It's certainly not every week we get the chance to host three tremendously talented winemakers within a 72-hour timeframe; a very special thank you to Michael Brajkovich MW of Kumeu River, and to all who came along yesterday evening to make him feel welcome (and witness the majesty of his Chardonnay first-hand!)
His visit was only the first of three on our radar, however - we've got some great ones in store for Friday & Saturday!
Well-recognised as a leading force of the Northern Rhône's modern era, Yves Cuilleron operates over his namesake estate with a rigorous yet self-assured mindset. It was Yves' grandfather who founded the family domaine in 1920, within a small section of the town of Chavanay, and set about planting the first vines nearby. Since assuming full ownership and direction in 1987, Yves has overseen significant expansion into prestigious appellations like Côte-Rôtie, Cornas, Condrieu and Saint Joseph, operating now over close to 100-hectares of land! Suitably stringent on sustainable farming, handpicking in the vineyard and low-intervention once the fruit makes it to the winery, his are wines of dark fruit purty and tannic precision when it comes to the reds, and broad generous textures with early-drinking windows with the whites. We're delighted to have Yves himself joining us tomorrow evening (Friday 21st) between 5 and 7pm, showcasing his fine recent expressions of straight Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier and of course Syrah! This isn't one to miss - the classy, joyful style one will find among these seven wines is the level of quality we always aspire to find when we delve into any samples from the Rhône!
And finally to polish the busy week off in fashion, Saturday (22nd) will mark the arrival of the accomplished wine mind and genuine spirit of Michael Downer from Murdoch Hill! His grandfather bought the idyllic family farm within Adelaide Hill's Oakbank in 1939, his parents planted the vines in 1998, and now as the third generation, Michael returned home from wine-based experiences domestic and abroad in 2012, taking over the head winemaker role with a newfound confidence and, we can say now all these years later, with aplomb. He oversaw a complete revitalisation of not only their organic practices and soil health, but finding unexplored complexities from a new oak regime and greater blending experimentation from across both Piccadilly Valley and recently-acquired vineyards in Lenswood. His Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Syrah bring high-tone plushness and purity as a result of his finesse; he'll be pouring eight of their critically-praised recent vintages between 12-2pm.
Here's to back-to-back days of total vinous delight!
Les Vignes d'à Côté Syrah 2024 -
$42 on special this week ($48 RRP)
"This wine is from Collines Rhodaniennes, which basically translates to North Rhone without having to pay a premium for the better known AOC´s. An expressive nose on the small red fruits. On the palate, fresh red fruits and delicate spices give a lovely expression of the Syrah. Another great wine from Cuilleron." - Importer Notes
Les Vignes d'à Côté Marsanne 2024 -
$43 on special this week ($49 RRP)
"Elegant, sophisticated and in a highly expressive style, this Marsanne will charm you with its flower and white fruit fragrances. On the palate, everything is precise, clean, chiselled: a real demonstration of a top product. This is quite simply a treat!" - Importer Notes
Les Vignes d'à Côté Roussanne 2024 -
$52 on special this week ($59 RRP)
"A floral dream, fruity in its youth! Elegant, refined, in a very expressive style, this Roussanne will charm you with its bouquet of flowers (honeysuckle) and white fruits (peaches, pears). On the palate, everything is exactly as it should be, clean, sculpted: a real demonstration of what it does best." - Importer Notes
Les Vignes d'à Côté Viognier 2024 -
$60 on special this week ($68 RRP)
What a total pleasure to sip on and study over the course of a meal or a long evening at home - this one goes through 8 months of aging with a third in barrel, a third in tuns and a third in steel vats. An appealing bright gold hue greets the glass, with that classic Viognier nose of ripe apricot, fuzzy peach and fresh orange blossom. The palate follows through with some musky oily tanginess, while staying fresh through the finish with flicks of honeysuckle, pear and quince. Best enjoyed young, we think! That energy is too good to pass up - Our Notes
Saint Joseph Cavanos Syrah 2023 -
$80 on special this week ($92 RRP)
"The color is deep red. An intensely fruity nose with aromas of blackberry, cherry, and plum. The light woody notes provide refined aromas of cinnamon and other spices. The taste is fresh, slightly spicy with a hint of pepper, and lively. Lots of freshness, concentration, and elegance." - Importer Notes
Cornas Le Village Syrah 2023 -
$130 on special this week ($149 RRP)
"A classic, layered Cornas, the 2023 Cornas Le Village has beautiful black cherries, roasted herbs, jus de viande, and peppery nuances on the nose. On the palate, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and textured, with some classic damp granite-like minerality." - 93 Points, Jeb Dunnuck
Côte-Rôtie Madinière Syrah Viognier 2022 -
$175 on special this week ($199 RRP)
"Crafted from vines planted in schist soils in the Cote Brune sector, the 2022 Cote Rotie Madiniere was fermented with 30% whole bunches and matured for 18 months in barrels. Evoking a ripe bouquet of spices, baked dark berries and chocolate, it's medium to full-bodied, dense and broad, with an oaky, toasty mid-palate framed by an assertive tannic frame." - Yohan Castaing, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
Murdoch Hills Syrah 2022 -
$23 on special this week ($26 RRP)
"This is the perfect young syrah to drink, courtesy of the fact that it serves up fleshy fruit so generously but then splays it with nut, pepper and woodsy spice notes. It offers sweet fruit, spiciness and savouriness all in one. It combines all this with svelte texture and finishes things off with a hit of anise. Yes, please." - 93 Points, Campbell Mattinson, Halliday Wine Companion
Murdoch Hill Sauvignon Blanc 2026 -
$25 on special this week ($29 RRP)
