Description
- 2023 Dr. Edge Tasmania Concrete Matured Pinot Noir
- 2023 Timo Mayer Gamay
- 2023 Bondar Rayner Vineyard Grenache
- 2022 Vanguardist Mourvedre
- 2023 Corymbia Rocket's Vineyard Tempranillo Malbec
- 2022 Setiono Flaxman Syrah
The Wine Front is one of Australia's leading wine review publications. Between Gary Walsh, Mike Bennie, Campbell Mattinson and Kasia Sobiesiak, they cover a wide range of Australia's fine wines, including many small-batch releases.
This pack features six wines rated 95 points or higher by The Wine Front crew. These are excellent premium wines from some of the country's best artisan producers.
2023 Dr. Edge Tasmania Concrete Matured Pinot Noir
In 2023, Peter Dredge kept the two parcels of his Pinot Noir separate, his traditional barrel matured portion, and this, a portion that was fermented and aged entirely in concrete.
It makes for a crystal-clear depiction of Tasmanian Pinot Noir. The fresh, dazzlingly bright Pinot fruit sings out of the glass. The acidity is crisp, the nervy tension and fresh red fruits are just a delight to drink.
This is a very exciting drink - Tasmanian Pinot Noir at its most invigorating and mineral-driven. We loved it.
The two parcels will likely be blended together going forward so this may be the only bottling of this wine ever, making it something of curio and perfect for collectiors.
95 points
"Lively ruby core into a shiny purple rim. Black cherry, river stones and cinnamon stick aromatics. Medium weight, very focused and driven by both fine granular tannins and taut acidity. Peeking through that is dark cherry, hints if cola spice and a gravelly minerality underneath, all rolling very long on that framework's tension. Time in the glass allows more nuances to come out and it builds further layers and character"
- Stuart Knox (The Real Review)
95 points
"It may be an experiment, but gee, it’s a ‘Eureka!’ moment as far as I’m concerned. Such character. So good. This is the way."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2023 Timo Mayer Gamay
It's fair to say Timo Mayer loves some whole-bunch/carbonic maceration action.
It works brilliantly when applied to lighter red varieties. Case in point - this Gamay has come up trumps...
The fruit was grown from vines in Dixon Creek in the northern Yarra, and we all know that great wine begins as great fruit. In the hands of Timo, this variety really sings.
Gamay can be a simple affair, but this one is wild; crunchy whole bunchiness, but still plush and juicy. Timo knocks it out of the park once again.
95 points
"Very savoury red wine, in the best sense, with near Italianate tannins lending a skeleton for the lithe fruit and spice to hang off. Serious stuff."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
2023 Bondar Rayner Vineyard Grenache
There are only 0.7ha of beautiful 40+-year-old Grenache vines on the Rayner Block. The public knows the vineyard for its supreme Shiraz, but many a winemaker have sought it for its stunning Grenache.
This is the top red wine in the Bondar range for a reason. As with all of the best modern styles of Grenache coming out of McLaren Vale, the emphasis here is squarely placed on making a fresh, aromatic yet powerful style of wine that tells the story of vintage through the lens of this noble grape.
With only a limited amount made, you'll have to be quick if you want to find out what he's talking about. Drink some now, keep some for later, we have a feeling this will be something pretty special in a few years time. Another win for the Bondars and for all McLaren Vale Grenache lovers!
96 points
"It's very early on this, and these are always made to age, but the charm of the vintage has its say. Dried and fresh rose, raspberry leaf, rosemary and dried orange peel across tart raspberry, pomegranate and redcurrant, the ripeness neatly captured for flavour and verve, with a proper line of grape and stem tannin, artfully extracted, pristinely ripe, acidity a guiding vector."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
95 points
"Very good Grenache here... There’s also some raspberry friand sweetness, and it offers mouth-perfume, and excellent length. It’s crisp, but flavoursome. It’s not Blewitt or Clarendon, but gee, it makes an emphatic statement about how good McLaren Vale Grenache can be. So lovely. Juicy juicy, Nice nice."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2022 Vanguardist Mourvedre
Mourvedre and Grenache are an-oft seen wine combination, and Vanguardist has been using fruit sourced from this Yangarra vineyard in Blewitt Springs in their other wines for a while. This expression of Mourvedre as a single variety is a gorgeously big savoury number.
Very Rhoney, with the wild herbs and gamey meat characters that are so varietally aligned. Dark fruited with blackberry and blueberries, and the mouthfeel is slnewy and chewy.
About a third whole bunches used in the wine, with sixteen months ageing in quality French oak. The vineyard is certified organic and biodynamic.
96 points
"This is a revelation... It’s mid-weight with a supple, seductive mid-palate and expansive perfume in the mouth followed by an assured anchoring of fine natural stem/skin/seed tannins. As said, it’s a revelation."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
95 points
"Signature of classic Mataro rides high here... It’s taking a walk on the wild side, with a dry silty tannin finish of excellent length. It’s earthy and assertive. You want it darker? I’m ready my Lord."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2023 Corymbia Rocket's Vineyard Tempranillo Malbec
The Corymbia Red Blend is a wine that reflects its origins perfectly and offers so much.
With a combination of natural and carbonic fermentation, there is a lovely interplay between the dark and dense tones – blackberry, coffee, olive, earth, leather – and the extremely bright ones – mulberry, cranberry, blueberry, and aniseed. With maturation taking place in the same vat used for the fermentation, the aromas and flavours having a feel of slow evolution, unlocked by letting the wine breathe for a while before drinking.
Whether you drink it now or in a few years, you're definitely in for a treat.
95 points
"Plenty of exotic spice, liquorice, walnut, new leather, cherry, blueberry, seaweed. Medium-bodied, a lovely grainy grip and chew to tannin, cherry, boysenberry and a pippy freshness to acidity, suffused with a ferrous and ‘mineral’ feel, umami and nutty, with a bright and flavoursome finish of excellent length. Texture. Charisma. Such a good wine. All the slate and good things that the Swan Valley can deliver. Superb."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2022 Setiono Flaxman Syrah
The very thoughtful and considered ethos of Samantha Chandra is behind this lovely Syrah from Flaxman Valley in the Barossa region.
Made with fruit entirely from the Naimanya Vineyard with 30+ year old Shiraz vines, it sits at 525 metres above sea level and is thought to be the highest Shiraz site in South Australia!
Two different picks were done, one earlier to get grapes with bright natural acidity and then a later pick for depth of flavour, complexity and tannin.
Aged entirely in older oak, bottled without fining or filtration, the whole package comes together into a beautifully integrated, flavourful Syrah with minimal additions. Elegant stuff, and a great addition the Barossa/Eden Valley wine scene.
Only 143 dozen produced.
96 points
"Outstanding, Deep and dark, brooding and yet holding this vivid sense of freshness, blue fruits, pretty spice, herbal lift and saline mineral charm. It elevates on each sip, feeling finer, friskier, lither, as you spend time with the wine... Finesse personified. It nails the brief. It feels of fruit and the depth possible from gentle handling. It’s wine I want to drink."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)
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