We're at an action-packed time of the year where there's phenomenal releases coming from every angle; while certainly overwhelming, it's so exciting to see so many contemporary winemakers making the best wine of their lives, and it's always our thrill to try sift out the best quality, the best value, and everything in-between! This week has brought in three key yearly releases from Yarra Yering and Wantirna Estate in Yarra Valley, and Domaine Naturaliste from Margaret River! We loved each and every one of these whites and reds that you'll find below, and each one will be all gone until next year once they're sold, so take a look below for all the further praise and info!
Domaine Naturaliste
For our money, these releases from Bruce at Domaine Naturaliste (Margaret River) are not among the best, but among the most important Chardonnays coming out of the country! They represent incredible value that is turning ever-elusive in the current market, with both drops so stylistically tuned and well-defined. We cannot recommend these more, especially while they're on special!
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2022 Domaine Naturaliste Artus Chardonnay - $55 on offer ; $62 RRP
"A touch of funk here, some smoky sulfides and toasty barrel derived character allied with nougat honey and toasted nuts. A wine of refinement and restraint as well as good depth of flavour, the refreshing acidity towing the flavour long through an extended finish. (Karridale fruit, Gingin clone; underwent malolactic)" - 95 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
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2022 Domaine Naturaliste Purus Chardonnay - $55 on offer ; $62 RRP
"Light yellow colour with a bouquet of oatmeal, cream, hazelnuts and smoky toasty oak undercurrents. Intense, rich palate with delicacy as well as generosity; a more ample wine than the Floris and more complex, still subtle and refined, with terrific length and precision. (Karridale fruit, Dijon clones 76 and 95; pure yeast strain; no MLF; batonnage only in tank)." - 96 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Yarra Yering
The latest release from Sarah and the acclaimed team down at Yarra Yering (Yarra Valley) is a stunner once again, as we have come to expect from this award-winning estate. They just craft truly delicious, delectable wines, bringing alongside complexity and length that make them so memorable! Particular praise from us goes to the Dry Red No. 3 (winning a Gold Medal and Best Other Red Blend at the recent RQ Wine Awards) that packs in its multiple unique Portuguese grapes into one silky effortless red. These each have very limited stock, so we recommend getting in quick!
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2021 Yarra Yering Chardonnay - $130 per bottle
Gold Medal – Royal Queensland Wine Show & 97 Points – Decanter World Wine Awards
"Hand harvested grapes placed in a chiller overnight before whole bunch pressing which gives us very high quality juice. Fermentation in French oak barrels; a combination of 228 L barriques and some 500 L puncheons, 30% new oak. Both wild yeasts and cultured yeast were allowed to carry out the fermentation offering complexity and a hint of wet stone. Natural acidity was retained by inhibiting malolactic fermentation. Maturation for 10 months in our cool underground cellar before blending and bottling. Oyster shells, wet rocks, sea spray and orchard fruits. Finesse combine with pillowy fruit weight; this is a wine that has weight and texture coupled with a green apple crunch. An energy drives the palate with a pithy interest and a slippery texture on the back palate the gives ample weight and extraordinary carry. The fruit is supported by an extremely fine grained oak tannin framework which lingers on the finish." - Winemaker Notes
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2021 Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 3 - $110 per bottle
Gold Medal & Trophy Best Other Red Blend at Royal Queensland
35% Touriga Naçional, 35% Tinta Cão, 12% Tinta Amarela, 7% Tinta Roriz, 6% Alvarelhão & 5% Sousão
"The last fruit to be harvested from the vineyard. Hand picked and destemmed together in a ‘field blend’ style retaining as many whole berries as possible. The first working of the must is with the feet as in a traditional lagar in Portugal to extract tannins from both skins and seeds. Gentle pressing and maturation in old oak barrels for 10 months. Super lifted and complex. Lavender, satsuma plum and liquorice spice. Summer berries, plums and licorice spice of Touriga Naçional, the Tinta Cão brings bright and fragrant blue fruit energy. Tinta Roriz brings a savoury depth to the palate to compliment the Tinta Amarela’s floral and bay leaf herbal lift. To tie everything together the finesse of Alvarelhão and the acidity of the Sousão tightens, brightens and drives the long palate. Wonderfully complex and yet medium bodied." - Winemaker Notes