"A benchmark expression, the sweet green notes reined in, not so much tucked away as they are integrated. The vintage's intensity is on full show; it's got a vital core of fruit in palate-staining lemon and grapefruit, and crystalline aromas of spice and candied ginger, apple and pineberry. A portion of the wine was barrel fermented, another left on skins, and the resulting texture drives the acids and fruits into stratospheric heights. A marvel from 20 years of hard work in the vineyard." - 95 Points, Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion (2025 Vintage)
Murdoch Hill Vis-a-Vis Cabernet Franc 2025 -
$37 on special this week ($42 RRP)
"This is an impressive red wine. It’s the depth of fruit that impresses the most, especially as it’s in the context of freshness and complexity. It tastes of boysenberry, black cherry and roasted plum, with bay leaf, graphite, leather, peppercorn and licorice influences. The general flow of flavour is excellent and is not impeded by the swathe of grainy, fine-meshed tannin. This is an out-of-the-box release, I’d suggest." - 94 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Murdoch Hill Phaeton Pinot Noir 2023 -
$49 on special this week ($56 RRP)
// 50% of the fruit from Piccadilly Valley, the other 50% from Lenswood
"Lifted and perfumed aromas of wild raspberries, orange peel and potpourri. The palate is medium-bodied with firmly integrated tannins, focused acidity and notes of red currants, cassia bark and graphite. Very pure and fresh. Drink or hold." - 95 Points, James Suckling
"Predominantly estate fruit off their Lenswood vineyard and aged in 40% new French oak. This is all rose and violet with the prettiest warming cinnamon quill spice and aromas of new forest undergrowth. Nature, bottled. A burst of red cherry and pomegranate juiciness through the middle makes for a welcome accompaniment to the enjoyable chewy tannin structure. I like this wine. Time will help all the elements unite." - 94 Points, Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion
Murdoch Hill Landau Syrah 2023 -
$49 on special this week ($56 RRP)
"This is another outstanding release of Murdoch Hills The Landau Syrah from Oakbank in the Adelaide Hills. It carries intensity of fruit flavour, showing licorice and deep black cherry, but then it’s also liberally strewn with pepper, nut, twig and smoked herb characters. Tannin is smoky, firm and velvety at once, and the finish is well sustained. This is an elite red wine in the syrah style. You can drink this now, you can cellar it; it’s superb either way." - 95 Points, Campbell Mattinson
"Forever taken aback by the perfume of this wine. Boysenberry, red plum, crushed gravel, roses closed tight, and there's reservation and tension here. Peppery, sure, but distinctively pink, all rosy and floral. The tannins are fine, powdery and dispersed, but sure-footed. There's an exuberance in its youth that might make this exasperatingly hard to cellar, for the want to enjoy it now. An elegant and balanced release despite the cold, late and challenging '23 vintage." - 94 Points, Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion
Murdoch Hill Tilbury Chardonnay 2023 -
$49 on special this week ($56 RRP)
"A crushed rock flintiness to oyster shell brininess, melding with verdant hints of mint and other garden herbs, smattered amid orchard fruits and citrus. Demur, youthful, tightly coiled and in need of time. Yet the acidity is juicy rather than hard. The finish, compelling and impressively long, directed by a confluence of French and larger format Austrian oak, much in vogue. This is bound to age very well, such is the thrilling precision, succulent acidity and powerful carry-through." - 95 Points, Ned Goodwin MW, Decanter
"A very cool and wet vintage for the Hills would've brought with it many challenges, not that you'd sense it here. The wine saw full mlf to combat the austerity of acids, and while it is still extremely tight and coiled in its youth, this will relax with bottle-age into something remarkable. Citrus, both lemon and lime, with some grapefruit pith and curry leaf, a thread of salinity flush with white stone fruit and crushed rock. It's tantalising, electric and bound to reward patience." - 95 Points, Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion
Murdoch Hill Rocket Chardonnay 2023 -
$85 on special this week ($95 RRP)
"The Downer family has been farming around Oakbank since 1939, and the decision to plant vines 60 years later may have been the best move they ever made. This is chardonnay out on the town and dressed to kill. Sleek, sophisticated and sexy. There’s fragrant white peaches and creamed wild honey, a wisp of flinty funk and an electrifying acid line. Give me this ‘Rocket’ over Bezos or Musk any day.” - 97 Points, Nick Ryan, The Weekend Australian
"Powerful aromas of lemon confit, minerals, oyster shells, chalk and candied lime zest. The plate is medium-bodied with underlying power framed by focused acidity, giving notes of fresh pineapple, green apple skin and grapefruit pith. Exceptionally well balanced and tightly constructed. Drink or hold." - 96 Points, Ned Goodwin MW
Murdoch Hill Apollo Pinot Noir 2023 -
$85 on special this week ($95 RRP)
"This is comprised entirely of Lenswood fruit and the average vine age is 30-plus years. I anticipate the release of this wine from Murdoch Hill's 'space' series each year. Medium weight with dialled-up concentration, raspberry, apple fruit leather, subtle clove and cinnamon spice, an earthy moss character with dried leaves strewn atop. The tannins pull everything inward, concentrating the flavours of the wine further, suggesting a long life ahead. A beautiful reminder and promise of the potential of the region." - 96 Points, Katrina Butler, Halliday Wine Companion
"It’s savoury and dark aromatically, but the palate has a cooling cherry pit mineral feel with great intensity. Dark cherry, earth, brown spice and subtle raspberry are promptly wrapped up in firm, sappy tannins and long, persistent dark cherry acidity. Wonderfully poised, clean and fresh through the finish. Time in the cellar will reward." - 95 Points, Tom Kline, Inside Burgundy
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 the 27th of August