.29 hectares), planted at 11,000 vines per hectare. The vines are planted to an east-facing slope, and the sun hits the bottom of the vineyard as it rises, essentially cloaking the vines in even amounts of sunshine. The fruit is handpicked and whole-bunch pressed, with full-solid wild ferments (very little sulfur in the vineyard avoids reduction in the wine) and wild malolactic fermentation. The acidity in the mouth is piercing and mineral, and the wine is lean and spicy—such a pleasure. The fruit is sapid and penetrating, coursing over the palate and sailing long into the finish. The winds that blow through this vineyard feel fresh and cool, and somehow that attribute and feeling is transferred to the wine in the glass, which is breezy and airy yet composed and tightly packed and also creamy. It's an extraordinary wine and a huge achievement on such a tiny plot. This absolutely feels like the kind of wine I want to drink. A total of 700 bottles were filled this vintage, which is a big increase from the first and second vintages, which yielded around 300 to 350 bottles each." - 97 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
'Muse' Pinot Noir 2018 -
$50 on special this week ($59 RRP)
"Muse is wine of the old world made in the new—a Tasmanian expression of classic European winemaking. These wines exude texture, integration and complexity. Savour their fine balance and finesse with delicate food. They’re great in their youth, and excellent with bottle maturity." - Winemaker Notes
"This is attractive. You’d never know that it was five years old but, even so, the extra time has served the wine well. It’s complex. It stretches its legs nicely. It tastes of earth and undergrowth, sweet-sour cherries and five-spice, forest characters and game. It works. It’s good." - 92 points, Campbell Mattinson
'Frère Cadet' Chardonnay 2024 -
$70 on special this week ($79 RRP)
"This is a finer more defined 'Frère Cadet'. On the nose lifted floral notes of lime blossom and gardenia combine with aromas of white nectarine, grapefruit, grilled nuts, praline, brioche, cinnamon, cardamon and flint. The palate is a delight. Purer enjoyment. Mouth filling juicy minerality. Amazing structure. Such length and precision. Just the right amount of “grip” on the finish. This wine makes you salivate with anticipation of the next sip. The flavours and texture go on and on with glimpses of pear, white peach/nectarine, pink grapefruit. I won’t go on but you get the idea. Precise, textured and powerful with a beautiful spine of acidity to frame this delightful experience. I consider this version the best 'Frère Cadet' yet. While it it is labelled Frère Cadet (younger brother) it is by no means a second wine." - Winemaker Notes
'Dash Farms' Chardonnay 2024 -
$65 on special this week ($75 RRP)
"This has quite a bit of richness, slippery texture, green apple, green mango, a touch of ripe nectarine with nougat, almond butter, liquid cinnamon and light terracotta notes with a slip of sizzled butter in there too. It’s got form and depth, a pleasing texture, a gentle sense of minerality, great sticking length and a sense of power. In some respects it’s a bit more of a relaxed wine, and feels a bit slow, if you get my drift. A pleasurable wine, a hedonist’s wine, feels a bit forward, but let’s see what happens in coming years too." - 93 Points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
'Redbank Vineyard' Cabernet Sauvignon 2024 -
$80 on special this week ($92 RRP)
(Final bottles - no further availability)
"Redbank Vineyard is quite spectacular, a historical place in Aus wine for sure. This from the 1970s vines too. Josh Cooper’s cabernet vision continues. Quite the wonderful thing really. This feels old school-good school, proper vin de garde in style, earthy, dusty, powdery, brittle and acid driven, a touch of mint, brambles and dried flowers, black tea and sooty spice – a lifetime with this wine. Salted plums, liquorice, pickled red cherries, hazelnut. So many descriptors to pack in. Tannins somewhere between refreshing and very grippy, firm and bitter, it works, for the most part, but time should also help. It’s charming and curious and an experience as it stands now. I was compelled to keep going and checking in, a good sign for this." - 95+ Points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
'The Loose Cannon' Fiano 2025 -
