Totino Estate 2008 Adelaide Hills Shiraz

They squeezed a bottle and a half of flavour into this one with so much going on in the glass you'll have trouble concentrating.
If you're a little bit jaded with perfectly pleasant, verging on bland red wines this is the one for you. It's a big, rich red with the oak that St Henri missed out on and the fruit to balance it. This is an extreme bargain. Also picked up a Highly Commended gong at the 2012 Sydney International Wine Competition.
The bad news is that there wasn't much to begin with and sadly we scored the last 5 dozen.

Our Price: $17 per bottle by the dozen

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Ballast Stone 2010 Steeple Jack Shiraz

Picked up a Blue-Gold medal at the 2012 Sydney International Wine Competition for wines matched with food.
The fruit is probably, largely McLaren Vale and this is a wine that punches far above its weight. Lovely supple juicy red, medium weight with everything in balance. Strange name, garish red label but as always it's the stuff inside that counts. Within a day of first sales cellar door customers were already returning for repeat purchases.

Our Price: $9 per bottle by the dozen
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Tyrrell's 2009 "Lunatiq" Heathcote Shiraz

This is Tyrrell's non-Hunter flagship red and it is an absolute beauty.
Our cellar door single bottle price is $35 and as I tell everyone it's the best value red we have. Easily $50+ quality. It was the star during a short break at Hamilton Island in 2011 and I've put a dozen aside to enjoy over the next decade.
For Heathcote alcohol is a sensible 13.9% and while there's plenty of opulence there are glorious tannins and balancing acid. The excitement of every sip is that it reveals a new aspect of its complexity. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Our Price: $29 per bottle by the dozen 
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Ringbolt 2010 Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon

The respected auction house Langtons has stamped its authority on the wine market with its Classification System that rates wines as Exceptional, Outstanding [GOT TO LOVE THAT ONE!], Excellent and Distinguished. It's a fine system in that it continually evolves and this link is a worthwhile read.
http://www.langtons.com.au/Wine/ClassificationExplained.aspx

The usual suspects are featured in the highest categories but I wonder how long it will be before Ringbolt Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon charges up the Classifications. I believe the first vintage was 2001 and it's chalked up a dazzling show record since then. Akin to one of these TV talent shows [Wow, what a voice and you're only 16] this is "what a wine and it's only $20!" It regularly outscored wines many times its price such as Penfolds flagship cabernet 707.

This is an outstanding example of Margaret River Cabernet without the inflated price tag. You can read all about it here
http://www.ringbolt.com/product.asp?p=338
Sensible 13.5% a/v and plenty of acid suggest a long and rewarding cellar life - ie it needs a fair bit of breathing right now. It showed up best on the reliable Kitchen Bench Test on day four.

Wholesale is just under $19 so the days of being $20 should be long gone. BUT NOT YET!

Our Price: $18 per bottle by the dozen  

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Three Tales 2014 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

"The BEST sauvignon blanc buy we've ever offered?????

It's a big call but one I'm very, very comfortable with.
The sign outside the cellar door reads "As good as Cloudy Bay and only $14.99" which is a bit misleading as it's quite possibly better and a mere $12 per bottle by the dozen.

"For someone who is just about "over" sauvignon blanc I reckon I probably rejected a tasting bottle from the rep sometime late last year with words like "It's too expensive and I've got the stuff coming out of every orifice." What's the point of tasting yet another one and rejecting it because we already have plenty of that style.
So I'm very grateful to the lads who brought a bottle in for me to taste last week. They were so enthusiastic that I just had to try it and they were spot on - sensational stuff. They were buying it from another source so I was happy to beat that price and share it with everyone else as long as you realise that $12 is an extremely sharp price.

And the wine? Well it's got just about everything. There's lashings of the popular, fashionable tropical fruit salad balanced beautifully with more traditional herbaceous, grassy characters. Every sip reveals a new layer of flavour so every bottle is a really exciting experience as opposed to so many that show all with the first sip.Add to this an equally balanced palate weight and texture and I reckon you're close to the perfect wine of this style. And it's only 12.5% alcohol!
Sadly it's pushed aside my previous favourite, Wither Hills and as far as I'm concerned it wipes the floor with Oyster Bay."

Those were the notes for the 2011 vintage. Three vintages later, nothing has changed.


Our Price: $12 per bottle by the dozen:  

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Haselgrove HRS 2009 Adelaide Hills Reserve Viognier

THE BEST BACK LABEL NOTES EVER?
They'd be pretty close as they describe this gem of a wine perfectly:
"Our 2009 Reserve was produced from a single vineyard. The grapes were half fermented in tank and then transferred to three and four year old French oak barriques for completion. The wine was then lees stirred for 5 months. The winemakers have successfully preserved varietal distinction whilst developing multiple layers of flavour. The wine displays intense varietal aromas of peach and apricot. This combines with mineral characters on the palate to produce a flavoursome wine with a balanced lively finish with creamy toasty notes. Styles as a food wine it is best served fresh and slightly chilled with baked fish and white meat."

The key is layers of flavour in a wine that is still fresh and vibrant. $10 is a joke of a price for a wine of extreme quality and drinkability.


RRP: $20 -$18

Our Price: $10 per bottle by the dozen  

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Wine Men of Gotham 2011 Sauvignon Blanc

One of the most bizarre labels of all time [sorry Bruce] sets a new benchmark for quality, quaffable, super cheap Sauvignon Blanc. Very highly recommended and make sure you read the back label - what were they thinking? [sorry again Bruce]


Our Price: $7 per bottle by the dozen

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Stephendale 2011 Sauvignon Blanc

Griffith's Warburn Estate is at it again with a new label that has taken anonymity to the extreme. We've put them on the retail shelves and I have trouble finding them. There's a big S which makes sense when any other inspiration fails and a small illustration of a rural gate which is hardly going to have retail buyers [who can never remember names of wines] rushing back to buy the wine with the gate on the label.
But the stuff inside is sensational.
There are two Barossa reds which are both chunky fruit driven numbers ready to drink now and over the next couple of years. A/v on both is $13.5%. There is also a ridiculously quaffable NZ sauvignon blanc. It's not regional specific and I suspect bulk juice is shipped here for bottling. Makes sense if they can do a wine of this quality at the price..

Our Price: $8 per bottle by the dozen

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Stephen John 2009 Basket Pressed Clare Valley Shiraz

The 2006 and 2008 were both favourites with all of us and we now have our second load of the even better 2009. Stephen's cellar door price is $25 and I reckon that's seriously undervalued. This should be $40+.
Full bodied, complex, elegant, multi-layered this is a truly outstanding red wine.
Our Price: $20 per bottle by the dozen 

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Sutherlands Creek Pinot Noir

If there is a better quality, lower priced Pinot Noir in Australia I haven't tasted it. It's Geelong fruit, apparently quite close to Bannockburn, but a fraction of the price. Alcohol is just 12.5%a/v but it's bursting with varietal fruit on a superbly balanced palate. Highly recommended for bargain hunters and pinotphiles.

Our Price: $12 per bottle by the dozen

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