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2022 Yarra Yering Light Dry Red - $89 per bottle
// 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Shiraz
"Winemaking techniques used encourage an exotic floral fragrance coupled by an expansive fruitful palate and a fine tannin framework. Highly aromatic with rose petal, blue violets and plum fruits. The palate has a light touch yet is soft and full of juicy fruits, a faintest smokey grip from the use of stalks bringing some structure and drive to the finish. These varieties complement each other beautifully with the perfume and spice of the Pinot and the underlying structure of the cool climate Shiraz." - Winemaker Notes
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2021 Yarra Yering Pinot Noir - $130 per bottle
97 Points - James Halliday Wine Companion
"The grapes were hand-picked and chilled overnight. Processing the following day along a fruit sorting table and destemmed gently into our signature small fermenters. Some whole bunches were used to contribute subtle stalk structure and a generous fruit profile. Working of the ferment by gentle hand plunging twice daily contributes to the soft fruit palate along with gentle pressing. Maturation for 10 months in all French barrels with 30% new and the balance older oak. Red cherry fruits, violets, campari and a side of cured meat. Red cherry fruits dominate the palate with a pinch of Chinese five spice for complexity. A silky elegance combined with a fine tannin structure, enhanced by some inclusion of bunches to produce a medium-bodied yet powerful style. Plenty of tannin to reward some cellaring." - Winemaker Notes
Wantirna Estate
Led by the power father-daughter duo of Reg and Maryann Egan, with both having honed their practical vigneron skills and knowledge in small domaines within Bordeaux and Burgundy, Wantirna Estate and their wines represent what the Yarra Valley can do at its very best; producing layered, sophisticated cool-climate wines that are so full of indelible flavour and yet remain easy-drinking and pair tremendously with some great food! Take a look below at their latest Isabella Chardonnay and Amelia Cabernet Merlot, always fan-favourites for customers and go-to recommendations for our staff; on special for this week!
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2022 Wantirna Estate Isabella Chardonnay - $84 on offer ; $96 RRP
"The Isabella Chardonnay trademark is its elegance and rounded middle palate texture. With time in bottle the fruit flavours develop into complex nuts and toast character with a succulent yet tight finish." - Winemaker Notes
"So much flavour, and yet it still keeps itself fine and balanced. I’m thinking peach and pear, lime leaf, sweet spices and vanilla, a little salty oatmeal under that. It’s fleshy, ripe Chardonnay flavour with a savoury oatmeal and nutty nougat character, balanced acidity, a slight pithy grapefruit grip and bitterness, gently chalky too, with a long saline finish. So lovely. Another year to settle into bottle, and then likely even more lovely again." - 95+ Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
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2022 Wantirna Estate Amelia Cabernet Merlot - $84 on offer ; $96 RRP
"65% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Cabernet Franc and Merlot, and 5% Petit Verdot. The addition of the petit verdot grapes gives the wine an added backbone of tannin and natural acidity. With its long growing season, the petit verdot grapes are the last to be harvested, usually in mid April. The vines for the Amelia are all dry farmed – that is, there is no irrigation. The roots go deep into the clay soil, searching out any available moisture. This and the age of the vines is crucial to making the intense yet elegant wine. The wine is approachable young but will age for more than fifteen years." - Winemaker Notes
"Blackcurrant, dark raspberry, chocolate, a little violet, pencils and spicy wood, pimento, and also, for me, a correct varietal leafy/tobacco top note. It’s medium-bodied, very dense and really quite ‘mineral’ and graphite laden, with a firm core of bright acidity, deep gravelly tannin, with a lively yet dark chocolaty finish of super length." - 96 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
Zalto Glassware
(Available in Twin Packs)
If you wish to purchase 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 // Prices valid until Thursday the 26th of October