This comes from the same vineyard as our Harcourt Syrah. As always, the grapes were picked fully ripe, pressed gently and sent straight to barrel (500- and 228-litre) as well as 220-litre glass Wineglobe for fermentation and aging. Malolactic fermentation was left to happen naturally. After 12 months in cask and Wineglobe, the wine was racked to tank for an additional eight months before being bottled at the end of November 2023. It will certainly age, gaining more honeyed characters, but it’s delicious now. It has the power and richness of previous releases, yet with good vibrancy thanks to Harcourt’s soils, the cooler year and the inclusion of good levels of Roussanne in the blend.   

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This wine is a blend of Heathcote (66%) and Harcourt (34%) Syrah. Even though this is our least expensive wine, it gets the same attention to detail as all our other cuvées, and even here, the wine has serious intensity, good tannins and ageworthiness. We think it’s a bargain. About 70% whole bunches were used, and the wine was matured in a range of casks (primarily large Stockinger) for the first year before resting in tank for the rest of its maturation. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a spicy, cool Syrah/Shiraz that will drink well young but can be aged with confidence.

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This is our second release from Harcourt. It comes from a very specific plot in Victoria’s Bendigo G.I., on the foothills of Mt Alexander (about an hour’s drive north of our cellars). With its pure granite soils and mild climate, we believe Harcourt has one of Australia's most exciting terroirs for Syrah. This fermented with 50% whole bunches, and the wine underwent almost two years’ maturation. The initial period was in older 600- and 1,500-litre Stockinger casks, with the final eight months in 2000-litre Stockinger. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a wine that combines lifted perfume and finesse with excellent depth and fine structure.

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This wine is now released with an extra year’s aging. Our Heathcote Syrah comes from an east-facing plot of 20+-year-old vines rooted in the red Cambrian soils of the Mount Camel Range in Heathcote’s north. Although we believe that this sub-region can produce Heathcote’s most refined wines, it is still an area that lends itself to growing powerful Syrah. Hence, we give it an additional year in cask. The 2021 spent its first year in a range of Stockinger cask and concrete tank before being blended to one 2,000-litre Stockinger cask for the remainder of its maturation. It was bottled at the end of November 2023 after 33 months’ aging. It is a gorgeous, dark-fruited expression of this famous region. At 13% alcohol, it is in no way heavy and, in fact, is quite the “refreshing” contrast to many wines released from the area.

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Included in the pack:
Four bottles of Harcourt Marsanne 2022
Four bottles of Syrah No.2
Two bottles of Harcourt Syrah 2022
Two bottles of Heathcote Syrah 2021

This year, we decided to see if a blend of the three white grapes we have in the cellar might work as well as the Tradition red. We were blown away by the result and hope you will be, too. This is one-third Chardonnay from a new Dominique Laurent Tronçais cask and two-thirds Marsanne/Roussanne. It has all the generosity of our Marsanne/Roussanne with the cut and thrust of the Chardonnay (not to mention some seriously classy oak). The first year of aging was in a mixture of 500-litre cask, Wineglobes and neutral barriques. The wine spent its second year in steel. It was bottled at the end of November 2023.

“Mid-light yellow colour, forward for its age, but the bouquet confirms that it's been wood aged and this has also added smoky charcuterie, spices and honey to result in a complex nose. The palate picks up the thread and delivers a rich full-bodied mouthful with roundness and viscosity, well judged phenolics contributing to the structure and texture, the finish rolling long and satisfying. This is a smashing Rhône-style dry white of great character and texture.” 95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review

The greatest Australian wines I have ever tasted were made by Hunter legend Maurice O’Shea in the 1940s and ’50s. These were blends of Syrah and Pinot, and they have inspired this blend, which we make only in suitable years. This release is a blend of 40% Pinot from our own vines and 60% Syrah from Heathcote and Harcourt. It spent the first year in a mix of large and small oak barrels, mostly neutral, with the last phase of aging in steel tank and 600-litre Stockinger cask. It was bottled at the end of November 2023. The result is a bright, perfumed, juicy wine. Although delicious now, it should certainly age well.

