Australian Wines Connoisseur’s Choice

Mollydooker Gigglepot Cabernet Sauvignon

Mollydooker Gigglepot Cabernet Sauvignon is a vibrant & elegant wine, full of personality. Forthright flavours of raspberry, briar and dried herbs develop into soft layers of mocha and mint on the palate. The nose has cherry & rhubarb notes with a hint of vanilla, complimented by delicate oak elements of toasted coconut and spice. The balance and intensity of the 2016 Gigglepot allows the true personality of McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon to shine.

The Gigglepot is Sarah and Sparky’s daughter, Holly, who couldn’t stop giggling with these crazy black glasses on.

The grapes were grown on the Rivers Lane in McLaren Vale. Barrel fermented and matured in 84% American and 16% French oak using 50% new and 50% one year old barrels.

Alc: 15.5% Residual sugar: 2.2g/L pH: 3.70

See our full range of Mollydooker wines at https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/mollydooker/

For more information on this winery go to https://www.mollydookerwines.com/MollydookerStory/AboutMollydooker/tabid/99/Default.aspx

The winery is in beautiful scenic McLaren Vale, 30 minutes easy drive from Adelaide. Bordered by the Adelaide Hills and five minutes away from glorious beaches, McLaren Vale is a great place to come visit. It is like a big village, we all know one another, and we all love having visitors. The food here is fabulous, fresh and local, and we have a thriving artistic community.

The vineyards are situated on the magical Seaview Ridge, which with its ancient soils and Mediterranean climate, is home to some of the most iconic Australian wines. We have three separate vineyards – Long Gully Road, Coppermine Road and the Home Blocks, giving us a total of 114 acres of Shiraz, Cabernet and Merlot. All of our grapes are grown sustainably.

The winemaker recommends that everybody should do the Mollydooker shake. You can watch this on YouTube. According to the winemaker  “Pre-shaken the wines are intense, concentrated and still magnificent. However, after the shake the wine becomes more approachable, the aromatics are lifted and the fruit is smoother on the palate. An overall more enjoyable and total Mollydooker experience!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCGFz3nnakE

The Ironstone Pressing GSM by d’Arenberg- Grenache, Shiraz , Mourvedre blend.

Most of McLaren Vale’s acclaimed and historic vineyards are impregnated with ancient, decomposed laterite granite known as ironstone. Its extraordinary rusty redbrown colour is derived from the iron oxides present in the stone. The larger pieces were cleared from the vineyards in the late 1880’s and utilised in many of the buildings at d’Arenberg, most notably the old stables. Hence the wine’s name.

The Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre components of Ironstone Pressing come from the best parcels from selected vineyards, and remain separate until final blending.These low yielding, old vines are picked in small parcels and remain separate until final blending. Small batches of grapes are gently crushed and then transferred to five tonne headed down open fermenters. Foot treading is undertaken two thirds of the way through fermentation. The wine is then basket pressed and then transferred to a mixture of new and used oak barriques to complete fermentation. The barrel ferments are aged on lees, there is no racking until final blending and no finning or filtration.

Unctuous blackberry and plum notes lay at  the heart of this classic d’Arenberg example of a GSM. A spattering of exotic spices the likes of star anise, cardamom and nutmeg cling to the sweet, dark fruits and of course, it wouldn’t be a d’Arenberg wine without a rousing dose of earthy, gamey character. The palate is fleshy and juicy with an almost velvet like texture. Abundantly warm and generous but sufficiently structured to suggest this wine can go the long haul.

d’Arenberg Ironstone Pressing GSM – A great GSM blend from a classic family winery. One of the many brilliant d’Arenberg wines

To see our full range of d’Arenberg product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/darenberg/

For more information on the winery go to https://www.darenberg.com.au/

d’Arenberg Ironstone Pressing GSM

Glaetzer Anaperenna Shiraz Cabernet is a seamless fusion of the two varieties Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Voluptuous, opulent and yet refined, with a very long and satisfying finish.

The name Anaperenna has been inspired by Anna Perenna, the Roman goddess of the New Year. Anna Perenna symbolises the year’s cycle and her name translates as ‘enduring year’. Romans honoured Anna Perenna with a festival held on the first full moon of the Roman calendar. On March 15th they would ask Anna to grant them longevity, and a healthy year for each glass of wine they drank on that day.

The symbol on the label is the Egyptian Ankh (pronounced: onk). Historically the ankh symbolised sunrise, regeneration, regrowth and renewal.

