The 2023 Chardonnay Dropstone pours a bright silver/straw color and comes from a single
flat block at roughly 250 feet in elevation. It opens with chalky earth, mint, white tea, pear,
lime oil, key lime, and candied green apple. Full-bodied, it's remarkably detailed and
focused, with impressive concentration, terrific length, and the structure to age another
decade or more.

This superplush, velvety wine is gorgeously layered with ripe fruit and oak spices, offering
baked cherries, dark plums, cocoa and graphite. Made from two micro-sites with different
soils on the lower slopes of Mount St. Helena. Contains 4% petit verdot. Easy to enjoy now,
or hold

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2023 Helena Montana Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon (100% Cabernet Sauvignon) springs from the glass with gregarious notes of black currant jelly, kirsch, and fresh plums, giving way to hints of camphor, anise, and mossy tree bark. The full-bodied palate is dense with black fruit layers, framed by firm, grainy tannins and seamless freshness, finishing long and earthy. 

Pale ruby-purple in color, the 2024 Pinot Noir Rosella's Vineyard (made entirely from the Pisoni Selection clone) leaps with bright, energetic notes of cranberries and wild strawberries, followed by nuances of Provence herbs, lavender, and wet rocks. Medium to full-bodied, the palate delivers silky tannins and a crisp line to match the vibrant red berry and savory layers, finishing long and perfumed.

The 2024 Pinot Noir Garys' Vineyard is medium ruby-purple in color. It scoots out of the glass with ready-to-go notes of black raspberries and wild blueberries, opening out to suggestions of wild sage, damp soil, and Sichuan pepper. The medium to full-bodied palate is wonderfully elegant with fine-grained tannins and great tension, finishing long and earthy.

This expression of Yangarra Estate Roussanne is a superb example of why patience
matters. Serve it at the right temperature, let it reveal itself and the beauty and bliss will
present themselves.
Sourced from the oldest Roussanne planting across Yangarra's certified organic and
biodynamic vineyards, it is handpicked, destemmed and crushed before fermentation in
ceramic eggs. 66% of the final blend spent four months on skins, while the remaining
portion was whole-bunch pressed, before the final wine spent seven months maturing in
ceramic eggs.
Yellow-fleshed stonefruit sits at the core, initially wrapped in a little tension that gradually
unwinds with time. I looked at this over several days and watched it unfurl beautifully,
revealing greater detail and composure with every revisit. Nougat and cashews bring
richness, while nutty and biscuity nuances add another layer of complexity. Fine white
pepper and cinnamon spices ripple gently through the palate. The texture is sublime, silky
and beautifully shaped, carrying it with effortless ease. This is a Roussanne of detail,
composure and allure and one that deserves time in the glass to reveal everything it has to
offer. Bravo!

ove this. A stunning Grenache, this Yangarra Estate Ovitelli carries itself with effortless
elegance.
Sourced from a certified organic and biodynamic block planted in 1946, adjacent to the
famed High Sands vineyard, this is a fascinating expression of old vine Grenache.
The fruit was destemmed and crushed before heading into 675L ceramic eggs, where
gentle hand plunging guided the fermentation. It remained on skins for around three
months and spent a total of 11 months in ceramic, with no pressings and no oak. It is an
approach that allows the vineyard and fruit to speak with remarkable clarity.
Freeze-dried raspberries and ripe raspberries leap from the glass, joined by blueberries and
an array of purple fruit that delivers a joyous, almost irresistible fruit profile. There's a little
jubey character too, before a fleeting flash of orange peel brings another level of intrigue.
What really captivates is the sophistication. Despite the exuberance of the fruit, this is
beautifully composed, with an almost weightless pleasure that carries gracefully across
the palate. The tannins are notably softer than the High Sands Grenache, giving it a more
supple, inviting personality. Bravo

This appellation blend offers much of the same energy and juiciness that makes this brand's single-vineyard bottlings sing. Bright aromas go strawberry, crushed rocks and eucalyptus leaf decorate the nose. The palate is full of cherry and rose flavors that are cut by a pine needle kick.

Exuberant aromas of cherry and strawberry play against slight hints of forest floor and balsam on the nose of this bottling. The palate snaps with cherry and strawberry candy flavors, but it's the underlying sense of menthol that makes everything truly pop.

Fresh and engaging on the nose, this single-vineyard expression that's helped define this label for decades begins with bright yet brooding aromas of black cherry, blackberry and mint on the nose. The palate is zippy while lush, presenting cherry and mulberry flavors that are enhanced by sage and pine needle components that add an ethereal darkness on the chalky finish

This sports a dense but focused and precise feel, with its core of steeped red and blackcurrant and boysenberry reduction notes cruising through slowly while flanked by roasted apple wood and supported by along spine of graphite. Yields every so slightly on the finish to a mouthwatering, savory edge, while embers of mulling spices and black tea flicker. Patience is required. Best from 2030 through 2050.—J.M.

Very deep and bright purple-red colour, glowing in the glass. Powerful intensity of black pepper, aniseed, blackberry, dried and cured meat aromas, all in remarkable detail for such a young shiraz. Glorious mouth-filling flavour of intensity and vitality, the energy positively bursting through the mouth with vitality and persistence. A smashing shiraz now, and is sure to have a great future. 24 May 2025

There’s no escaping the seriousness of this wine. It’s cool, spicy and complex, but it has heft and power, and is structurally firm (to say the least). This wine is both keen with mineral and flooded with floral character, the latter embedded in the fruit rather than flying off as aromatics. Pomegranate, dark cherries, blood and bone, alpine herbs, red roses, smoked cream, pepper and peppercorn, the latter bound to those red rose notes. It’s serious in style and seriously good.