“It’s not heavy but there’s impressive intensity of flavour here. It tastes of sheer plum, dark chocolate, roasted nuts and sweet cherry, with woodsy spice and cedarwood characters as part of the veneer. There’s texture, there’s twigs, there’s pure, perfectly ripened fruit, and there’s a firm stamp of integrated tannin. There’s some char to the aftertaste, which is not a distraction and is not a negative. There’s a lot to delve into here. It’s excellent.” 95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

At this stage in our vineyard’s evolution, our close-planted Chardonnay vines have only given us tiny yields. This has resulted in terrific concentration and power, while our climate has delivered mouth-watering freshness and drive. These two factors make for something unique. Sadly, there’s not much to go around. The wine was fermented and aged in Wineglobe (glass), one older barrique and one new 500-litre Dominque Laurent cask. It underwent malolactic fermentation and was bottled at the end of November 2023.

“Close-planted vines. The wine rested in glass Wineglobes, the sentient alien looking pods that they are, and two oak casks. So elegant, so refined, poise and precision yet with flavour and depth. It opens with flickers of flinty mineral elements, toast and woody spices, sweet spice too, sugared almond, green apple, stone fruits and alpine herbal elements. The palate a good reflection of this, quite notable concentration and depth, a plushness trimmed with talc-like mineral pucker and a long, palate-staining, sweet spice finish. One of those wines you shake the last drops out of the bottle onto your tongue, or is that just me?” 96 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front 

Six-bottle limit per customer.

Place of Changing Winds is roughly equidistant between Mount Macedon and Mount Bullengarook, hence the name of this cuvée which is essentially the most representative Pinot of the season. It’s a fine, textural Pinot produced from all our plots (including our highest-density vines), save what went into the tiny Beyond the Forest cuvée. It spent 18 months maturing in Stockinger casks with 50% new oak (although this new component was a 1,000 cask, so very little impact). It’s a wine that should drink well young, but we also believe it has significant cellaring potential. It was bottled in January 2024. Alcohol: 13.2%. Closure: Diam 30. Only 2,564 bottles and 24 magnums produced.

“Named for its more or less equidistance between Mount Macedon and Mount Bullengarook. Produced from all plots on the estate. Matured in 50% new and old Stockinger casks. Svelte and sleek with distinct succulence and pucker. A sheath of lacy, granitic tannin over dark cherry, tumbles of dried herbs, woody spice, some nori and truffle-like characters in the mix and a general sense of ultra pure, tart cherry juice and flecks of dried currant and cranberry. A real feast for the senses here. Incredible extension of flavour and an almost unnerving consistency to texture in all that – a long and exacting ride of character and charm. Loads of evocative perfume too. Wonderful, all up.” 96+ points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front 

Due to limited quantities, this wine is available to our High Density mailing list only. Please contact us for more details.

While 2022 was generally a year when each parcel performed best as part of a general blend (i.e., Between Two Mountains), there was one small exception: a cuvée of great perfume, precision and finesse that demanded to be bottled separately. This wine comes from two small north- and east-facing plots that look directly at the forest surrounding our property, hence the name. Again, it was aged for 18 months in 100% Stockinger casks, 50% new. It’s a fine, pure, perfumed Pinot that certainly has enough structure for aging. The notes below tell you what to expect. It was bottled at the end of January 2024.

Only 747 bottles produced.

“From an isolated section of the vineyard and a parcel that felt distinct from the intent of blending. Similar to Between Two Mountains, it rests in Stockinger wood, 50% new, before bottling. Supreme finesse. All the accolades and hallelujahs. It sets up with a huge volume of fine scents, cherries ‘n’ berries, a fog of sweet turned earth and dried leaves, peppery spice, lifted alpine herbal elements and some faint mahogany woodiness. The palate a mime of the aromas in a taut and tumbling bundle of grippy, almost Italianate tannin profile, finishing spicy, softly woody, fruity and savoury. It’s impressive and so very composed, elegant, luxurious despite its tension and travel. To be savoured if not to stand back and admire grandly while drinking. Sound the alarums.”  97+ points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front