For more information go to https://glaetzer.com/

To see our range go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/glaetzer/

The first Glaetzers settled in the Barossa Valley in 1888 after emigrating from Brandenburg, Germany. The family left Germany on board the Nord-Deutscher Lloyd steamer “Habsburg” and took seven weeks to reach their final destination of Port Adelaide. From here they settled in a country town called Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley where they started their new life in Australia. The family were some of the earliest recorded viticulturalists in the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley.

Henschke Julius Riesling – Eden Valley 

Pale straw with lime green hues. Lifted and fragrant aromas of citrus florals, frangipani, finger lime and kaffir lime leaf, with hints of bath salts and green peppercorn. Excellent flavour intensity showing concentrated citrus flavours of lime juice and Meyer lemon, supported by minerality and crispness for an incredibly long and dry finish.

For more information on the winery go to http://www.henschke.com.au/

To see our full range of Henschke product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/henschke/

Stargazer Tasmania Chardonnay.

Single vineyard, wild ferment.

Samantha Connew’s excellent Chardonnay is from a single vineyard in the Coal Valley. The oak is superb, the fruit pristine but with body and intensity. Wild ferment. Keep for up to a decade and you will be rewarded. Sam Connew is ex Wirra Wirra and Tower Estate winemaker. Stargazer is her Tasmanian venture; the wines are made from carefully selected parcels of grower fruit.

Crafted from premium Coal Valley fruit, it’s all white peach, nougat and a little heady gardenia. Brilliant use of first-class oak enhances the intense and pristine fruit. Great mouthfeel and finish. Lingering.

To find out more about the producer go to http://stargazerwine.com.au/#news

Stargazer pays tribute to Abel Tasman, who as an explorer and navigator, must have spent a fair amount of time gazing towards the heavens. Tasman, a Dutchman under the employ of the United East India Company was the first European to sight Tasmania (on 24 November 1642) and then the South Island of New Zealand, nineteen days later on 13 December

To see our range of Stargazer product go to https://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/stargazer/

Located in the Tea Tree subregion at the northern end of the Coal River Valley, the original vineyard on Back Tea Tree Road was planted by Norm and Jan Gangell in 2004. Pretty much half and half riesling and pinot noir, the eleven hectare property is also home to an olive grove. Samantha Connew took over the property in 2016 and in late 2017 expanded the vineyard to include an additional two hectares of vines: more pinot noir (four clones), some chardonnay (anther four clones) and more riesling. Stage two of the expansion is planned for 2020 and will take me up to five hectares in total, and then the wine will be totally estate grown.
Palisander Vineyard (as she has named it) is located on brown dermosol soil over jurassic dolerite, the igneous rock which gives over half of Tasmania its distinctive geological formations (think the rocky outcrops on the Tasman Peninsula). The soil is particularly high in calcium which is a positive indicator for quality grapes, being associated with thicker skins and slower ripening. Whilst she is still very new to this whole grape grower caper, she believes in sustainable farming and am excited about leaving my bit of dirt better than I found it.

Stargazer Tasmania Chardonnay – great Tassie wine

HVD Single Vineyard Semillon

A vintage where the great vineyards showed their class, this release of HVD Semillon shows both power and finesse. Freshness on the nose, complexity on the back palate, and now in its transition stage from primary to secondary flavours. Waxy and honey toast, with good length

Situated between two dry creek beds, the HVD (Hunter Valley Distillery) vineyard has ideal soils for Semillon; free draining sandy soils over coarse river sand. The vines are dry grown and were planted in 1908.

The vineyard lies between two small creeks that are fed from a spring in the Brokenback range and are light sandy loam soils. Impeccably balanced with its strong, citrus characters and a crisp acid structure which leaves the wine with a clean finish.

A dry winter and spring was broken by good rains in early December which helped the vines immensely. Moderate summer temperatures and some rain during the harvest period meant hand sorting of the fruit in the vineyard, to ensure all fruit that arrived at the winery was in pristine condition.

Hand-picked in the early hours of the morning, the fruit was lightly crushed and pressed before a relatively cool fermentation. Then the wine spent minimal time on yeast lees before being bottled early to maintain its freshness. No oak fermentation or maturation.

THE STORY OF HVD VINEYARD
The same soil, same rainfall and same temperatures of a single vineyard produce a consistency of flavour throughout the wine. Our Single Vineyard wines are only made in years when nature contrives to produce fruit of such outstanding quality that our winemakers will set parcels aside to be separately bottled. Situated between two small creek beds, the HVD (Hunter Valley Distillery) vineyard was planted in 1908 and forms the ‘Sign Post Block’. The vines are rarely stressed and their roots are almost continuously in water.

To find out more about the winery go to http://www.tyrrells.com.au

To see our full range of Tyrrell’s product, go to http://www.auswinesonline.co.uk/product-category/tyrrells-wines/

HVD Single Vineyard Semillon