This release is remarkably pure and intense. It also has a distinct, almost defining, freshness; it tastes as though it’s been picked off the side of a mountain. Boysenberry, red cherry, violet and mint characters edge into fresh plum, peppercorn and woodsmoke – the latter notes riding inside the wine’s fruit. There’s a firmness to the finish but even so, freshness is maintained. There’s a genuine crushed purple flowers steeped in cherry-plum juice aspect to this wine; it has a prettiness but it’s not light. It’s an easy wine to label as seriously good.

I am fully on-board with this release of Applejack Chardonnay. It’s a beauty. Pure, long, showing a little more flint than usual, all line and length in general but with a bit of extra punch and flare on top. This is tight and taut and tense and all those things, but wow does it extend and wow does it thrill. We’re in chardonnay for chardonnay lovers territory. White peach, cedar, lactose, a touch of lemonade; the sum is far more than the parts. Fantastic wine. Compelling. Intense. On a mission.

The Applejack Vineyard at Gladysdale in the Yarra Valley is on an east facing slope. There’s a 100 metre drop from the top of the vineyard to the bottom. There’s also significant clonal diversity in this vineyard. It was planted in 1997 in caramel-clay soils.

There’s no escaping the seriousness of this wine. It’s cool, spicy and complex, but it has heft and power, and is structurally firm (to say the least). This wine is both keen with mineral and flooded with floral character, the latter embedded in the fruit rather than flying off as aromatics. Pomegranate, dark cherries, blood and bone, alpine herbs, red roses, smoked cream, pepper and peppercorn, the latter bound to those red rose notes. It’s serious in style and seriously good.

This release is remarkably pure and intense. It also has a distinct, almost defining, freshness; it tastes as though it’s been picked off the side of a mountain. Boysenberry, red cherry, violet and mint characters edge into fresh plum, peppercorn and woodsmoke – the latter notes riding inside the wine’s fruit. There’s a firmness to the finish but even so, freshness is maintained. There’s a genuine crushed purple flowers steeped in cherry-plum juice aspect to this wine; it has a prettiness but it’s not light. It’s an easy wine to label as seriously good.

I am fully on-board with this release of Applejack Chardonnay. It’s a beauty. Pure, long, showing a little more flint than usual, all line and length in general but with a bit of extra punch and flare on top. This is tight and taut and tense and all those things, but wow does it extend and wow does it thrill. We’re in chardonnay for chardonnay lovers territory. White peach, cedar, lactose, a touch of lemonade; the sum is far more than the parts. Fantastic wine. Compelling. Intense. On a mission.

The Applejack Vineyard at Gladysdale in the Yarra Valley is on an east facing slope. There’s a 100 metre drop from the top of the vineyard to the bottom. There’s also significant clonal diversity in this vineyard. It was planted in 1997 in caramel-clay soils.

Stunning pinot noir. Exceptionally fragrant, dramatically well structured and then just so impressively persistent. It tastes of forest berries and pure red cherry, crushed dry and fresh flowers, an assortment of teas and twiggy herb notes, though it’s that push of fruit that really beguiles. This is top tier gear, no doubting it. The frame of tannin, in a balanced and appropriate way, is next level; it just has that extra push.

This, the flagship shiraz, off sand and ironstone; 20% whole bunches; six months in French oak, 35% new, then 10 months in a one-year-old foudre. That new oak leaves its stamp, as does some reduction, both concealing fruit at this early stage. Although of modest alcohol, this has a slightly lavish feel, the char, spice and vanillin from quality oak giving it a gloss. It’s all deftly handled though, matched by the thrumming power of the fruit, with notes of blackberry pastille, soft licorice, freshly ground fruity coffee and rusted iron. It’s testament to the farming here that so much flavour is achieved at this ripeness and weight, and this promises to age well; just give it a year or two.

A blend of equal portions of all the Giant Steps single-vineyard wines. With its aromas of white nectarine, lemon verbena, a little cashew and attractive marine scents, this is immediately appealing. On the palate it's concentrated with grapefruit pith and lemony acidity on the long finish. A class act to drink now and over the next four to six years.

Planted on a cool, south-facing slope on what is one of Giant Step's warmest sites. 30% mlf, 30% new oak. There's a gentle creaminess on the nose combined with white peach and grilled hazelnuts. Less opulent than the '24 without forgoing this wine's usual texture and mouthfeel. Delicious straight out of the gate but structured enough to cellar for at least the next four to six years.

Lavish aromas of black cherry cola and lavender show just a tinge of dank herb on the nose of this always stellar bottling. The pallet is rounded and juicy, offering blackberry pie and even lilac flavors, as well as that balancing kick of minty herb.

Fresh and engaging on the nose, this single-vineyard expression that's helped define this label for decades begins with bright yet brooding aromas of black cherry, blackberry and mint on the nose. The palate is zippy while lush, presenting cherry and mulberry flavors that are enhanced by sage and pine needle components that add an ethereal darkness on the chalky finish.