Available for $25 ($30 RRP)
// Shortlisted in Australia's Best Fiano article by Young Gun of Wine
(April 2025)
"A meadow of florals fresh with dew. Honeysuckle, lemon blossom, thyme. Brioche, custard powder, and oven bronzed pastry. Lemon grass and sorbet. Florals waft through to the palate. Taut and crisp. Succulent citrus swaggers sun dazed throughout. Lightly textured with a grip that gives shape and slip to the fruit." - Winemaker Notes
'Black Ops' Shiraz Saperavi 2022 -
$27 on special this week ($30 RRP)
"Richard Hamilton was one of the first to plant vines in South Australia in 1837; today his family winery is run by fifth-generation Hugh Hamilton and daughter Mary, whose range of McLaren Vale wines includes a few surprises. Hugh pioneered plantings of Georgian grape Saperavi and is now Australia's leading producer of the grape, making both The Oddball single-varietal bottling and this compelling blend of Saperavi and Shiraz. Aromatic with an opulent but energetic palate, packed with lively fruit – blackberries, blueberries, black cherry and cassis – layered with plums, spice and liquorice. Such an interesting blend!" - 93 Points, Julie Sheppard, Decanter
Rosé Pompon 2024 -
$52 on special this week ($58 RRP)
(Very limited availability)
// 80% Shiraz and 20% Grenache (certified Biodynamic/practicing Organic)
"Vines grown on clay-limestone soil, selected hand picking of grapes, 6 hours of maceration. Fermentation with natural yeasts, blocked malolactic fermentation (depending on the vintage). Matured for 6 months in stainless-steel vats. Drink young… when you are very thirsty!" - Winemaker Notes
"From some new vines that Michelle has taken near Taulignan. This is a beautiful, juicy, fresh fruity rose that tastes a little like it looks above, you get all the Gramenon succulence and perfume and when sipped cool from an ice bucket or the fridge it tantalises with it's strawberry flicked fruit and moresish juicy acidity. You can't call many rose wines sensual but in it's own way, this is." - Andrew Guard, Importer
Chardonnay 2023 -
$105 on special this week ($119 RRP)
(Last available bottles of this vintage)
"This will sit alongside anything Peterkin has made in more than four decades as one of the finest winemakers in the region. It is a cracking good wine delivered with precision and power with a degree of delicacy and finesse that makes it so appealing. Incredible intensity on the nose with aromas of white peach and grapefruit with a little muted butterscotch in the background. The palate is powerful and drives with urgency through to a remarkably long finish. The oak is neatly interlaced, and the fresh acidity adds another dimension with its savoury chalky character." - 98 Points + Best Chardonnay & White Wine of the Year, Ray Jordan, WA Wine Review 2025
"Pierro Chardonnay be what Pierro Chardonnay be. But there’s a smidgen more finesse in this year’s release and, combined with Pierre’s trademark fruit power, the effect is quite the sensational. Pierro is one of the original (as in, it was the first) close-planted blocks in Margaret River, at 6000 vines per hectare. Power up front; finesse through the finish. This makes well and truly sure that it has your attention and then it shows that it has both depth, and style. Pears, yellow peaches, grilled nuts and a creamy, smoky, nougat character. There’s an element of quartz to this wine, or of something stony, and it’s a part of its glory. This is a noted wine in noteworthy form. It finishes long. It’s compelling throughout." - 96 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Cooinda Vale Vineyard Chardonnay 2024 -
$80 on special this week ($92 RRP)
(Limited availability)
"Chardonnay sourced from the Cooinda Vale vineyard in Campania, Coal River Valley. Juicy white peach, nectarine and citrus fruits with hints of soft spice and clover blossom, crème fraîche, oatmeal, almond paste and crushed riverstone. Just a touch of lemon curd flows in on the palate, which shows a slinky texture and elegant line. The flavours stretch out long and true, with a stony savouriness on the exit." - 95 Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
If you wish to buy any of these wines, please use the links above
Alternatively, email us at sales@thewineemporium.com.au, or contact us on (07)32521117 if you have any questions.
// All special prices listed valid until Friday the 30th of January